Can I boil Chinese medicine once?

There are many steps in the cooking of Chinese herbal medicines. Every step in this process is very important. If you are not careful, it will affect the efficacy of the medicine. Proper decocting of Chinese medicinal materials can ensure efficacy and allow the ingredients of the medicine to be fully dissolved. People who often cook Chinese medicine know that generally a dose of Chinese medicine needs to be boiled twice. Let’s learn how to properly decoct Chinese medicinal materials.

Why do Chinese medicinal materials need to be boiled twice? Because during the first boiling, only 30% of the medicinal power of the Chinese medicinal materials can be dissolved, and the second boiling can dissolve 40% to 50% of the ingredients. After boiling twice, about 80% of the medicinal ingredients have been dissolved, so you can just mix them together and take them. If you only boil them once, the medicinal ingredients cannot be effectively digested.

Generally, Chinese medicinal materials are boiled for 20 minutes first, the juice is filtered and poured into a bowl, then an appropriate amount of water is added and boiled for about 15 minutes, the juice is filtered out, the two medicines are mixed and consumed in two times. If it gets cold, it should be heated up before drinking. Boiling the medicine in this way can achieve a more comprehensive medicinal effect, which is more appropriate. Of course, if you have time, you can boil it three times and mix the three doses together for consumption.

Before cooking Chinese medicine, everyone should understand the method of cooking medicine clearly and cook it according to the order. First, soak the Chinese medicine in water for 30 minutes to an hour, which is conducive to the dissolution of the ingredients. Chinese medicine is generally dry. If it does not absorb enough water, many medicines will still be dry after cooking, and the medicinal power cannot be effectively dissolved.

Before boiling the medicine, you should check whether there are any that need to be decocted separately every day and whether there are any that need to be decocted first. The ingredients of some Chinese medicinal materials, such as raw dragon bone, magnetite, turtle shell, tortoise shell, gypsum and other Chinese medicinal materials, cannot be dissolved. They need to be boiled for half an hour or longer after soaking, and then other medicines can be added.

Some medicines contain volatile substances, such as Perilla, Patchouli, White Cardamom, White Cardamom Rhizome, etc., and the ingredients are easy to release, so you need to wait until other medicines are cooked, and then add them and fry for about five minutes.

The above is an introduction to the correct way to decoct Chinese medicinal materials. Everyone should understand it clearly before decocting. If the method of decoction is incorrect, the medicinal power cannot be exerted normally, which will affect the medical effect. Therefore, everyone should not think that you can just put the Chinese medicine prescription in the pot and boil it. In fact, boiling Chinese medicine is also a very important step in the medical process.