How to cook Chinese medicine
I. Selection of containers
The best decocting containers are ceramics and casseroles, followed by stainless steel pot, enamel pots and high-temperature resistant glassware, because these containers have stable chemical properties and are not easy to react with the decocted Chinese medicine ingredients. Iron pots, copper pots and aluminum pot must be avoided, because these elements can react chemically with some components in traditional Chinese medicine, which is not conducive to the treatment of diseases.
Second, pretreatment.
Step one:? Do you see it? Before decocting Chinese medicine, we should first check the quality of Chinese medicine. If there are problems such as moth-eaten and mildew, we should deal with them in time. The second is to check whether there are any traditional Chinese medicines that do not need special treatment. If there is, it should be placed separately and handled in a special way.
Step two:? Bubbles? Soak the Chinese herbal pieces retrieved from the drugstore in proper amount of water for 20-30 minutes. The soaking time of light traditional Chinese medicine and heavy traditional Chinese medicine is shorter at higher temperature and longer at lower temperature. The purpose is to make traditional Chinese medicine moist and soft, which is beneficial to the decoction of effective components.
Third, decoct soup
1. Boiling water: Generally, clean tap water can be used, and it is forbidden to use repeatedly boiled water or overnight water to decoct traditional Chinese medicine.
2. Add water: add water 3 ~ 5cm； above the surface of the medicine; The theoretical calculation is that 1g of Chinese medicine is added with 10mL of water, 70% of the total water is used for the first decoction, and the remaining 30% is used for the second decoction.
3, boil with fire: generally should follow? Fire first, then fire? Principle, that is to say, use strong fire to make the water boil quickly before boiling, and use slow fire to keep it slightly boiling after boiling to reduce the evaporation of water.
4. Decocting time: Decocting time is calculated after boiling. Generally, the first decoction 10 ~ 15 min, the second decoction10 min; The tonic medicine is decocted for 30-40 minutes first, and then for 25-30-40 minutes. The reason for controlling the boiling time is that long-term high-temperature boiling will destroy plant cells and increase insoluble invalid components in the liquid medicine. And it is dangerous to decoct medicine for a long time.
5. Decocting times: 80% ~ 90% of the ingredients in general Chinese medicine can be decocted for 2 ~ 3 times. After decocting, filter out the decoction in time, and take it several times each time.
Fourth, special treatment.
According to the different properties of drugs, some drugs should be treated by special methods such as decocting first and then decocting, separately decocting, separately melting and separately decocting. Many patients, due to the lack of relevant professional knowledge, will take Chinese medicine and group medicine together, which is very inappropriate.
1. First decocting: it refers to prolonging the decocting time of traditional Chinese medicine, so that the insoluble components in the medicine can be decocted as much as possible. Generally, drugs that need to be decocted first are boiled with strong fire and then decocted with slow fire 10 ~ 20 min, and then decocted with other soaked Chinese medicines. These traditional Chinese medicines are: ① tortoise shell, tortoise shell and other animal bones; (2) Minerals such as gypsum; ③ Some toxic Chinese medicines, such as Radix Aconiti and Radix Aconiti Kusnezoffii. First decocting 1-2h can greatly reduce the toxicity.
2. Later: it is to shorten the decocting time of traditional Chinese medicine and reduce the loss of effective components caused by long-term decocting. The routine operation is as follows: after the other groups of drugs are boiled, they are decocted with slow fire 15-20min, and then the Chinese medicines to be decocted later are added, and decocted for 5- 10min. These Chinese medicines are: ① aromatic Chinese medicines such as Amomum villosum; ② Traditional Chinese medicines such as Uncaria rhynchophylla and Senna leaf.
3. Package decocting: that is, put the traditional Chinese medicine into a cotton bag and decoct it with other ingredients. These traditional Chinese medicines include: ① Chinese herbal medicines containing more starch and mucus, such as plantain seeds and lepidium seeds. To prevent the bottom of the pot from boiling; Chinese herbal medicines rich in fluff, such as Inula, loquat leaves, etc. To prevent falling fluff from irritating the throat.
