Can Chinese medicine be boiled for a third time?

Most decoctions are made by patients themselves, and the quality of the decoction is also an important factor affecting the efficacy. Although everyone may have eaten Chinese medicinal herbs, do you really know how to cook them? Next, let’s take a closer look at the scientific method of decocting Chinese medicinal materials!

How to choose a container for decocting Chinese medicine?

The quality of Chinese herbal medicine is closely related to the decocting equipment used. Li Shizhen mentioned in Compendium of Materia Medica: "When decocting Chinese medicine, avoid using copper utensils." The stone pot is a traditional cooking tool used since ancient times, but the commonly used purple clay pot medicine pot not only retains the advantages of the stone pot, but also has a better heating speed and is easier to clean.

How to soak and soak Chinese medicinal materials in advance?

Some patients always clean Chinese medicinal materials like washing dishes, but in fact, Chinese herbal medicines generally do not need to be washed. If you need to clean it, just rinse it with tap water to prevent the outflow of ingredients.

Moderate color: Chinese medicinal materials of normal color should be soaked for 10-20 minutes before decocting.

Soft color: If the prescription is dominated by herbal medicines with loose and light colors, then soaking for 5 minutes at the beginning will be sufficient.

Solid color: For prescriptions dominated by hard color, minerals, small animals, and scale shells, the soaking time should be increased as much as possible, but generally the soaking time should not exceed 30 minutes.

A special reminder to everyone is that the longer the soaking time is, the better, otherwise it will cause the Chinese medicinal materials to mold. When soaking Chinese medicinal materials, you must use cold water. If you encounter hard components such as crustaceans, you can use warm boiled water to soak them appropriately.

How to decoct Chinese medicinal materials correctly?

1. Frequency of decoction of Chinese medicinal materials

Generally speaking, if a dose of Chinese herbal medicine is decocted only once, the absorption of the herbal medicine will not be complete, so it is better to decoct it twice. For prescriptions with large dosages, they can be fried a third time, especially those with nourishing and health-preserving Chinese medicinal materials and relatively solid materials.

Cook for the first time: pour the medicine into the medicine pot and spread it flat, add water to soak it, and when pushing the Chinese medicinal materials, the water should be about 1cm higher than the surface of the medicine (approximately so that the two ends of the Chinese medicinal materials are aligned with the surface of the hand after pushing them).

Cook for the second time: less water is needed, just add water to the surface of the medicinal materials. If the color of the Chinese medicinal materials is firm, the water flow rate can be slightly more; if the decocting time is short, the liquid level can just submerge the medicine.

2. Decoction degree of Chinese medicinal materials

Attention should be paid to the doneness of decocted medicines. It is now generally boiled over low heat first, and then changed to low heat (slow heat) to maintain a slight boil after the water boils. At this time, the frying time is calculated. Generally, the first frying time is 30-60 minutes, and the second frying time is about 30 minutes.

If it is a cold powder or heat-clearing medicine, it is better to use a low fire, boil it for 15-20 minutes, and drink it warm. If it is a tonic medicine, the decocting time can be extended to about 60 minutes and taken warm.