How to decoct the medicine after taking traditional Chinese medicine

Chinese medicine needs to be decocted before it can be consumed by the human body, and people need to pay special attention to the heat, time and order of the decocted medicine, so as to avoid the loss of medicinal efficacy to a limited extent and achieve the best therapeutic effect. There are two ways to decoct Chinese medicine: pre-decocting and post-decocting. The purpose of post-decocting is to avoid the loss of efficacy of the medicine due to too long decoction time. So let's introduce in detail how to decoct the medicine after decoction.

Later addition: shorten the time of decocting Chinese medicine and reduce the loss of effective ingredients caused by long-term decoction. The general operation is: after other medicines have boiled, simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, then add the Chinese medicines that need to be added later and simmer for 5-10 minutes. These Chinese medicines include: ① Chinese medicines with aromatic smell, such as Amomum villosum; ② Chinese medicines whose effective ingredients are easily destroyed if boiled for a long time, such as Uncaria rhynchophylla and Senna leaves.

Cooking tips:

1. Container selection

The best decoction containers are ceramics and casseroles, followed by stainless steel pots, enamel pots and high-temperature resistant glassware, because these containers have stable chemical properties and are not easy to react chemically with the ingredients of the decocted Chinese medicine. Be sure to avoid using iron pots, copper pots and aluminum pots, because these elements can react chemically with certain ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine, which is not conducive to the treatment of the disease.

2. Preprocessing

Step 1: "Look" Before decocting Chinese medicine, you should first check the quality of the medicine. If you find any problems such as insect infestation or mildew, you should deal with them in time; the second thing is to check whether there are any Chinese medicines that do not require special treatment. If so, they should be placed separately and treated with special methods.

Step 2: "Soak" Add appropriate amount of water to soak the Chinese herbal medicines brought back from the pharmacy for 20 to 30 minutes. For light Chinese herbal medicines and when the temperature is high, the soaking time should be shorter, while for heavy Chinese herbal medicines and when the temperature is low, the soaking time should be longer. The purpose is to make the Chinese herbal medicines moist and soften, which is conducive to the extraction of effective ingredients.

3. Decoction

1. Water for decoction: Generally, unpolluted tap water can be used. Avoid using repeatedly boiled water or overnight water to decoct Chinese medicine.

2. Amount of water added: The empirical amount of water added is 3 to 5 cm above the surface of the medicine; the theoretical calculation is to add 10 mL of water for every 1 g of Chinese medicine, 70% of the total water is used for the first decoction, and the remaining 30% is used for the second decoction.

3. Fire for decoction and boiling: Generally, you should follow the principle of "high fire first, then low fire", that is, use high fire before boiling to make the water boil quickly, and use low fire after boiling to keep it slightly boiling to reduce water evaporation.

4. Decoction time: The decoction time is calculated from boiling. Generally, the first decoction of antipyretic drugs takes 10 to 15 minutes, and the second decoction takes 10 minutes; the first decoction of tonic drugs takes 30 to 40 minutes, and the second decoction takes 25 to 30 minutes. The decoction time is controlled because long-term high-temperature decoction will damage plant cells and increase the insoluble and ineffective components in the medicine solution. Moreover, there is a risk of burning the medicine if it is boiled for a long time.

5. Number of decoctions: Generally, 2 to 3 decoctions are enough to extract 80% to 90% of the ingredients in the Chinese medicine. After decoction, filter out the decoction in time, mix the decoction each time and take it in several doses.

4. Special treatment

Depending on the nature of the medicine, some medicines should be processed by special methods such as decocting first, adding later, decocting in a wrapped form, melting, and decocting separately. Due to the lack of relevant professional knowledge, many patients will decoct Chinese medicines that require special treatment together with group medicines. This is very inappropriate.

1. Decoction first: prolong the decoction time of Chinese medicine so that the insoluble components in the medicine can be decocted as much as possible. Generally, the medicine that needs to be decocted first is boiled over high heat and then simmered over low heat for 10 to 20 minutes before being combined with other soaked Chinese medicines for decocting. These Chinese medicines include: ① animal bones such as turtle shell and tortoise shell; ② minerals such as gypsum; ③ some toxic Chinese medicines such as raw Chuanwu and raw Caowu, which can be decocted for 1-2 hours before use to greatly reduce their toxicity.

2. Add later: shorten the time of decocting Chinese medicine and reduce the loss of effective ingredients caused by long-term decoction. The general operation is: after other medicines have boiled, simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes, then add the Chinese medicines that need to be added later and simmer for 5-10 minutes. These Chinese medicines include: ① Chinese medicines with aromatic smell, such as Amomum villosum; ② Chinese medicines whose effective ingredients are easily destroyed if boiled for a long time, such as Uncaria rhynchophylla and Senna leaves.

3. Package decoction: put the Chinese medicine into a cotton bag and decoct it together with other medicines. These Chinese medicines include: ① Chinese medicinal materials that contain more starch and mucus, such as Plantago seed, Lemongrass seed, etc., to prevent the bottom of the pot from sticking during decocting; ② Chinese medicinal materials rich in villi, such as Inula flower, loquat leaf, etc., to prevent the fallen villi from irritating the throat.

4. Melting: Add the gelatinous Chinese medicine into the decocted medicine liquid or clean water and heat it to dissolve. The purpose is to prevent the decoction from becoming sticky and affecting the extraction of other effective ingredients of Chinese medicine or sticking to the bottom of the pot, such as donkey-hide gelatin and deer antler glue.

5. Separate decoction: This means that precious Chinese medicinal materials such as ginseng and American ginseng are decocted separately in suitable containers to extract the juice, and then the residue is added to other groups of medicines for decoction. The purpose is to reduce the adsorption of other residues on the effective ingredients of precious medicinal materials during group decoction.