Nowadays, Chinese medicine is becoming more and more popular, but when you take home a bag of Chinese herbs, how to decoct and consume them correctly? Let's talk about it.
01 A vessel for boiling medicine
First of all, we have to choose a good tool for decoction. Now some friends don’t care much about this. It’s wrong to boil Chinese medicine in aluminum pots that are usually used for cooking. Generally speaking, Chinese medicine can’t be cooked in metal utensils, because the various metal components contained in metal utensils will interact with them. The ingredients of some traditional Chinese medicines produce chemical reactions, and some of the heavy metals in them will be absorbed by the human body after being separated out, thus affecting the health of the human body. Please remember, you can’t use enamel pots to boil Chinese medicine, because enamel pots will also precipitate chemical substances during the process of boiling medicine, so it is best to use casserole or medicine pot to cook Chinese medicine. Generally, Chinese medicine stores sell medicine pots. Yes, it costs more than ten yuan each, and it is not expensive, and it will be sold in grocery stores. However, some friends will find that the medicine pot will leak when it starts to cook, why is this? It turns out that medicine pots fired with mud will have some gaps. The traditional method is to boil some corn flour in the medicine pot before using it for the first time. After boiling, the gaps in the medicine pot will be blocked. If you use a casserole to cook medicine, remember not to use a high fire at the beginning, otherwise the casserole will crack. Use a low fire first, and then increase the firepower appropriately after the casserole is completely heated.
02 The order of boiling medicine
Before boiling the medicine, you need to soak the medicine in water for about half an hour, so that more active ingredients will be boiled out, otherwise, after the medicine is boiled, you will check that the inside of many medicines (such as Poria cocos) is still dry. Of course it was wasted.
When boiling medicine, you must first pay attention to see if it is boiled first as ordered by the doctor. In traditional Chinese medicine, some medicines, such as: raw keel, raw oyster, turtle shell, turtle shell, magnet, raw gypsum and other active ingredients are difficult to decoct. Therefore, it needs to be decocted first. Generally, pharmacies will give you a single pack. You need to cook them in the medicine pot for more than half an hour before adding other medicines.
There are special drugs in traditional Chinese medicine, such as aconitum. This drug has certain toxicity. The main toxic component is aconitine. This toxic component will be destroyed when it is boiled for about an hour. Be sure to boil it for about half an hour first, then add other medicines, and boil it for another half hour, so that it can be boiled for a full hour. If the dosage is large, it is better to boil until the aconite is tasted with the mouth, and the numbness will no longer be felt.
In addition, there are medicines such as Zaoxin soil, because what needs to be taken is its thick and pure fragrance to neutralize the evil, so the traditional method of Chinese medicine is to use it to boil water first, then filter out the medicine dregs, and use it to boil out The water used to decoct other medicines.
Some medicines need to be added later, such as Huoxiang, Peilan, Baikouren, Amomum and other aromatic medicines. Their volatile substances are easy to dissipate, so they need to be taken when the medicine is about to be boiled. Put it into the medicine and decoct it for about four or five minutes.
Sometimes, it is necessary to consider the method of decoction according to the condition. For example, some cold patients have external cold and internal heat, so my experience is to decoct the medicines that clear internal heat, such as Scutellaria baicalensis, forsythia, double flower, and raw gypsum. When the decoction is ready, put the medicines for relieving external cold, such as persimmon leaves and scallions, into the medicine, then turn off the fire immediately, and let it suffocate for five minutes. Much better.
Some medicines, such as inulae, talc, etc., because their dregs can irritate the digestive tract, so they need to be wrapped in cloth and then put into a medicine pot for frying.
In the past, there were some traditional decoction methods, such as Liuyisan for clearing heat and dampness, wrapped with fresh lotus leaves and then fried in medicine, which has better curative effect, but few people do it now.
In the past, fresh reed root was used to boil water, and then this water was used to boil heat-clearing and detoxifying medicines, so that the clearing power was stronger, but now because the preservation of fresh medicines is a problem, almost no one boils medicines like this. I heard that some pharmacies have started to sell fresh reed root in vacuum packaging, which is a good sign.
03The heat and time of boiling medicine
When cooking the medicine, follow the principle of boiling the medicine on a high fire and decocting the medicine on a low fire. You can’t keep boiling it on a high fire, otherwise it will dry out quickly.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the length of time to boil the medicine is related to the location of the disease. If the disease is located in the lower burner, it needs to be boiled for a longer time to make the medicine taste thicker and sinks. If the disease is located in the upper burner, it needs to be boiled for less time. , especially when the exogenous evil is in the lung meridian and needs to be relieved, the medicine is usually boiled just after the pot is boiled, and "the fragrance is strong".
