0 1, decocting vessel
First of all, choose the tools for decocting medicine. Now some friends don't care much about this. It is wrong to cook Chinese medicine with aluminum pot. Who usually cooks it? Generally speaking, traditional Chinese medicine can't be cooked in metal utensils, because various metal components contained in metal utensils will react with some traditional Chinese medicine components, and some of them will be absorbed by the human body after precipitation, thus affecting human health. Remember, you can't cook Chinese medicine in an enamel pot, because chemicals will also precipitate in the process of cooking medicine in an enamel pot, so it's best to cook Chinese medicine in a casserole or a medicine pot. Generally, Chinese medicine shops sell medicine cans, which are not expensive 10 for more than one, and grocery stores will also sell them. However, some friends will find that the medicine pot leaked just after it started cooking. Why? It turns out that the pot made of mud residue has some cracks. The traditional practice is to boil some corn flour in the pot before the first use, and then the cracks in the pot will be blocked. If you use a casserole to boil medicine, remember not to use a big fire at first, or the casserole will crack. Use a small fire first, and then increase the firepower appropriately when the whole casserole is hot.
02, decocting order
Before decocting, you need to soak the medicine in water for about half an hour, so that there are more effective ingredients. Otherwise, when the medicine is cooked, check it again. Many medicines (such as poria cocos) are still dry, and of course they are wasted.
When decocting medicine, you must first pay attention to whether there is a doctor's advice to decoct first. In traditional Chinese medicine, some drugs, such as raw keel, raw oyster, tortoise plastron, turtle shell, magnet, gypsum, etc. It's hard to fry, so fry first. Most pharmacies will give you a single package, so you need to stay in the medicine pot for more than half an hour before taking other medicines.
Special drugs in traditional Chinese medicine, such as aconite, have certain toxicity. The main toxic component is aconitine, which is destroyed after boiling in water for about an hour. Therefore, everyone should remember that aconite must be boiled for about half an hour first, then other drugs are added and boiled for another half an hour, so that one hour is enough. If the dosage is large, it is best to cook until you taste it with your mouth, and you will no longer feel numb.
In addition, there are medicines such as kitchen soil, because it neutralizes the thick and fragrant gas of filth, so the traditional practice of Chinese medicine is to use it to boil water first, then filter out the residue, and then use the water boiled from it to cook other medicines.
Some medicines need to be taken later, such as some fragrant medicines such as Pogostemon, Eupatorium odoratum and Amomum villosum. And their volatile substances are easy to disperse, so when you need to boil medicine, put them in the medicine and boil it for about four or five minutes.
Sometimes the method of decocting medicine should be considered according to the condition. For example, some cold patients are suffering from external cold and internal heat, so my experience is the drugs for clearing fire, such as Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, Forsythia suspensa, honeysuckle and gypsum. First decoct, then take perilla leaves, onions and other drugs to relieve exterior cold. Put it in the medicine, then turn off the fire immediately and keep it stuffy for five minutes. The curative effect is obviously better than that.
Some drugs, such as Inula, talcum powder, etc. You need to wrap them in cloth before frying them in a medicine pot, because their residues will irritate the digestive tract.
In the past, there were some traditional decoction methods, such as Liuyi powder, which were used to clear away heat and relieve summer heat and promote diuresis. After being wrapped in fresh lotus leaves, it is better to be decocted with traditional Chinese medicine, but few people do it now.
In the past, fresh reed roots were used to boil water, and then the drugs for clearing away heat and toxic materials were boiled with water, which was relatively clear. But now, because the preservation of fresh drugs is a problem, almost no one cooks drugs like this. Recently, I heard that some pharmacies began to sell fresh reed roots in vacuum packaging, which is a good sign.
03. Temperature and time of decocting medicine
When you boil medicine, you should follow the principle of boiling with big fire and frying with small fire. You can't always cook on a big fire, or it will dry up quickly.
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the time of decocting drugs is related to the location of the disease. If the disease is located in the lower jiao, it will take more time to make the medicine taste heavy. If the disease is located in the upper jiao, it will take less time, especially when the exogenous pathogen is in the lung meridian, and it is necessary to spread it. Generally, the medicine is boiled just after the pot is opened, which is "fragrant". At this time, the light and clear qi of the drug is absorbed and reaches the lung meridian.
If it is an ordinary Chinese medicine, it is usually boiled for 20 minutes, then a bowl of medicine juice is filtered out, then water is added, and it is boiled for 15 minutes, then a bowl of medicine juice is filtered out, then water is added, and it is boiled for 15 minutes, and then a bowl of medicine juice is filtered out, then it is mixed with three bowls of medicine juice, and then heated, so that it can be drunk. The medicine boiled in this way can be boiled out in 20 minutes, and only for a few minutes.
