Maca vs Shilajit: Energy, Testosterone and Which to Pick

One is a root. The other oozes out of rock. Maca and shilajit end up in the same shopping cart anyway, because both get sold to men who feel tired, flat, or less interested in sex than they used to be.

If you are trying to choose, the labels will not help much. Both promise energy and vitality. The studies behind them measured different things, and that difference is the whole decision.

What each one is

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a turnip-shaped root in the mustard family. It grows on the Junín plateau of central Peru, above 4,000 meters, where almost nothing else will. Families there have dried it in the sun and eaten it as food for centuries: boiled, in porridge, in a warm drink at breakfast.

Shilajit is not a plant. It is a dark, tar-like substance that seeps from cracks in high mountain rock, mostly in the Himalayas and the Altai range. It forms over a very long time from broken-down plant matter and minerals. Ayurvedic medicine has used it for centuries. Its best-known component is fulvic acid.

So one is a food crop and the other is a mineral resin. That matters for safety, which we get to below.

Testosterone: where shilajit has the stronger study

Here the two split clearly.

In a 2016 trial in Andrologia, healthy men aged 45 to 55 took 250 mg of purified shilajit twice a day for 90 days. Compared with placebo, their total testosterone, free testosterone and DHEAS all rose. It was a randomized, double-blind study. It is also one study, and it used a purified, branded extract.

Maca has been tested for the same thing and came up empty. In a 12-week Peruvian trial (Gonzales, Andrologia, 2002), men aged 21 to 56 took 1,500 or 3,000 mg of maca a day. Their testosterone and estradiol levels stayed the same as the placebo group.

A 2024 systematic review in the International Journal of Impotence Research looked at 52 studies of 27 so-called testosterone boosters. Most failed. Purified shilajit landed on the short "possibly effective" list for older men with low-testosterone symptoms. Maca did not.

If raising a lab number is your only goal, maca is the wrong pick. And if you think your testosterone is low, a blood test beats any supplement.

Libido: where maca has the stronger record

That same 2002 trial found something else. The men on maca reported more sexual desire starting at week 8, and the effect did not track with mood scores or hormone levels. Maca seemed to act on desire without touching testosterone at all.

Later work points the same way, with limits:

• A 2023 Korean trial in the World Journal of Men's Health gave 80 men with aging-related symptoms maca or placebo for 12 weeks. Symptom and erectile function scores improved more with maca.
• A 2010 review in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine found four randomized trials on maca and sexual function. Three were positive. The authors called the evidence limited because the trials were small.
• A 2016 review in Maturitas found suggestive evidence for semen quality, again from a handful of small studies.

Shilajit's libido reputation rests mostly on tradition and animal work. We did not find a human trial that measured desire directly.

Energy

Neither one is a stimulant. Neither has caffeine. People who feel more energy on maca often describe it as steadier stamina over a few weeks, not a jolt. Human data on shilajit and day-to-day energy are thin. If you need to feel something in 30 minutes, both will let you down.

Safety is not equal

Maca has a long history as a daily food, and trials at 1.5 to 3 grams a day report few problems. Some people get an upset stomach or trouble sleeping if they take it late. Because it may act on hormone-related pathways, people with hormone-sensitive conditions should ask a doctor first.

Shilajit carries a different kind of risk. Raw or poorly processed shilajit can contain heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, because it comes out of rock. Only purified, lab-tested products are worth considering, and the studies above used a purified extract. There is very little safety data in pregnancy for either one, so skip both.

To be fair to both sides: root crops also pick up trace metals from soil. That is why our maca label carries a California Proposition 65 notice. Ask any brand, ours included, about testing.

Side by side

• What it is: maca is a food root, shilajit is a mineral resin
• Testosterone: shilajit raised it in one trial, maca did not
• Sexual desire: maca has several small positive trials, shilajit has none we could find
• Typical study dose: maca 1.5 to 3 g a day, shilajit 500 mg a day
• Main safety question: maca is mild, shilajit depends on purity
• Women: maca has trials in menopause, shilajit has one bone-density trial in postmenopausal women

Which to pick

Pick maca if your complaint is low desire or flagging stamina and you want something with a food history behind it. Give it at least eight weeks, since that is when the trials saw a change.

Shilajit makes more sense if you are a man over 45 focused on testosterone, you have talked to your doctor, and you can find a purified product with a lab report.

Some men take both. No trial has tested the pair together, so start with one and see what it does.

Our Maca Root capsules hold 800 mg of root powder each. Two capsules get you into the range the Peruvian trials used. We have also compared maca with tongkat ali and with ashwagandha, and the rest of our energy and vitality collection is here.

Common questions

Can I take maca and shilajit together?

Many people do, and combined products exist. There is no known conflict, but no study has tested the pair either. Try one first so you know which is doing what.

Is shilajit stronger than maca?

For testosterone, shilajit has the better evidence. For sexual desire, maca does. "Stronger" depends on what you are trying to change.

Does maca raise testosterone?

Not in the trials so far. Men taking maca reported more desire while their testosterone stayed the same.

How long does each take to work?

Maca trials saw changes at about 8 weeks. The shilajit testosterone trial measured results at 90 days.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is for education and does not replace advice from a qualified health professional.