4. Melting: add the colloidal Chinese medicine into the boiled liquid medicine or clear water, and heat to melt. The purpose is to prevent the thick soup from affecting the decoction of other effective components of traditional Chinese medicine or licking the bottom of the pot, such as donkey-hide gelatin and antler glue.
5. Another decoction: Put the precious Chinese herbal medicines such as Ginseng and Panax quinquefolius in suitable containers to extract juice, and decoct the residues together with other ingredients to reduce the adsorption of other residues on the effective components of the precious Chinese herbal medicines during decoction.
In a word, only when clinical Chinese medicine tells patients to operate in strict accordance with the requirements of Chinese medicine decoction after prescribing drugs can the curative effect of decoction be improved and Chinese medicine can play a better role in treating diseases.
How to cook Chinese medicine? The above introduces the correct decoction method of traditional Chinese medicine for everyone. Cooking Chinese medicine, utensils, soaking, adding water, using fire and frying times are all very particular. If you want to exert the greatest efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine, you must first learn the correct method of decocting traditional Chinese medicine.
How to decoct Chinese medicine correctly
First, washing traditional Chinese medicine reduces the curative effect
Don't wash traditional Chinese medicine before decoction, because it will lose some water-soluble effective components and reduce its efficacy after washing. Many medicinal materials in traditional Chinese medicine are powders, and some need to be ground when dispensing, such as peach kernel, keel and talcum powder. If washed with water, these drugs will be lost. Other medicinal materials are added with auxiliary materials such as honey, wine and bile during processing, but these auxiliary materials are easily soluble in water, and some auxiliary materials may be lost if washed with water. Such as Arisaema cum bile, wine rhubarb, etc.
2. Soak in cold water before decocting.
Boiling container is closely related to the quality of liquid medicine. It is now advocated to use ceramics and pots to ensure the curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine. Generally, cold water is added to make the surface of the drug overflow, and then it is decocted after soaking, so that the effective components are easy to decoct. Generally, it can be soaked for about 30 minutes, but it should be treated separately according to the weight of medicinal materials and the difference of season and temperature. Especially in summer, the soaking time should not be too long to avoid enzymatic hydrolysis and mildew. Soak flowers, grass and leaves for 20 minutes before frying; Roots, seeds, fruits, minerals and crustaceans should be soaked for 30-60 minutes.
Should choose clean cold water, such as tap water, well water, distilled water, etc. The water consumption should be determined according to the weight, volume, water absorption, decocting time, duration and required dosage of the drug, and it is generally appropriate for the water to overflow the drug for about half an inch. You should add enough water to decoct the medicine at one time, and don't add water in the middle, and you can't fry the medicine dry and then add water. Dry medicine should be thrown away.
Third, pay attention to the order of medicinal materials into the pot.
The drugs indicated in the prescription should be boiled in clear water for about 20 minutes, and then decocted with other drugs. The drugs referred to in the prescription can be decocted with other traditional Chinese medicines, and then the drugs are added for about 5- 10 minutes. The traditional Chinese medicine indicated on the prescription should be put in a bowl, poured together with the decocted liquid medicine, and taken after mixing. For example, Tianqi is often taken orally. If the prescription indicates that it is a melted Chinese medicine, first remove the residue from the fried liquid medicine, then put the Chinese medicine to be melted in while it is hot, and then slowly stir it with wooden chopsticks until it is even. If the traditional Chinese medicine is still not dissolved, it can be heated with slow fire, and the liquid medicine is slowly stirred until it is uniform. For example, Ejiao is often melted and taken.
4. How much water is appropriate for decocting medicine?
The water used for decocting medicine must be clean, clear and free of peculiar smell, and contain less minerals and impurities. Generally speaking, all the water that people can drink in life can be used to decoct traditional Chinese medicine. Generally, clear spring water, river water and tap water can be used, and well water should be of better quality. It is best to use purified and softened drinking water to reduce impurity mixing and prevent precipitation reaction between calcium and magnesium plasma in water and medicinal materials.
