The gate of the Igoltinsky Datsan, a Tibetan Buddhist temple in the Buryat region of Russia, where Tibetan medicine still thrives.

At the cutting edge of nutrition science is the recognition that food is information containing complex molecular and energetic signals for various tissues and organ systems.

A far more ancient system—that of Tibetan medicine—holds that information is food. While the Tibetan view of health and illness puts great emphasis on diet and digestion, it gives equal attention to the processes of spiritual, mental and emotional assimilation. Tibetan medicine posits that gastrointestinal digestion has its parallels in the mental and emotional spheres as well.

“In the Tibetan medical model, a lot of reference is made to the mental and emotional digestion of an individual,” explained Vladimir Badmaev, MD, PhD, a Western-trained pathologist and immunopharmacologist who also belongs to a long lineage of traditional doctors from Buryat. This region of what is now Russia was once part of a vast Tibetan empire that extended far beyond what is currently recognized as Tibet. Tibetan medicine is still widely practiced in Buryat, and Dr. Badmaev is heir to both the theory and practices of these venerable healing sciences.

The concept of mental and emotional digestion is a practical and clinically useful way of approaching some of the most difficult clinical phenomenona: chronic disorders that seem to have deep psychosomatic components.

Purusa: The Empirical Soul

Tibetan medicine shares many of its basic precepts with the Indian system of Ayurveda (“Science of Life”). In addition to the physical body, these systems also recognize something Dr. Badmaev translates approximately as “the Empirical Soul,” which encompasses the mind, the five senses, intellect, ego, memory and emotions.

The classic texts (Caraka Samhita) describe the Empirical Soul as being comprised of the mind and its attributes, that is, the intellect, ego, memory and emotions; and the senses with their respective attributes, i.e., sound, touch, vision, taste and smell. The Empirical Soul will be referred here by the Sanskrit name Purusa.

Because it receives, records and analyzes information from the five senses, as well the impulses from the intellect and the ego, the mind is regarded as the most important component of Purusa, and it is regarded as a separate sixth sense. The mind processes the information provided to it, and this ultimately results in understanding. Proper understanding depends on how information reaches the mind and whether the mind is able to break down, sort, and assimilate that information. This is not really so different from what goes on in the alimentary tract, Dr. Badmaev pointed out. When sensory channels are blurred, or intellect and ego are disturbed, as is often the case with many disease states, there is either no understanding at all, or the world is perceived in a distorted form, resulting in illusions, delusions and destructive behaviors.

Inside the Temple of the Aginsky Datsan. Photos courtesy of Dr. Vladimir Badmaev.

The mind is also where our emotions and memory originate, and the two are definitely linked. Memory and emotions may assist or interfere with one another, said Dr. Badmaev. For example, most people can remember their exact whereabouts and the emotions they felt when they learned of the assassination of President Kennedy, or more recently, the September 11 attacks. Strong emotions have a way of engraving certain memories in our minds. On the other hand, they can also cloud the memory and distort understanding. Anyone who has experienced passionate love, hate, or jealousy readily knows how these emotions can alter one’s perspective. “We literally see and remember what a particular emotion allows us to see and remember.”

The intellect and ego are considered inseparable in the tradition of Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine. Intellect is the executive branch of Purusa, which manifests in the physical world whatever the mind has understood. At the same time, it also feeds back to the mind through continuous input from the physical world. It is by way of this constant feedback that an individual gains practical understanding of abstract concepts like right and wrong, relevance or irrelevance, danger or safety.

The ego, in the traditional view, is perceived as deriving from the intellect; it is the net result of the ongoing self-evaluation and validation process. The ego status is continuously communicated to the mind in the form of internal questions like, “How am I doing?” Eastern medicine differs somewhat from Western medicine in viewing an overly-strong ego as more of an obstacle than an asset to human personality. According to Western understanding, a strong ego is necessary for a healthy, integrated and rationally functioning personality. In the traditional view, the ego is seen as draining mental energy from an intellectual process which would otherwise be used for better integration of the individual with reality.

The two views are not entirely irreconcilable. Even Western psychology recognizes that an individual who is overly preoccupied with him/herself, or overly concerned with how he or she appears to other people, has very little energy left for genuine self-development.

