How should Chinese medicine be cooked? How to drink?

First, the Chinese medicine decoction method

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Decocting apparatus

The decocting process of traditional Chinese medicine is a complex chemical reaction process.

The instruments for decocting drugs must be chemically stable and not easy to change chemically with the decocted drugs.

Pots, casseroles and enameled pots are commonly used, but metal utensils such as iron pots and aluminum pot are generally not allowed, so as not to cause chemical changes, produce side effects and affect the curative effect.

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Decocting water and adding water

Cold water should be used for decoction, not boiling water.

Because most Chinese medicines are dry tissues of plants or animals, their effective components and therapeutic components are distributed in dry and atrophic cells.

If traditional Chinese medicine is decocted with boiling water, it will solidify and toughen protein, starch and other components in animal and plant cells, making it difficult for water to penetrate and dissolve, and the effective components cannot be released, thus reducing the efficacy.

Therefore, the traditional Chinese medicine should be soaked in cold water for 0.5~ 1 hour before decocting to soften the traditional Chinese medicine.

With the gradual increase of water temperature, the high concentration solution in the tissue will spread to the outside of the tissue, and the Chinese medicine will further expand and the cells will rupture. In this way, all effective components can be dissolved in water, thus ensuring the efficacy of the decoction.

The water consumption of decoction directly affects the quality of decoction. Usually, the traditional Chinese medicine is put into a decocting device, and water is added until it exceeds the surface of the medicine by 2-3 cm; Second, the water consumption of decocting medicine should be reduced, but it is still advisable to add water to the medicine surface. If too little water is used, it is not easy to fry all the ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine, which will affect the curative effect.

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Duration and time of decocting

The firepower of decocting medicine is often called "temperature".

Temperatures include "slow fire" (small fire) and "fierce fire" (big fire).

Most Chinese medicines are cooked with strong fire first, and then with medium fire for 25-30 minutes.

Exterior-relieving drugs and aromatic Chinese medicines are generally decocted with strong fire for about 15 minutes, and then filtered out with gauze while it is hot.

Tonic drugs need to be decocted for a long time, and then decocted with slow fire for about 1 hour after boiling with strong fire, so that the effective components can be better dissolved in water.

In addition, some toxic pharmaceutical ingredients, such as Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata and Rhizoma Pinelliae, can reduce or eliminate toxicity after being decocted with slow fire for a long time, and need to be decocted for a long time.

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Drugs that require special treatment when decocting.

(1) fry first: fry for about 30 minutes before adding other drugs.

The purpose of first decocting is to increase the solubility of minerals, crustaceans, animals and effective components that are difficult to decoct, so as to give full play to its curative effect, or reduce or alleviate the toxicity of toxic drugs and ensure the safety of medication.

(2) After decocting, the medicine is added 5- 10 minutes before decocting.

The purpose of Xia Hou is to reduce the loss and reduction of effective components of some drugs with fragrant smell and volatile components caused by long decocting time. Some drugs whose active ingredients will be destroyed after long-term decoction should also be taken later.

(3) decocting: decocting the medicine in a gauze bag.

The purpose of decocting drugs is to avoid the floating of powdery drugs, which will cause turbid medicine juice, or to avoid the irritation of drugs containing fluff to the throat.

(4) Decocting soup instead of water: It mainly means that some drugs should be decocted first, then the supernatant should be taken instead of water, and then decocted with other Chinese medicines to prevent the soup from being turbid and difficult to take.

In addition, some medicinal materials are light in dosage, large in volume and large in water absorption, and water is often used instead of decoction.

(5) Dissolution: refers to some colloid drugs and drugs with high viscosity and easy solubility. In order to avoid the influence of boiling or adhering to other drugs in a frying pan, these drugs can be taken together with the decocted liquid medicine after being heated and dissolved with water or yellow wine, or they can be taken after being heated and dissolved in the decocted liquid medicine of other drugs.

(6) Separate decoctions: For some precious medicinal materials, in order to avoid the effective components being absorbed by other Chinese herbal pieces, separate decoctions should be made. The decoction can be taken alone or mixed with other decoctions.

(7) Oral administration: Some traditional Chinese medicines and some liquid medicines that dissolve in water should be taken orally with boiled water or other decocted liquid medicines.

Some expensive drugs, with light dosage, are often ground into fine powder for oral administration in order to prevent loss; The efficacy of some drugs is easily destroyed at high temperature or the effective components are insoluble in water, so they can only be taken in powder form.

(8) Soaking: refers to the fact that the effective components of some drugs are easily soluble in water or easily destroy the efficacy after long-term decoction. It can be soaked in a small amount of boiling water or other drugs while it is hot, covering with moisture and reducing volatilization. After half an hour, the residue can be taken out and taken.

Second, the management of traditional Chinese medicine

Under normal circumstances, most Chinese medicines are taken two or three times a day, and the decoction is decocted first and then decocted.

Adults generally take 150ml each time, and children generally take 75ml each time. Taking medicine in time can maintain a certain drug concentration in the body, improve curative effect and reduce side effects, so it is an important part of rational use of traditional Chinese medicine.

(1) Take it on an empty stomach

In order to make drugs directly act on the intestine, such as insect repellent and laxatives, most of them are taken on an empty stomach in the morning, so as to avoid getting up frequently at night.

(2) Take it before meals

In order to avoid the influence of food on traditional Chinese medicine, it is usually advisable to take it on a semi-empty stomach.

Tonifying Chinese medicines should be taken before meals to facilitate full absorption; Taking traditional Chinese medicine for making acid and relieving pain before meals can directly neutralize gastric acid and protect gastric mucosa; Some disgusting expectorants must be taken before meals, which stimulates the gastric mucosa and reflexively increases the secretion of bronchi, thus showing expectorant effect.

(3) Take it after meals

The medicine for promoting digestion, resolving stagnation and strengthening stomach can fully contact with food after meals, and play the role of promoting digestion, resolving food accumulation, and relieving distension; Drugs that are irritating to the stomach should be taken after meals to avoid irritating the gastric mucosa and causing upper abdominal discomfort.

Whether taking medicine before or after meals, there should be a small interval, such as 65438+ 0~2 hours before and after meals, so as not to affect the curative effect.

(5) Other service modes

Clinical medication should be based on the specific conditions of the disease, such as taking sedative Chinese medicine before going to bed to help calm down and sleep; First-aid drugs should be given in time; Vomiting patients should take a small amount of frequency;

Traditional Chinese medicine for treating cold syndrome should be taken with warm clothes, while traditional Chinese medicine for treating heat syndrome should be taken with cold clothes; Serious diseases and acute diseases can be taken every 4 hours or so 1 time, day and night, which will make the drug last and the disease frustrated.

In addition, traditional Chinese medicine used to prevent habitual abortion should be taken continuously before pregnancy, once every 3~5 days after pregnancy, and taken continuously for 3~4 months to adapt to the physiological characteristics of pregnant women.