Do I need to cover the lid when decocting Chinese medicine?

Nowadays, many people take Chinese medicine to cure their illnesses. With the popularity of Chinese medicine, some jars for boiling Chinese medicine have appeared on the market. But what’s strange is that some jars have no lids while some have lids, and the merchants have different explanations for this phenomenon. Many people have disputes about whether the lid should be covered when decocting Chinese medicine. Now let’s listen to what an old Chinese doctor says.

Should I cover the lid when decocting Chinese medicine?

There are many issues that need to be paid attention to during the decoction process of Chinese medicine, such as whether to add a lid when decocting Chinese medicine.

In order to make sure that Chinese medicine slices are boiled thoroughly and the effective ingredients in the medicine are fully decocted, it is better to cover the decocting area. Especially when the decocted medicine contains ingredients that can evaporate with water vapor, such as mint, patchouli, amomum, etc., it is best to cover the decoction. This allows water vapor containing volatile components of the medicine to condense inside the lid and turn into water droplets that drip back into the medicine jar, thereby reducing the loss of active ingredients in the medicine.

For most roots, seeds or animal medicines with solid texture, such as ginseng, astragalus, polygonatum, ophiopogon, schisandra, gecko, dragon bone, etc., they should also be covered during decoction. This will allow more effective ingredients of the medicine to be decocted within a limited time, thereby improving the efficacy of the medicine.

For those Chinese medicinal materials with loose texture and large volume, such as loofah, scutellaria baicalensis, chrysanthemum, mulberry leaf, etc., they should not be covered during decoction because the medicinal liquid is easy to overflow, and they should be stirred at any time to ensure that it is evenly decocted.

Boil the false boiling medicine for a while longer

When the medicine is cooked, people generally think it is boiling with a "gurgling" sound. However, some herbs, such as Adenophora Root, Panax Notoginseng, Achyranthes Bidentata, Licorice, Platycodon, etc., will have a false boiling phenomenon, that is, the medicine will start to boil before the temperature reaches 100°C. If the medicine is taken off the fire at this time, the active ingredients in the herbs will not dissolve and the efficacy will be affected.

Boiled water is needed for cooking medicine

Nowadays, people are a bit "lazy" when making medicine and just use tap water. In fact, you cannot take shortcuts when using water for boiling medicine. You still have to let the boiled water cool down before using it. This is because tap water in some places is often disinfected with chlorine, which has more or less residues. At the same time, tap water contains more calcium and magnesium ions, which can easily react with the compounds in the medicinal materials and affect the efficacy.

Merchants, after reading the above, should you take action? Go back quickly and put lids on your medicine jars and stop lying to people. The lid can effectively retain the medicinal effects of the medicine, so you must cover the lid when decocting Chinese medicine. In addition, taking medicine for a long time can also have certain harmful effects on the body, so everyone must take good care of their bodies.