How much water to add: According to the theoretical calculation, the amount of water to add should be the sum of the water absorption of the decoction pieces, the evaporation during the decoction and the amount of liquid medicine needed after the decoction. Although it is difficult to add water accurately in actual operation, at least the amount of water should be determined according to the texture density, water absorption performance and decocting time of the decoction pieces. Generally, the amount of water is 5-8 times that of the first decoction, or it is appropriate to immerse the decoction pieces for about 2 cm after proper pressure. The water consumption for the second time can be less. After the first decoction, filter out the liquid medicine, add water again until it is about 0.5- 1 cm higher than the liquid medicine level, continue to decoct with strong fire until boiling, and then decoct with slow fire for 20-30 minutes. For drugs that are hard, sticky or need to be decocted for a long time, the amount of water added is slightly more than that of general drugs.
The number and method of decocting verbs (abbreviation of verb)
Chinese medicine should be decocted 2-3 times, at least twice. Too few decocting times, incomplete extraction and great loss of medicinal materials; Too many decoctions will not only consume manpower and fuel, but also increase the impurities in the decoction. Generally speaking, a pair of Chinese medicines is decocted twice.
The effective components in the decoction have been greatly reduced, so it is suitable to be decocted twice. However, for prescriptions with large dosage, more active ingredients may be left after two decoctions, which can be decocted for the third time, three times a day, which not only saves traditional Chinese medicine resources, but also improves the curative effect to a certain extent. Because the effective components of the drug will first dissolve in the water that enters the drug tissue and then diffuse into the water outside the drug. When the concentration of internal and external solutions of medicinal materials reaches equilibrium, the effective components will no longer be dissolved out due to osmotic pressure balance. At this time, only by filtering out the liquid medicine and decocting it with water can the effective components continue to be dissolved out. In order to make full use of medicinal materials and avoid waste, it is best to fry one dose for two or three times. Traditional Chinese medicine for treating common diseases should be decocted twice. Generally, it is necessary to boil it with high fire first, and then calculate the boiling time. Generally, the first decoction takes 20-30 minutes, and the second decoction takes 10-20 minutes. Traditional Chinese medicine for relieving exterior syndrome or heat-clearing medicine for treating cold should be boiled with strong fire for 10 ~ 20 minutes in a short time and taken while it is hot. Nourishing traditional Chinese medicine for treating physical weakness should be used in three times, the first decoction is 40-50 minutes, the second decoction is 20-30 minutes, and the third decoction is 10-20 minutes. Minerals, bone horns, shellfish, crustaceans and tonics whose effective components are difficult to decoct should generally be decocted with slow fire for a long time to fully dissolve the effective components. Frequent stirring is required in the above-mentioned decocting process.
The decocted traditional Chinese medicine should be filtered out while it is hot, so as to avoid the effective components from precipitating on the dregs; If you accidentally boil the medicine dry and burn it, you can't take it, because a lot of toxic substances will be produced at this time, which is harmful to your health.
6. Decocting, squeezing the residue to get juice.
After the decoction is decocted, the residue should be squeezed to get juice. Because general drugs will absorb a certain amount of liquid medicine after decoction. Secondly, the effective components in the main liquid medicine may be reabsorbed by the residue. If the residue is discarded instead of squeezing to get juice, it will cause the loss of effective components, especially some drugs that are easy to lose effective components when exposed to high heat and should not be decocted for a long time or twice. The proportion of effective components in the residue will be greater, and the significance of squeezing the residue to get juice will be greater.
Generally, when decocting the medicine for the last time, after filtering out the liquid medicine while it is hot, wrap the residue with double gauze and wring the remaining liquid medicine in the residue. The research shows that wringing the liquid medicine in the residue can increase the composition of the liquid medicine by 15%-20%.
The decoction of traditional Chinese medicine is about 200ml for adults, 0/00 ml for school-age children and 50ml for infants. Take it twice a day.
