Shilijit: Emperor Herb of the East

There are many important nutrients that have fallen out of the food chain. Organic mineral salts have been washed out of the topsoil by acidic rain, making them unavailable in the veggies we eat, or in the food we feed the meat sources that eventually find their ways to our table. So...how are we supposed to get them?

The easy answer at my office is "Concentrace"...a brand name liquid trace minerals supplement, available at most health stores. Another good source for some obscure minerals is blue-green algae. I often tell my patients to go get some of each, and take it daily for a number of health reasons. Recently, I have also started seeing some rather impressive results with an Indian herbal supplement called "shilijit".

In a nusthell, it's what you get when you pinch a rich, thick forest between a couple of mountains, and let it process with microbacteria for hundreds of thousands of years. In another couple hundred millennia, it may become asphalt of some sort. But it's not there yet. It appears (and tastes) like something that's part moss, part minerals. When the summers warm up in the Himalyas, this tarry moss warms up and seeps from cracks between the mountains that smushed it back when it was a forest. Locals collect it by lowering themselves over the sides of cliffs that seep it, and sell it at local farmers markets. Very few buyers or distributors go out of their way to be sure they are buying quality shilijit, and not some other thing. (lots of imposters out there, trying to make a buck). After a great deal of searching, I found one of them. A source for quality, assayed, genuine shilijit. (geez...I'm starting to sound like a J. Peterman catalogue).

It is a super-rich source of a substance called Fulvic Acid; a "super-nutrient" that helps the body use all the other stuff you're taking. Also contains Humic Acid..another brilliant co-factor for utilization of nutrients. Making sure your body uses the vitamins and minerals and herbs and such that you might currently take.

Shilijit is also a rich source of trace minerals. Kinda makes sense: It's been getting acted on and ground between stone mountains for eons.

In Asian folk medicine theories, the life energy of the body can be balanced, depleted, or in excess. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this vital force is called "Chi", or "Qi". Shilijit is an excellent Qi tonic, earning it the title "Indian Ginseng", since Ginseng is the most common chi tonic in Chinese medicine. Since Qi tonics improve overall vitality, they also incidentally improve sexual function by improving blood flow throughout the entire body. I discovered this means web searches for data on shilijit means you have to wade through dozens of "herbal viagra" advertisements to find out about the life-extension and nutritional benefits of the herb. So if you do a web search, beware...there is some wierd stuff mixed in with the good stuff.

I have started carrying it, and making it available to my patients. Specifically because so many are depleted for so long, that a number of avoidable health issues knock on their doors. By providing the body proper nutritional support, many of these issues are avoidable or reversable. Call to make an appointment, and we can do a nutritional evaluation with you to see what food sources might be best for your health.

Best Regards,

Dr. C.