If it is a general traditional Chinese medicine, it is usually boiled for 20 minutes first, then a bowl of medicinal juice is filtered out, then add water, boil for another 15 minutes, then filter out a bowl of medicinal juice, add water, boil for another 15 minutes, and then filter out One bowl of concoction, and then three bowls of concoction mixed, and then heated up, you can drink it. The medicine boiled in this way has ingredients that can be boiled for 20 minutes, and ingredients that can be boiled for tens of minutes. , so it is more comprehensive.
04Time and method of taking medicine
After the medicine is boiled, it is also very knowledgeable to drink the medicine. In clinical practice, doctors will encounter many patients asking when to drink Chinese medicine. In fact, it depends entirely on the patient's condition.
There are very few patients who are allergic to certain types of drugs. When we read medical papers, we will find that there are often reports of allergies. Although this is very rare, it is like anesthetics in Western medicine. A certain proportion of people must be allergic. This It is the characteristic of the drug, but we must pay attention to it. Therefore, I suggest that everyone should try to drink the first drug when drinking the drug. For example, if you should drink a bowl, drink a third If there is no problem, then drink the remaining two-thirds. If there is no problem, then drink according to the normal dosage. This is what everyone who takes medicine should pay attention to.
I usually give this reminder to every patient, especially when there are insect drugs in the medicine, because many people are allergic to alloproteins, so special reminders should be made.
Under normal circumstances, it is important to drink Chinese medicine before breakfast and after dinner, but this is just a general principle. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that if you are taking tonic Chinese medicine, especially Chinese medicine that enters the kidney meridian, it is best to take it before meals, so that the medicine can go directly to the lower burnt. Take it after meals for better efficacy.
However, the time of taking the medicine should also be adjusted according to the patient's own experience. For example, some patients feel uncomfortable after taking traditional Chinese medicine, so they can take it after meals to reduce the stimulation of the medicine on the gastrointestinal tract. Generally, it is not recommended to take it after meals. Take the medicine right away, preferably half an hour later.
In clinical practice, Chinese medicine has also summed up some more practical methods of taking medicines. For example, it is best to take yang-tonifying medicines in the morning or in the morning, so that the medicines can play a greater role by taking advantage of the human body’s morning yang hair growth; Medicines for nourishing yin can be taken in the afternoon or evening, because the human body uses yin energy at night; while medicines for calming the nerves are best taken at night before going to bed, so that the effect is better.
In addition, there is also a method of taking medicine according to the strength and decline of the human meridian. For example, Ye Tianshi, a doctor in the Qing Dynasty, said: "The medicine for the kidney meridian should be taken in the morning", because traditional Chinese medicine believes that the early morning is the time when the kidney meridian is weakest. It will get twice the result with half the effort; and the medicine for removing heart fire is best taken at noon, because the heart meridian is in season at this time, and the medicine can directly break the heart fire; the medicine for invigorating the spleen can be taken in the evening, because the spleen and stomach meridian qi is the weakest at this time , the tonic effect is better.
At the same time, Chinese medicine also pays attention to adjusting the method of taking medicine according to the patient's condition. For example, if the patient takes the medicine for diarrhea, then it depends on the condition of the patient's diarrhea. If the patient's stool does not have diarrhea, then continue to take it. If you have diarrhea, you must adjust the dosage in time. In the classic "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" of traditional Chinese medicine, it is prescribed to take Dachengqi Decoction. Righteousness.
However, some medicines cannot be taken twice a day. For example, if the condition is urgent, it needs to be taken frequently. It is often recorded in ancient medical books that the medicine should be boiled in a big pot at this time and taken frequently at any time; For diseases, the best way to take medicine is to sip frequently, that is, to drink in small sips, then hold it in your mouth for a while, and then swallow it slowly.
In addition, the dietary taboos when taking traditional Chinese medicine are also very important. If handled well, it can even help the traditional Chinese medicine to enhance its efficacy. After that, drink some hot gruel, which can help the body generate stomach qi and get rid of evil spirits.
Therefore, after taking traditional Chinese medicine, it is best to have a light diet, and avoid heavy creams, fish and meat, because these factors will affect the absorption of medicines, and drinking some millet porridge, yam porridge, etc. can help the body’s stomach Qi recover quickly.
In addition, friends are most concerned about whether Chinese medicine and Western medicine can be taken at the same time. In fact, some ingredients in Chinese medicine will produce chemical reactions with Western medicine, such as iron preparations for iron deficiency anemia, enzyme preparations for indigestion, Antipyretic analgesics containing aminopyrine and other ingredients, and certain heart disease drugs such as digitalis preparations, etc., should not be taken together with traditional Chinese medicine, because these ingredients are prone to react with the tannin (róu) in some traditional Chinese medicine , affect the curative effect, and even produce harmful substances. Since each Chinese medicine has dozens or even hundreds of chemical components, it is still unclear which western medicines will react with it. Therefore, our suggestion is: it is best to take Chinese and Western medicines at least one hour apart.
It seems that the decoction and taking of traditional Chinese medicine are still very particular. You can consult the doctor at any time when you see a doctor to learn about the method of taking medicine that suits you.
