Is it better to take Chinese medicine before or after meals?

When is the best time to take Chinese medicine? I wonder if you have ever thought about this question. Chinese medicine also has a best time to take. Just like whether to drink it before or after meals, the effects of taking Chinese medicine will be completely different if you choose the right time periods. After all, Chinese medicine can only achieve the best effect according to the best time of taking it, so should Chinese medicine be taken before or after meals?

The time to take Chinese medicine should be determined according to the condition and the nature of the medicine. Most medicines should be taken after meals, especially tonic medicines (such as ginseng), stomachic medicines (such as Bupi Yichang Pills) and medicines that are more irritating to the gastrointestinal tract (such as Ganlu Xiaodu Tablets); anthelmintics (such as Wumei) and laxatives (such as Dachengqi Decoction) are better taken on an empty stomach; sedative Chinese medicines should be taken before bedtime. But whether you take the medicine before or after meals, there should be an interval of half an hour to one hour to avoid affecting the efficacy of the medicine.

Generally speaking, Chinese medicine usually needs to be taken orally three times a day. Those with mild symptoms can take it orally twice a day; those with more serious and urgent conditions can take the medicine once every 4 hours or so according to the doctor's instructions, including at night, so that the drug effect can last, which is conducive to faster relief of symptoms and alleviation of the condition.

Most Chinese medicines should be taken while warm. Diaphoretics must be taken hot to enhance their efficacy, while heat-clearing Chinese medicines are best taken after cooling.

What are the contraindications for taking Chinese medicine?

The contraindications of taking Chinese medicine can be roughly divided into three categories:

(1) Contraindications for the use of Chinese medicine: Certain drugs may produce opposite or antagonistic effects after formulation, which may reduce the efficacy of each other or cause toxic and side effects. Therefore, they should not be used together.

(2) Contraindications for use of drugs by pregnant women: Mainly to avoid fetal movement and abortion. Most pregnant women have poor tolerance to extremely cold or hot drugs, strong laxatives, blood-breaking and blood-stasis-removing drugs, and highly toxic drugs. Therefore, the relevant drugs must be avoided.

(3) Dietary taboos during medication: commonly known as dietary taboos, they are mainly to avoid interference factors when taking medicine in order to improve the efficacy of the medicine. They can be divided into two categories: dietary taboos corresponding to a certain medicine and dietary taboos when taking medicine under different disease conditions. For example, dietary taboos during medication include ginseng and radish, turtle shell and amaranth, licorice and silver carp, shanshan and onion, and poria and vinegar. The latter means that when taking medicine for chronic diseases, one should avoid eating raw or cold food; during the treatment of febrile diseases, one should avoid eating spicy and greasy food; for carbuncles, ulcers, and skin diseases, one should avoid eating fish, shrimp, goose meat, and spicy food.

To sum up, through the editor's introduction, we can see that whether Chinese medicine should be taken before or after meals depends mainly on the nature of the Chinese medicine. Also, it is best to wait at least an hour before or after meals before taking Chinese medicine. You should also be careful about the preparation of Chinese medicine. There are also many dietary taboos that you need to pay attention to when taking Chinese medicine, otherwise the effectiveness of the medicine will be greatly reduced.