How to tell if Chinese medicine has gone bad

Nowadays, many people know how to maintain health, and the best way is to do so through traditional Chinese medicine. This method of health care will not cause any side effects to your body, and will have a very good health-preserving effect. However, when boiling Chinese medicine, you must determine whether the Chinese medicine is deteriorating. Never take deteriorated Chinese medicine, otherwise it will cause cancer, which will have a counterproductive effect.

The deterioration of decoctions can be identified by taste, which may have peculiar smells, musty smells, etc. It can be identified by appearance, which may have white mold spots and lumps on the surface. It can be identified by turbidity, which may have turbidity or lumps in the liquid.

1. How to judge the deterioration of loose medicine

Chinese herbal medicine powders are very common in our daily life. Powdered medicines like Asparagus cochinchinensis, Angelica sinensis, Stemona bulbs and Atractylodes macrocephala can be purchased directly in Chinese medicine stores. They are particularly prone to mold during storage. If you find mold on the surface of the medicinal material when you buy it, do not buy it. If mold appears during storage after purchase, you can no longer continue to eat it, otherwise it will induce cancer.

2. How to judge whether Chinese medicine tablets have deteriorated

In many cases, Chinese medicine can be processed into tablets for people to eat. They usually have a shelf life on the outer packaging, which cannot exceed five years at most. Even within the shelf life, if the tablets appear broken, loose, or spotted, or moldy, these are obvious signs of deterioration and they can no longer be eaten.

3. How to judge whether the Chinese medicine honey pills have deteriorated

Chinese medicine processed into honey pills will be more convenient for human consumption, but this kind of honey pills will also deteriorate. Good quality honey pills are relatively round in appearance, have color, and have a fine texture. If the honey pills become hard or have insect lint or mold, it means that these honey pills have deteriorated and the efficacy will change, so they can no longer be taken.

1. Mildew. When mold spores in the air infect medicines, especially sugar-containing medicines, they will grow hyphae when they encounter appropriate temperature and humidity, and this is called mold. When honey pills become moldy, they often have gray-green or gray-white spots, which can be easily identified with careful inspection. When the syrup becomes moldy, white flocs can be seen.

2. The icing changes color. Sugar-coated tablets may fade or change color, or have spots due to the melting of the wax coating or the melting of the sugar coating due to moisture. This is due to the variation of the tablets caused by the influence of moisture, temperature, etc. Some pills, capsules, and sugar-coated tablets may stick to each other or the bottle after absorbing moisture.