{"id":1721,"date":"2019-08-16T16:03:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T15:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/?p=1721"},"modified":"2026-02-19T15:13:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T14:13:04","slug":"an-exotic-supplement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/?p=1721","title":{"rendered":"An exotic supplement."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I very well realize that this advice is against the\ncurrent tide of sports organizations as far as nutritional supplements is\nconcerned. But here is the thing\u2026.. I could not care less!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my opinion an athlete has the right to support and\nmaintain his\/her body in the way he\/she chooses, as long as they are not\nbreaking any rules, like taking substances that are on the ever expanding\nbanned list of the doping-testing industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most sports federations advise against the use of\nsupplements, which is utterly stupid for two simple reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all in a highly competitive environment some\nathletes are taking ergogenic substances that are on the banned list, gaining\nan advantage over athletes who don\u2019t. So when you line up at the 100 meter\nstarting line the athletes who do so pout their starting block at the starting\nline, but you, who doesn\u2019t take anything might put your staring block 2 meters\nbehind them. In other words, no chance even if you have more talent and a\nbetter coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you decided to take legal supplements to narrow\nthat 2 meter margin and based on your talent and coaching might give you a\nbetter chance at least to keep up. Let\u2019s say a 1 meter gap only. Now, your\nsports federation will warn you not to take legal supplements? Then basically\nthe message is: no chance, better go home and spend your time, effort and money\nin a better way<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second: the main reason for the advice not to take\nsupplements is the risk of contamination. So strange enough, the athlete is not\nconsidered to be a normal citizen with the right to be protected against such\ncontaminations of his\/her food and supplements. While at the other end, the\ngovernment spends millions of Euro\u2019s or dollars for organizations to control\nthe quality and purity of our food supply, but athletes seem to have lost their\nright for this valuable public protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I go to a store, look at the label and find myself\nin the hospital because what is bought is contaminated, I am the victim and the\nproducer is the perpetrator. If an athlete unintentionally buys a contaminated\nsupplement and he or she ends up with a positive test, the athlete has become\nthe perpetrator and gets punished. Athletes do not dare to speak out against\nthis because of the risk of repercussions and seldom have the financial\nresource to hire lawyers to defend themselves in case like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explain this to me, because I still don\u2019t really get\nit, but maybe I am not smart enough to understand this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now here is a supplement that you might know or not,\nthat we have been using for at least 35 years. I have been writing about it for\nthe longest time. (1,2,3)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it is an exotic one: mummyo (or shilajit)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This substance is a rather mysterious one, we are\nstill not sure if the origin is of vegetable or animal origin. Mummyo from\ndifferent places might have a different composition. It cannot be grown, only\nbe harvested in mountainous areas, especially in Central-Asia. It might be one\nof the oldest healing substances known to man, described in various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is known under different names in different\ncountries, north of the Himalaya, in countries like Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, or\nKazakhstan, it is known as Mummyo, mumie or mumio while south of the Himalaya,\nIndia and Nepal and in Ayurveda, it is better known as Shilajit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a black, puttylike substance, with a distinct\nfragrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Raw mummyo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The pure and undiluted form of high quality is however\nhard to find. The limited supply, the difficult harvesting and the relatively\nhigh price makes it attractive to diluted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mummyo has been used in folk medicine for thousands of\nyears. Even Aristoteles and Alexander the Great knew and wrote about this\nmysterious substance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been used from Persia to Kazakhstan, but for a\ntremendous wide range of indication and diseases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No wonder people called it a panaceum or \u201ccure-all\u201d and in the Ayurveda it has been called a Rasayana<\/strong>, we would call it an anti-aging agent. It is use for prevention and general health maintenance as well as for specific indications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mummyo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now why would athletes take mummyo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several reasons: first of all, mummyo is considered to be an adaptogen<\/strong>, assisting the body to adapt to mental and physical stressors, pulling the athletes body and mind back into the homeostatic range. This will reduce the risk overtraining and overload-problems and helps the athlete to better cope with the stresses of training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mummyo tablets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Second: I have very good results in case of bone\nfractures and tendon problems, not as much with my athletes, but mainly with\nfamily, friends and clients of mine. Bone fractures will recover at a much\nfaster rate, which allows  a return to\ntraining and competitions at an earlier stage. Of course this can always be checked\nby e.g. making X-rays, (which I did).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third: mummyo also acts as a mild nootropic<\/strong>, increasing neurotransmitter level in the brain and improved learning and memory processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth: mummyo improves the immune-system, which might\nbe useful in case of hard-training athletes who are always at risk for\ninfections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mummyo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is more, much more, but let\u2019s leave it to these\nreasons above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mummyo can be use continuously or intermittent, of\ncourse with different dosages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Average dosage somewhere between 200 mg and 500 mg per\nday. We always use the raw mummyo and dissolve it in hot water like a tea. It\u2019s\na bit of an acquired taste (I still remember the facial expression of Charlie\nFrancis when he visited me in 1994, after a congress in Holland, tasting\nmummyo-tea for the first time) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mummyo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lots of research has been done on the safety and\ntoxicity of taking mummyo. Mummyo is considered to be very safe and non-toxic\n(one of the conditions for being an adaptogen).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Kraaijenhof,\nH: Kracht uit Kruiden; Ortho, No,5, 1998, pg.232.(Dutch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Kraaijenhof,\nH: Adaptogenen: exotisch, anabool en toegestaan; Runner\u2019s World, Juni 195, pg.\n40-41.(Dutch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.\nKraaijenhof, H: Adaptogenen; Richting-Sportgericht, Vol.46, No.6, 1992,\npg.307-310. (Dutch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Ghosal, S: Shilajit: Its origin and vital\nsignificance; in: Mukherjee, B.(Ed.): Traditional medicine; Science Publ. Lebanon,\nNH, USA, 1993, pg. 308-319.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Silber, M: Mumie: the ancient remedy meets modern\nscience; unpublished manuscript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Tkachenko, S.S; Rutzky, V.V; Grachev, I.R : Reparative\nregeneration of bone tissue under effect of Mumie-asyl; Ortop.Travmat Protez\nNo.11, Nov.1979, pg. 49-52.(Russ.-Eng. summary)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Ghosal, S: Shilajit in perspective; Alpha Science,\nOxford, GBR, 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Shilajit book<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

8. Ghosal, S: Chemistry of Shilajit; an\nimmunomodulatory Ayurvedic Rasayan; Pure. Appl.Chem.Vol.62,\nNo.7, 1990, pg.1285-1288.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Windmann, W: Mumijo. Das schwarze Gold des Himalaya;\nWindpferd, BRD. 2005.(German)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I very well realize that this advice is against the current tide of sports organizations as far as nutritional supplements is concerned. But here is the thing\u2026.. I could not care less! In my opinion …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1721"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2276,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1721\/revisions\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpingthebesttogetbetter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}