04. Time and method of taking medicine
After the medicine is cooked, it is also very learned to drink it. Clinically, doctors will meet many patients asking when to drink Chinese medicine. Actually, it all depends on the patient's condition.
Very few patients are allergic to certain drugs. When we read medical papers, we will find that there are often reports of allergies. Although this is a very rare case, there must be a certain proportion of people who are allergic, just like anesthetics in western medicine. This is the characteristic of drugs, but we have to pay attention to it. So I suggest you try to drink the first medicine, such as drinking a bowl for the first time. Then observe whether you are allergic. If there is no problem, just drink the remaining two-thirds. If there is no problem, just drink according to the normal measurement. This is what everyone who drinks medicine should pay attention to.
I usually give this tip to every patient, especially when there are insect drugs in the medicine, because many people are allergic to coming to protein, so it is especially necessary to give a tip.
Under normal circumstances, drinking Chinese medicine pays attention to before breakfast and after dinner, but this is only a general principle. Chinese medicine believes that if you take tonic Chinese medicine, especially Chinese medicine that enters the kidney meridian, it is best to take it before meals, so that the medicine can go straight to the lower energizer. If you take drugs for treating upper energizer diseases, it is better to take them after meals, so the effect is better.
But the time of taking medicine should be adjusted according to the patient's own experience. For example, some patients feel uncomfortable after eating traditional Chinese medicine, so they can take it after meals to reduce the irritation of the medicine to the gastrointestinal tract. Generally speaking, it is not recommended to take medicine immediately after meals, and it is best to take it half an hour later.
Clinically, Chinese medicine has also summarized some practical medication methods. For example, it is best to take the medicine for tonifying yang in the morning or in the morning, so that the medicine can play a greater role with the help of the hair growth of yang in the morning; Drugs for nourishing yin can be taken in the afternoon or evening, because the human body uses yin at night; Sedative drugs are best taken before going to bed at night, with better effect.
In addition, there are ways to take medicine according to the growth and decline of menstrual qi. For example, Ye, a physician in the Qing Dynasty, said that "kidney meridian drugs invade the dressing gown", because Chinese medicine believes that morning is the weakest time of kidney meridian, and tonifying kidney at this time will get twice the result with half the effort; It is best to take the medicine for removing heart fire at noon, because the heart meridian is just at that time, which can make the medicine break the heart fire directly; Drugs for strengthening the spleen can be taken at night, because the qi of the meridians of the spleen and stomach is the weakest at this time, so the tonic effect is better.
At the same time, Chinese medicine also pays attention to adjusting the medication method according to the patient's situation. For example, if a patient takes medicine for diarrhea, it depends on the patient's diarrhea. If the patient does not have diarrhea, he should continue to take it. If he has diarrhea, he should adjust the dose in time. The classic treatise on febrile diseases stipulates taking Dachengqi decoction. If the patient has diarrhea, it is necessary to "stop taking the medicine", that is, don't take it again.
However, some drugs can't be taken twice a day. For example, if the illness is urgent, you need to take it frequently. It is often recorded in ancient medical books that you should use a cauldron to boil medicine at this time and take it frequently at any time; For diseases such as cough or throat, the best way to take medicine is to sip frequently, that is, take a sip first, then hold it in your mouth for a while and then swallow it slowly.
In addition, dietary taboos when taking traditional Chinese medicine are also very important. If handled well, it can even help traditional Chinese medicine to enhance its curative effect. For example, in Treatise on Febrile Diseases, Guizhi Decoction, which is used for relaxing muscles and activating collaterals and harmonizing ying and wei, allows patients to drink some hot porridge after drinking the medicine, which can help the human body develop stomach qi and eliminate evil spirits.
Therefore, after taking traditional Chinese medicine, it is best to have a light diet, and avoid thick paste and big fish and big meat, because these factors will affect the absorption of drugs. Drinking some millet porridge and yam porridge often can help the human stomach recover quickly.
In addition, friends are most concerned about whether Chinese medicine and western medicine can be taken at the same time. In fact, some components in Chinese medicine will react with western medicine, such as iron preparation for iron deficiency anemia, enzyme preparation for dyspepsia, antipyretic and analgesic drugs containing aminopyrine and some drugs for treating heart disease, such as digitalis preparation. Therefore, it cannot be taken together with traditional Chinese medicine, because these components are easy to react with tannins (ru) in some traditional Chinese medicines, affecting the curative effect and even causing harm. Because each Chinese medicine has dozens or even hundreds of chemical components, it is not clear which western medicine will react with it, so our suggestion is that Chinese and western medicine should be taken separately for more than an hour.
It seems that there are still many exquisite Chinese medicine decoctions. When you see a doctor, you can consult a doctor at any time to learn about the medication method that suits you.
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Tam Darren