The 12 biochemic tissue salts, explained simply

You may have seen the names on a shelf or in a relative’s cupboard. Short names like “Nat Mur” or “Calc Phos”. People call them tissue salts, or biochemic salts. There are twelve of them.

This piece explains what the twelve are, in plain words. It is based on how the official BHMS course teaches them. It will not tell you what any salt is for, or which one to take. Our source does not say that, and a general article should not either.

Where the twelve appear in a homoeopathy course

The course for a homoeopathic doctor in India is the BHMS degree. Its syllabus is set by the National Commission for Homoeopathy, the NCH.

The tissue salts appear in the very first subject a student meets: Homoeopathic Materia Medica, in the first year. Materia Medica is the study of medicines and what is recorded about them.

They show up in two places in that subject:

• In the opening chapter, “Introductory Lectures”, one topic reads: “Theory of biochemic system of medicine, its comparison with Homoeopathy and study of 12 biochemic tissue salts with their physico-chemical reaction.”
• The third and last chapter is simply called “Biochemic tissue salts”. It lists the twelve names.

That is the whole of what our source says about them. It is a short entry. We will stay inside it.

A system of its own

Look again at the first topic. It calls the biochemic system “a system of medicine”. And it asks students to compare it with Homoeopathy.

That is an important detail. You only compare two things that are different. So the course does not teach tissue salts as simply “a kind of homoeopathy”. It teaches the biochemic system as its own system, with its own theory, and sets it beside homoeopathy to be studied and compared.

It is easy to mix the two up, because the salts sit so close to homoeopathy, even in the same course. The syllabus keeps them apart. We think that is worth knowing.

The twelve names

The syllabus lists them in short form, like this:

Calc Flour, Calc Phos, Calc Sulph, Ferr Phos, Kali Mur, Kali Phos, Kali Sulph, Mag Phos, Nat Mur, Nat Phos, Nat Sulph and Silicea.

These look like code, but they are just shortened chemical names. The first part names a mineral base, such as calcium (“Calc”), iron (“Ferr”), potassium (“Kali”), magnesium (“Mag”) or sodium (“Nat”). The second part names what it is combined with, such as phosphate (“Phos”), sulphate (“Sulph”) or chloride (“Mur”). Silicea stands alone.

So each tissue salt is a mineral compound. That is where the word “salt” comes from. In chemistry, a salt is a compound of this kind, not only the salt on your dining table.

What “physico-chemical” means here

The syllabus asks students to study the salts “with their physico-chemical reaction”. Physico-chemical means to do with physics and chemistry together.

In plain words, students look at each salt as a real substance, with real chemical behaviour. It is science-class knowledge, used again in a medical course. It is not a list of uses.

Why this is not a do-it-yourself kit

Here is the honest part.

Twelve short names can look like a simple menu. It can feel as if you could just pick one for yourself. You cannot, not safely.

A student spends years learning how medicines are chosen, starting with a long conversation about the whole person. A list of twelve names does not replace that training. If you have a health concern, for yourself or for someone in your family, please see a qualified, registered practitioner. Tell them about anything you already take, including tissue salts. And keep your other doctors informed too.

If something feels urgent, do not wait. Go to the nearest hospital, or call 112.

The short version

• There are twelve biochemic tissue salts. Each is a mineral compound.
• The BHMS course teaches them in first-year Materia Medica.
• It treats the biochemic system as a separate system, compared with homoeopathy.
• The names are shortened chemistry: a base plus what it is combined with.
• They are not a self-help kit. Questions about taking any of them belong with a qualified practitioner.

Where to go next on this platform

The Materia Medica topic in Homoeopathy Knowledge explains the subject for any curious reader. If you are a BHMS student, the first-year Materia Medica room has a chapter-level study guide to the same twelve names. And “How a homoeopathic medicine gets its name”, in the Homoeopathic Pharmacy topic, explains why medicine names are shortened the way they are.