Mental and Emotional Digestion

Traditional Tibetan/Ayurvedic medicine likens Purusa to the physical digestive tract that transforms food into the elemental nutrients that sustain physical life. The food for Purusa, however, is the complex volume of information that must be transformed into mental energy. Overall health depends on attaining harmonious digestion on both the physical level and at the level of Purusa. Proper physical digestion and the inner condition known as “peace of mind” are part and parcel of one another.

One of the main functions of the mind is to allow an individual to determine the combination of factors that allow him or her to realize optimal mental and emotional well-being. “No one is born with the solution, and seeking it is a given task for each of us,” Dr. Badmaev said. “The positive outcome of this search is both harmonious digestion and genuine peace of mind. Not serenity but true peace of mind, that is state of joyful but purposeful existence.”

But there are many forms of mental-emotional indigestion which inhibit an individual’s ability to integrate with his or her environment. Sooner or later, everyone experiences bouts of mental and emotional indigestion, gas, constipation and diarrhea. The key is to prevent them from becoming chronic.

Echoing the Buddhist tenets that underlie Tibetan medicine, Dr. Badmaev noted that many people have a peculiar tendency to cling to their emotional sufferings in much the same way that they cling to habits of eating foods which they know are not good for them. “Watching a mentally and emotionally anguished person, sometimes one has the impression of an owner who will not let go of something.” An individual who is fixated on some source of unhappiness or past injustice is impaired in his or her ability to “digest” the rich feast of information presented by life every day.

Traditional Pharmacology for Inner Digestion

	Vladimir Badmaev, MD.

Because Purusa is perceived as an empirical and material entity, its functioning can be, to some degree assisted pharmacologically. The Tibetan tradition defines a number of compound formulae designed to streamline the processes of mental and emotional digestion and prevent the mind or ego from becoming its own worst enemy. There are several formulae to diminish anxiety and allow people to have a more objective perception of themselves. “The purpose of any given pharmacological approach in Tibetan medicine is to assist the functioning of Purusa, not to replace it, since Purusa has the unique ability to heal itself unparalleled by any pharmacological treatment,” Dr. Badmaev said.

A number of herbal and mineral formulae used in Tibetan medicine have been preserved by the Badmaev family. These are viewed as “a kind of condensed food, which provides specific nutritive elements that the nervous system has been depleted of due to a disease.” These formulas typically have broad regulatory actions on mental and emotional digestion processes. For a number of years, Dr. Badmaev has been developing modern formulas based on his family’s knowledge. Several of these are now marketed by American Nutriceuticals as the Badmaev Tibetan line.

One such treatment used to treat substance abuse problems, cognitive difficulties and weakness of memory is a 16-herb combination known as Zorz, or more traditionally, Srogzyn. It is designed to attenuate damage to Purusa resulting from physical and psychological abuse. Zors contains Aloe wood (Aquilaria agallocha), Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), Frankincense (Boswelia carteri), Costus root (Costus speciosus), Willow (Salix purpurea) and Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida), among other herbs, and provides nutrients required for proper mental and emotional digestion. Dr. Badmaev’s modern formulation of this botanical complex is called Badmaev No. 151.

In the substance abuse context, it helps to clarify the intellectual processes, which are often impaired due to substance abuse. In doing so, it is believed to help break the vicious cycles associated with substance abuse by facilitating the patient’s own understanding of his predicament: the self-abuse, social withdrawal, destructive behaviors and denial reactions. “The therapeutic rationale is that perception of reality by the self-abusive person is distorted. Only bringing a more correct understanding back will result in true healing.”

The ingredients of Zorz, like most traditional formulas, are arranged into three therapeutic groups: the main acting ingredients which nourish and strengthen the nervous system, facilitating intellectual processes; the supportive ingredients that stabilize emotional reactions and facilitate patience; the third group of ingredients that prevent any potential side effects, and promote bioavailability of the main and supportive ingredients.