Seven, service methods
Eating Chinese medicine, many people's habit is to decoct one dose of Chinese medicine twice and take juice twice. In fact, this service mode is unscientific. Because the soluble glycosides, polysaccharides, volatile oil and other effective components in traditional Chinese medicine are more in the first decoction, while other insoluble effective components are less; However, the content of soluble active ingredients may be very low in the second decoction, while the insoluble active ingredients are more, so the effective ingredients in the two decoctions are inconsistent and the efficacy is very different. Therefore, when taking Chinese medicine, it is generally necessary to combine the two or three decoctions, divide them into two or three parts after stirring evenly, and take them separately in the morning, evening or morning, noon and evening to achieve the best effect. Generally speaking, patients with remission can take it orally 2 ~ 3 times a day; For patients with serious and urgent illness, according to the doctor's advice, take the decoction of traditional Chinese medicine every 4 hours or so, without interruption at night, so as to make the drug effect last for a long time, which is conducive to relieving symptoms and alleviating the illness more quickly. Children or vomiting patients can take medicine for many times because of difficulties in taking medicine. It is best for middle-aged and elderly people to take nourishing Chinese medicine before meals, especially on an empty stomach in the morning, which is conducive to the absorption of nourishing ingredients. The medicine juice is cold, so you should warm it before drinking. Most Chinese medicines should be taken warm, antiperspirants should be taken hot, and heat-clearing Chinese medicines should be taken after cooling.
Generally speaking, tonics and laxatives should be taken on an empty stomach before meals; Drugs for treating exogenous diseases and head and face diseases should be taken after meals; Take sedative drugs before going to bed; Drugs for defecation should be taken in the morning and during the day, avoiding taking them before going to bed and at night. Chinese medicines that are irritating to the stomach should also be taken after meals. The time taken after meals is generally about half an hour after meals.
Eight, decoction machine decoction of traditional Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine decocting machine is a fully enclosed micro-pressure container with electric control device. The medicinal components are thoroughly decocted once by boiling water and steam generated by the boiling water. The decocting machine is convenient, can improve the working efficiency, reduce the workload, ensure the curative effect of traditional Chinese medicine, better meet the health requirements and is not easy to get moldy. It is more convenient to take Chinese medicine by machine decoction. Under normal circumstances, Chinese medicines boiled by machines are all packaged in medical plastic bags, and the packaging process is also carried out in a completely closed aseptic state. The bagged liquid medicine is resistant to extrusion and not easy to be damaged, and each bag of liquid medicine can be stored for about 10 days at room temperature.
It is very convenient to carry at home or out. When taking medicine, just put the medicine bag in hot water and soak it for about 10 ~ 20 minutes. Machine-fried bagged Chinese medicine heated by microwave oven will not affect the efficacy, so you can take it safely.
Nine, the appropriate taboo
During the period of taking traditional Chinese medicine, attention should be paid to avoiding cold, sticky and spicy food in the diet, and there is no need to supplement vitamins. Generally, people suffering from fever should avoid spicy, spicy, greasy and indigestible food, tobacco and alcohol; Cold diseases should not eat cold food; Jaundice, allergic diseases, carbuncle, tumor and some skin diseases should not eat fishy food and irritating food such as fish and shrimp; Patients with edema should avoid salt; Avoid drinking tea, etc.
Special Chinese medicine treatment
In the prescription, some medicinal materials are special and cannot be decocted with traditional Chinese medicine, so they should be treated differently according to different situations. The doctor will indicate it in the prescription, the pharmacy will pack it separately, and it will be explained when dispensing. General drugs can be decocted at the same time, but some drugs need different decocting time because of their different tastes, properties and clinical uses. Some of them need special treatment, and even the performance of the same drug is different from clinical application because of different decocting time. Therefore, decocting drugs should also pay attention to the method of medication.
