“Quick! Buy this straight-from-the-mountain Shilajit with 60% fulvic acid!”
“Don’t miss out on this limited time offer! Ancient, pure Shilajit with 75% fulvic acid!”
Do taglines like these feel familiar? Shilajit & fulvic acid product sellers are constantly touting their “out-of-this-world” fulvic percentages in the faces of their potential consumers. But with fulvic percentage claims so often ranging from 50%+, one fact becomes clear amongst the barrage: the classification and regulation of fulvic acid content in products is off the charts.
Literally.
The regulation of fulvic acid content testing & labeling is an extremely overlooked aspect of the shillajit & fulvic product markets. Unfortunately, this lack of standardization leaves the door open for companies to sell products slathered with advertising lies. Luckily, there’s a solution already waiting in the wings…
The LAMAR Method.
But wait! Before we discuss the intricacies of why the LAMAR method is more accurate compared to other methods for quantifying fulvic acid, we should talk about why previous fulvic acid testing methods aren’t up to snuff…
Fulvic Percentage Testing: Pre-LAMAR
Fulvic acid as a substance is tricky to quantify because, as remnant from the breakdown of plants, it’s typically found lounging amongst fellow humic acids in their own various paths of plant-substance breakdown. Therefore, both fulvic & humic acids are made from the same base elements. The difference between them is their bonding structures.
To put it simply: both humic & fulvic acids are compounds of the same “ingredients” but not of the same bonds.
Naturally, this means that a simple test to tell you what ingredients form the makeup of a fulvic acid, or shilajit, product will be insufficient in the grand scheme of figuring out what percent of those ingredients are bonded in such a way that fulvic acid exists.
This creates a big advertising loophole for companies selling “pure” and “ancient” shilajit & fulvic products. If they use a test that doesn’t accurately separate the humic and fulvic substances, the results make it seem as though their non-refined shilajit contains up to 75% fulvic acid! An astronomically high number for a product that claims to have no chemical refining.
That’s where the LAMAR Method comes in…
Fulvic Percentage Testing: Post-LAMAR
The LAMAR Method was created in 2014 as a response to meet the rising demand for a reliable way to quantify fulvic acid.
It uses methods approved by the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) to separate humic & fulvic acids in a product by taking advantage of their elemental bonding differences. The result calculated by the LAMAR Method is the true fulvic acid percentage in a product.
Put simply: the LAMAR Method takes into account the ingredient bonds that make fulvic acid within a product. Not just the individual ingredients that could make fulvic acid.
Unfortunately, even companies that know that LAMAR is more accurate don’t want to stunt their fulvic acid numbers. So, they refer to less accurate methods. Hence, the loophole we mentioned earlier.
This frustrating revelation may have left you asking…
Why Isn’t This Method Mandatory?
As rampant as the lies within the fulvic acid industry are, there is no specific testing method required by lawmakers to quantify fulvic acid sold to consumers. That leaves it up to you to sleuth out the truth of any fulvic products you’re interested in buying.
And while there are a few at home methods for testing any shilajit or fulvic acid product you receive, one of the easiest ways to check a product’s legitimacy before wasting your money is to look for a Certificate of Analysis (COA). If you can’t find one directly on a company’s website, you can absolutely request one. Any company that cares for you will be transparent about the substances they’re giving you to put into your body.
On a Certificate of Analysis, you should see: a batch number that matches the one listed for sale to you, a date of when the analysis was done, and the testing method for each analysis performed on the product.
This means that the COA should list tests like: the LAMAR Method for fulvic acid, ICP-MS for heavy metals, & ICP-OES for minerals.
Solutions & Stress Saving
As unfair as it is to shoulder you with the responsibility of regulating your own shilajit & fulvic products, finding a legitimate fulvic acid product is worth the trouble.
Despite the scams, there are still solutions out there. And thankfully you can be informed on how to utilize them.
Overwhelmed by investigating?
We here at Operation American Grit are committed to distributing reliable fulvic acid & provide an up-to-date Certificate of Analysis right on our website for our very legit fulvic mineral powder!
Leave a Reply