Tea is a cold and bitter food and a natural antidote. Generally speaking, when taking Chinese and western medicine, it is not recommended to use it with tea. You shouldn't drink tea when you eat Chinese medicine. Because many tannins in tea will affect the absorption of traditional Chinese medicine, and many complex components and effective components in traditional Chinese medicine will also interact with the complex components in tea. Therefore, it is not recommended to drink tea while eating Chinese medicine. During taking traditional Chinese medicine, in order to ensure the curative effect, don't eat food that may react with the medicine, so as not to reduce the curative effect, or produce toxic side effects and aggravate the condition. The following are some taboos related to taking Chinese medicine. Can I drink tea when I drink Chinese medicine? -Contraindications related to taking traditional Chinese medicine 1, avoid tea. Neither traditional Chinese medicine nor western medicine can be taken with tea. Because tea contains a substance called tannic acid, it will react with protein, alkaloids or heavy metal salts in drugs to form insoluble precipitate, which will affect the absorption of effective components of drugs and reduce the curative effect. For example, anemia patients often take iron-containing blood-enriching drugs. Tannic acid in tea reacts with iron, which will generate insoluble precipitated iron tannic acid, which will not only affect the absorption of drugs, make drugs lose their efficacy, but also stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and cause discomfort. When taking nourishing drugs, it is not advisable to take strong tea at the same time, because tea will precipitate with protein contained in nutrients, which will affect the body's absorption of nutrients. In addition, caffeine, theophylline and other ingredients contained in tea can excite higher nerve centers, which is not conducive to patients' rest and recuperation, especially for taking sedative and hypnotic drugs with tea. 2, avoid cold, greasy, spicy food. Eat less cold, greasy and indigestible food when taking medicine, so as not to increase the gastrointestinal burden of patients and affect drug absorption. Patients with spleen and stomach weakness should eat less cold, greasy and spicy food. Fever patients (such as constipation, dry mouth, sore throat, etc. ) Eat less spicy and greasy food, otherwise it will increase the heat image and offset the effects of heat-clearing drugs and yin-nourishing drugs. Patients who take anti-exterior drugs should eat less cold and sour food, because the intersection of acid and cold will affect the efficacy of anti-exterior drugs and Sanjie drugs, and so on. 3. Don't eat carrots. When taking nourishing drugs, you should avoid taking radish, because radish has the effect of digestion, which is completely opposite to nourishing. The same use will affect the curative effect and even offset the efficacy. For example, ginseng should not be used with radish. However, if taking ginseng improperly leads to symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath, radish can also be used to eliminate food accumulation. Tea and radish are not completely inedible. For example, tea has the function of sweating and stopping diarrhea; Patients with physical weakness and spleen deficiency should eat radish seeds during tonic, which will help digestion and absorption. There are several situations that are not suitable for drinking tea: 1. When treating gastrointestinal diseases, especially patients with active peptic ulcer, it is not advisable to drink tea, let alone strong tea. Because the content of caffeine in strong tea is high, and caffeine can enhance the secretion of gastric juice and affect the healing of ulcers. 2. It is not advisable to drink tea when taking sedatives, because caffeine in tea can excite the cerebral cortex, thus antagonizing the curative effect of sedatives and failing to achieve the therapeutic purpose. It is not advisable to drink tea when taking nourishing Chinese medicine. Tannic acid in tea has astringent effect, which will hinder the absorption of nutrients such as protein. At the same time, the interaction between tannins in tea and active ingredients in medicine will weaken the nourishing effect. Therefore, drinking tea, especially strong tea, will reduce the efficacy when taking tonic drugs such as codonopsis pilosula, astragalus membranaceus and yam. 4. A large amount of tannic acid contained in tea is easy to precipitate and insoluble with alkaloids, which makes the drug unable to be absorbed and play its role. The active ingredient of many traditional Chinese medicines is alkaloids. For example, Ephedra contains ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, Coptidis Rhizoma and Huangbai contain berberine, Stemona Stemona contains Stemona Stemona, and others such as Rhizoma Corydalis, Cirsium japonicum and Radix Cyathulae. The effective components of Datura stramonium are mainly alkaloids. Therefore, when these herbs are taken together with tea, the decoction will precipitate and affect the curative effect. If you want to drink, you should drink for at least half an hour, not at the same time. Related reading: Drinking Chinese medicine is too bitter. Can I add sugar? What should I pay attention to when eating Chinese patent medicine?