What is the Tibetan Herbal System?
The Herbal Research Department
Cultivation of Herbal Plants

    What is the Tibetan Herbal System?

It is known that the Tibetan healing system is one of the world's oldest known healing traditions dating back to such ancient remedies as applying barley residue from Tibetan beer to reduce swelling and using melted butter to stem bleeding. These and similar practices gradually formed the basis of the science of Tibetan healing known today. Sorig, the trademark name used for these Tibetan herbal products, literally translates as The Science of Healing.

Traditional Tibetan healing is a holistic system and takes into consideration the overall relationship between the mind, body, spirit and it's outside environments. It looks at the balance of the three main body energies, which are the root cause of a healthy mind and inner and outer body along with the five cosmic energies that surround us in our external environment. When these energies are out of balance our skin and bodies are prone to ill health.


    The Herbal Research Department

Tibetan Natural Ltd's Sorig range of herbal products come from the Herbal Products Research Department (HPRD) unit of Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamsala, India. Men-Tsee- Khang is a charitable, cultural and educational institution that functions under the guidance and support of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. This department produces herbal health supplements, cosmetics etc., in order to spread the use of natural herbal products so people can lead a healthy life in today's fast paced modern world.

These natural products are made with great care and respect for the environment. Organically grown and sustainably planted, these herbs benefit from some of the purest and most natural conditions in the world. Tibet is known as "The Roof of the World" being the highest point in the globe resulting in most of the ingredients being grown at 3000 meters above sea level. Its pure rarefied air, lack of soil pollution and pure waters help create highly effective premium quality products. Tibetan medical students, who are highly trained by the Tibetan Medical Institute on how and when to select the best plants, pick the herbs by hand.

Sorig products contain no animal ingredients nor are they tested on animals. Time and careful studies were carried out to ensure that original Tibetan recipes that in the past used animal products were replaced with equally efficacious plant based alternatives.

Each new product is thoroughly researched, blending modern methods and ancient Tibetan traditions and natural ingredients. Tibetan and non-Tibetan scholars are consulted during this process to assess the quality of natural ingredients and to ensure maximum consumer safety. The formulations are ancient and based on Tibetan pharmacopoeia and manufactured from the finest and purest ingredients under the strict supervision of highly trained and qualified Tibetan pharmacists.

This mix of traditional and herbal, ancient and modern knowledge, along with the highest quality growing conditions, ensure that Sorig products bring you the most effective naturally based products. The main aim and objective of this department is to keep and preserve the knowledge of secret natural health and beauty remedies for the benefit of mankind and to also make aware to the common people the use of natural herbs.


    Cultivation of Herbal Plants

Due to excessive use of herbal plants in alternative systems, many of them are on the verge of extinction or getting rare. In order to maintain the sustainable utilization of plants in Tibetan healing, this department undertook the work of cultivating some of the commonly used herbal plants at Sonada (a place which was rented by the Tibetan Settlement of Sonada) Darjeeling (W.B.) India with the financial support from COSPE, SIRENZI, Italy. During the tenure of one year, some of the herbal plants are growing well in this region. This gained us the inspiration for further development in this field. Popularity and interest towards Tibetan healing has tremendously increased over the years. One of the main reasons could be the use of herbs in compounding products which don't have any side-effects. Many have shown concern regarding the preservation of these herbs and have put forward questions on that.

1. What is the methods of compounding and time of collecting the herbal plants? Tibetan healing products are formulated according to their taste and potency. Ingredients of similar taste and potency are compounded in a product which helps to reduce the coarse potency and its side-effect. Roots, branches and stems are collected in Autumn. Leaves, milky latex and seedlings are collected in the Monsoon season. Flowers and fruits are collected when they are ripe. Barks, cortex and resin are collected in Spring. The herbal ingredients of the purgation are collected during Autumn and the emetic herbal ingredients are collected during Spring. If the herbal plants are not collected in time then they can not produce the actual healing effect.

2. How can herbal plants produce different tastes and potency? According to Tibetan healing taste and potency of the plants originate from the five elements such as Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Space. Roughly speaking, by the combination and predominance of two elements six different tastes are produced; sweet, sour, salty, bitter, hot and astringent. For example, predominance of the Earth and Water elements produce a sweet taste which has potency to reduce coughing caused during old age and the childhood period. This further helps to increase bodily strength. Likewise predominance of five elements will show different potency. 3. What are the classifications of materia medica in Tibetan healing? The entire Tibetan materia medica is categorized into eight classes: Precious metal & Gem medicine, Soil medicine, Stone medicine, Wood medicine, Aromatic medicine, Thang-sman (Herb medicine), Herb medicine and Animal medicine.

4. Does the herbal plant's potency fades away if there are kept for a long period?
Generally it is recommended to use the herbs within one year of storage. If the collected herbs are not able to be used within this period then they will lose their therapeutic potency. Therefore in order to use the herbs in a later period it is necessary to preserve them in the form of concentrated decocti to maintain their therapeutic potency. By doing so it retains their healing effect over two to three years.

5. How can we preserve the herbal plants?
After collecting and properly drying plants they should be kept free from moist areas, strong odorous medicinal plants, sun light, and fire and smoke. These sort of factors are not only harmful, but also reduce the potency of herbal plants.

6. Are there any herbal plants used in Tibetan healing for health tonic?
For example: Drosera peltata has potency to strengthen the body and clarity of sense organs etc. By blending this sort of herb with other medicinal plants of similar taste & potency they can be used to manufacture a health tonic.

7. Tibetan herbal plants are found in what kind of altitude?
The herbal plants are usually found around 3000m above sea level. Some of them grow between 4000m to 5000m above sea level on the slopes of high mountains.

8. Have you taken measures to prevent the extinction of the herbal plants?
If the herbs are continuously used for various purposes without making any effort towards cultivation then the extinction of herbal plants could be possible. However, in order to preserve the herbal plants for the health and benefit of future generations it is very essential to cultivate the plants. For this purpose our department engages in cultivating herbal plants in Darjeeling.

9. What are the methods of cultivating herbal plants without affecting their therapeutic potency?
Tibetan healing gives importance to the habitat and altitude of the herbal plants. If the cool potency herbal plants are not able to grow in the cooler regions then there will be a difference in their potency. Therefore, the cool potency herbal plants must be grown in cooler regions like the shady regions of high mountains. This method greatly helps to retain their particular potency.

10. How many herbal plants are there in Tibetan healing?
Though there are lots of Tibetan scriptures available on the herbal plants, the main text on Tibetan herbal plants is the "Shel-gong & Shel-phreng" composed by De'umar Tenzin Phuntsok in the 17th century. Shel-gong includes the brief introduction of 915 herbal plants.

Shel-phreng encompasses detailed descriptions and classification of 2294 herbal plants with their potency and synonyms.

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