Another of Dr. Badmaev’s formulas, which improves blood circulation is now known as Badmaev 28 (formerly Padma 28), based on a traditional formula called Gabyr Nyringa. This contains 25 different herbs including Pimento (Amomum medicinalis), Columbine (Aquilegia viridifolia), Marigold (Calendula officinalis), Camphor (Camphora japonicum), Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), and Clove (Eugenia caryophyllus).

Studies of brain function during memory tasks show that increased ability to memorize is a function of increased blood flow in the hypothalamus. The Badmaev 28 formula was evaluated in a group of elderly patients with diminished memory due to poor circulation. The outcomes showed that all patients who completed six months of therapy (21 out of an initial 34 patients) with three 500-mg tablets of No. 28 daily, had improved memory scores. A majority of patients also reported subjective improvement in mental clarity, vital energy, sleep patterns and feelings of general well-being.

Raising the Tumo

Tibetan medical terminology describes mental energy as Tumo, which translates literally as, “Living Warmth.” The level of functioning of Purusa is believed to be contingent on the level of Tumo. A healthy Tumo is comparable to a state of high enthalpy or high degree of accumulated energy.

Maintaining and increasing Tumo is possible through spiritual efforts and practices such as active efforts to move away from fearful, depressed and self-destructive tendencies in the direction of being more energetic, adaptable and positive toward life and its challenges. But this may also require changes in lifestyle or nutrition. The Tibetan tradition describes a formula called Ledretan, which can raise the level of Tumo. This contains 26 plants including Tropical Almond (Terminalia chebula), Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha), Gentian (Gentiana barbata), Angelica (Angelica archangelica), Sunflower (Helianthus annus), and Fenugreek (Trigonella foenumgraecum).

According to Dr. Badmaev, Ledretan improves the economy of bioenergetic processes, conserving the energy for functioning of Purusa as well as improving utilization of that energy. In practical application, the formula has proven particularly useful in increasing resistance to disease. Ledretan was traditionally taken as a decoction for conditions characterized by altered thermoregulation, including influenza and the common cold. Ledretan was also used when someone was immunologically impaired, as in the period of convalescence from a disease. The modern form of Ledretan is Badmaev No. 269, which may be taken in capsule form or brewed as a more traditional decoction.

He has observed that Ledretan is also helpful in psychological states characterized by moodiness and depression, or persistent tiredness as in the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). It is thought that thermoregulation disturbances may occur in the course of mental depression, and in the condition of CFS.

He has undertaken a preliminary study of the No. 269 formula using cultures of epithelial cells similar to those lining the upper respiratory tract. When the cultured cells were infected with the influenza A virus in the presence of Ledretan, the infection was significantly less lethal, as compared to the control cultures. The formula showed a dose-dependent protective effect against the virus.

Dr. Badmaev believes Ledretan is thermoregulatory, and that its anti-viral effects are mediated by cytokines, which are known to affect both thermoregulation and immunologic responsiveness. “It is interesting to note that CFS and the associated fibromyalgia, are often discussed as immunologic conditions, which are generally worsened by stress,” he added.

Given his background in traditional medicine and his conventional allopathic training, Dr. Badmaev is in a unique position to compare pharmacologic approaches from traditional systems with those developed on modern biochemical principles. He noted that often the side effects of modern treatments can be counterproductive to the overall purpose of therapy. For example, conventional anti-depressants, “can cause male impotence, leading to feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteem which in principle are signs of depression.”

Equally counterproductive, according to traditional principles, is creation of static states of serene, unconcerned mind as is seen with some of the current heterocyclic anti-depressants. A truly effective therapy in the traditional view will streamline the process of mental and emotional digestion with an accentuation on a particularly compromised process of Purusa.

Traditional Ayurvedic and Tibetan concepts like the idea of mental and emotional digestion can have profound theoretical as well as practical impact in modern medical practice. By taking into account the psychic phenomena as well as the physical, physicians can open the possibility of self-healing locked within their patients. The therapeutic designs and pharmacologic formulas which have withstood the tests of centuries may help create a new generation of safe and effective treatments to assist the mental and emotional digestion in many different ways.

The Badmaev Tibetan Formulas are available exclusively from American Nutriceuticals, Sarasota, FL. For more information on these and other formulas, call toll-free 1-888-848-2548.