Can I be poisoned if I drink sour Chinese medicine?

Nowadays, many people actually agree with the treatment techniques of traditional Chinese medicine. Especially some friends who feel unwell will choose Chinese herbal medicine for conditioning. However, in our daily life, it is very inconvenient to boil Chinese medicinal materials by ourselves, so hospitals will entrust people to boil Chinese medicinal materials. Many friends did not take the Chinese medicinal materials according to the prescribed time after obtaining them, so the Chinese medicinal materials became sour. Can I still drink sour Chinese medicinal materials?

Can I be poisoned if I drink sour Chinese herbal medicine?

The sourness of Chinese medicinal materials indicates that they have already gone rotten and moldy. The rottenness and mold of Chinese medicinal materials not only reduce the therapeutic effect of Chinese medicinal materials, but also increase the possibility of the existence of pathogens and toxins, and can also produce various harmful substances, causing acute poisoning or chronic harm to consumers. Chinese medicinal materials that have turned sour are not only useless for treating diseases, but may also cause further illness. Therefore, Chinese medicinal materials that have turned sour should not be consumed.

Causes of mold and acidity

Because Chinese medicinal materials contain starch, glycogen, protein, vitamins, volatile oils, carbohydrates and various enzymes, nutrients and other ingredients, most of these ingredients are dissolved in the decoction during decocting. The general method of consumption is to take half of it when the heat and dampness lasts, and then take the other half 4 to 6 hours later. If the medicine is taken overnight or stored for too long, not only will the efficacy of the medicine be reduced, but the influence of factors such as air, temperature, time and fungal infection will make the enzyme dissolution in the medicine less effective, bacteria will multiply and grow, and ingredients such as cassava starch and glycogen will ferment and hydrolyze, causing the medicine to become rancid and moldy, which is harmful to your health after taking it.

We should also note that Chinese herbal medicines are not suitable for consumption with sugar.

Some people add sugar to Chinese herbal medicines when taking them because they are bitter and can't swallow them. Regarding this matter, relevant experts point out that some Chinese herbal medicines are not suitable for taking after adding sugar. Adding sugar to the medicine reduces the bitterness and also reduces the medicinal effect. Chinese medicinal materials have four properties: cold, hot, warm and cool, and five flavors: pungent, sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Among them, pungent can disperse, sweet can slow down, sour can contract, bitter can astringe, and salty can enter the kidney. Chinese medicinal materials with different flavors have different medicinal properties. Adding sugar to some Chinese medicinal materials will change the efficacy of the bitter decoction and affect its effectiveness.

Some bitter medicines can stimulate nerve endings, reflexively secrete saliva, gastric acid and other digestive enzymes to achieve the purpose of promoting digestion and increasing appetite. If a lot of sugar is added to the medicine, the bitter taste will be completely covered up and the effect of strengthening the stomach and digestion will be lost.

In addition, the ingredients of Chinese medicinal materials are generally very complex. Sugar, especially old brown sugar, contains more elements such as iron and calcium. Once combined with proteins, tannins and other ingredients in Chinese medicinal materials, it will cause chemical changes, causing some ingredients in the medicine to coagulate and change their properties, which also affects the efficacy of the medicine to a certain extent.