Should I soak the decocted Chinese medicine first?

Chinese medicinal materials come from many sources, including plants, animals, animal shells, fossils, etc. Chinese medicine is generally collected plants, but directly collected plants cannot be used, most of them need to be processed. There are many ways to prepare it, such as boiling, frying, and making with honey. The processed Chinese medicine is what we buy in pharmacies on a daily basis. After the Chinese medicine is prepared, there are also certain requirements for the cooking method. Some medicines are boiled first, some are decocted, and some are added later.

Many people who take Chinese medicine are accustomed to taking the herbs according to the doctor's prescription and then decocting them at home. However, due to differences in the decocting methods and time of the herbs, the efficacy of the medicines is also different. In a pharmacy in Changchun City, the reporter saw Ms. Li who was picking up medicine with a prescription. She said that she always boiled the medicine herself after picking it up, and she felt that she would be more careful in boiling the medicine at home, and the method of decocting the medicine was not difficult. The reporter learned from the pharmacy staff that there are many people like Ms. Li who make their own medicine. Although the pharmacy also provides decoction services, some older people are mostly willing to take the medicine home and make it themselves.

No need to wash the herbs

Many people are unsure as to whether medicinal materials need to be washed. "Of course they need to be washed, otherwise it will be very dirty, just like processing vegetables, wash them first." "No need to wash, otherwise the medicinal effect will be washed away." In response to these two voices, the reporter interviewed Chai Guoli, director of the pharmacy of Shengxiutang Chinese Medicine Hospital. She said that medicinal materials do not need to be washed, because Chinese herbal medicines are all processed in pharmaceutical factories, so there is no need to wash them again, especially some medicinal materials are in powder form, washing will cause loss of medicinal materials, and some medicinal materials are processed with auxiliary materials such as wine, salt, and vinegar. For example, wine-processed Polygonatum sibiricum is made with wine, and vinegar-processed Corydalis yanhusuo is made with vinegar, so once washed, the active ingredients of the medicine will be lost.

"Sometimes, the medicine is not very clean. You can see ash when you pick it, and there is residue at the bottom of the cup after the medicine is decocted. What can you do?" In response to this problem, Director Chai suggested that if the medicine is not clean enough, you can let the medicine liquid stand for a while after decocting it. After the impurities are settled, pour out the medicine liquid on top to filter out the impurities.

You must soak the medicine before decocting it.

Before decocting the medicine, people say that it needs to be soaked for a while. In response to this statement, Dr. Chen Yongzhi from the Jingkai Hospital affiliated to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine gave a positive answer. The medicine must be fully soaked before decocting. Although under normal circumstances, the soaking time of flowers, grasses and leaves is short, and the soaking time of stems, seeds and crustaceans is long, but usually, the medicines brought back are generally group medicines one dose at a time, and there is no need to pick out rhizomes or animals. Therefore, when soaking, you can take an intermediate value and soak it in cold water for 40 minutes. It is recommended to soak the medicines together because the soaking process is also a process of physical and chemical reaction. However, Dr. Chen also reminded that medicines should not be soaked for too long in summer, otherwise they may rot.

Just boil the medicine twice

Regarding the number of times the medicine is decocted, Director Chai said that it used to be decocted three times, but later science proved that the active ingredients of the medicine were basically gone after the third decoction, so now it is generally sufficient to decoct it twice. As for many people who like to add more water, or add water in the middle of decocting the medicine, Director Chai said that these are all wrong. Do not add water several times in the middle, and do not boil the medicine until it is dry and then add water to boil it again. In general, the amount of water should be such that after pressing the herbs with your hand, the water is 2 to 5 cm higher than the herbs. If there are more herbal herbs among the herbs, you can add more water. If there are more seeds and other non-water-absorbing herbs, you can add less water. For the second decoction, add water 1 to 3 cm higher than the medicinal materials. When cooking the medicine, simmer for 30 minutes after the water boils for the first time, and simmer for 20 minutes after the second boil. Then mix the two doses of medicine together and divide them into equal portions.

Sun Li, director of the Department of Geriatrics at the First Clinical Hospital of Jilin Academy of Chinese Medicine, pointed out that in a prescription, some medicinal materials need to be added later, such as costus root, which will only work if it is boiled for a long time, so it should be added 20 minutes after the first decoction. However, some medicines, such as dragon bone and oyster, need to be decocted for 10 minutes first, and American ginseng needs to be decocted for two hours in advance, and then decocted with other medicines. Some medicines need to be wrapped in gauze during the decocting process, so when getting the medicine, you should first understand whether there is a special decocting method for the medicine. When decocting medicine at home, you should choose a casserole or stainless steel pot to decoct the medicine, and be careful not to have oil in the pot. Aluminum pots and iron pots are prohibited. Once some of the medicine is boiled dry, all the medicine must be poured away.