1, fry first:
Minerals, shellfish, crustaceans, bones and fossils are hard in texture, and the effective components of these drugs are difficult to be decocted in a short time, so they should be decocted separately first. Such as mineral medicine gypsum, ochre, halloysitum rubrum, etc. Shellfish drugs such as oysters and concha Haliotidis; Carapax et Plastrum Testudinis, Carapax Trionycis, Pangolin, etc. Bone medicine such as tiger bone and leopard bone. These drugs must be mashed in advance, boiled in water for 30 minutes respectively, and then decocted with other drugs.
In addition, there are some highly toxic drugs such as Radix Aconiti, Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata and Radix Aconiti Kusnezoffii. The toxicity can be reduced by long-term high-temperature decoction. After general decoction 1 hour (no cold water is added, please ask the doctor for the specific decocting time), other drugs can be added and decocted together, which can play a detoxification role and reduce its toxicity. The hydrolysate after long-term decoction can play a therapeutic role and is safer to apply.
Step 2 give up
Flowers, leaves and some herbs (such as mint, Elsholtzia, etc. ) It smells fragrant and contains many volatile components. If it is cooked for a long time, it will volatilize and lose its medicinal properties. It is advisable to cook it later. Some effective components of rhizome are not stable to heat during boiling, and those who are not resistant to boiling should also cook late. Such as saffron, rhubarb, senna, etc. After the rest drugs are decocted, they are added 5 ~ 10 minutes before the cease-fire, and can be boiled for 5 ~ 10 minutes.
3. Bao Jian
Wrap some kind of medical gauze and fry it with other medicines. There are four main drugs that need to be decocted. First, the decoction method of traditional Chinese medicine is to select seed drugs, such as Plantago seed, Lepidium seed and Celosia seed. It is particularly sticky when it is boiled. If you don't fry it, it's easy to stick to the pot and the medicine juice is not easy to filter out. Second, some drugs, such as pollen typhae, Lygodium japonicum, kitchen soil, talc and so on. , easy to float on the surface of liquid medicine or when decocting. Third, some drugs with fluff, such as Flos Magnoliae and Inula. It is not easy to filter out after decoction, and the fluff will irritate the throat and cause side effects such as cough and vomiting. When decocting the above-mentioned drugs, the drugs are wrapped in gauze first, and then put into a medicine pot to be decocted with other drugs, which is called package decoction. When decocting the medicine, the medicine bag should be as loose as possible to avoid that the medicine cannot absorb more water due to insufficient space when expanding.
4. Another explosion:
Some expensive drugs (such as red ginseng, American ginseng, sun-dried ginseng, velvet antler, etc. ) can be decocted separately to get juice, and then mixed with the decocted liquid medicine to take together. Thereby avoiding the loss and waste of effective components in the process of decocting with other drugs.
5, melting:
Melting, also known as melting, refers to some colloidal Chinese medicines (such as donkey-hide gelatin, antler glue, tortoise plastron glue, etc. ) or sticky and soluble drugs (such as maltose) are easy to bond with other drugs or cause the colloid osmotic pressure of the solution to increase, which is not conducive to the dissolution of the effective components of the drugs and affects the decoction effect of the whole medicine, or stick to the bottom of the pot, which is easy to burn and waste the medicinal materials. It is not suitable to be decocted with other general drugs, and it needs to be prepared separately.
6. Chongfu:
Some water-insoluble drugs, some powdery drugs (such as amber powder and cinnabar) are not suitable for decoction, or some expensive Chinese medicines (such as Panax notoginseng and ginseng powder) or drugs that are not suitable for decoction (such as mirabilite). Liquid medicine (such as bamboo juice and ginger juice) can be directly poured into the decocted liquid medicine and mixed evenly, or directly taken with warm water to avoid drug loss. Some medicines are expensive and used in small quantities. If it is decocted with other drugs, its juice will be absorbed by other drugs, thus affecting the curative effect of the drugs. Such as bezoar, musk, pearl powder, amber, cordyceps, notoginseng, etc. In addition, there are some drugs, such as Fritillaria powder, which are not expensive, but it is better to be ground into fine powder than to be decocted with other drugs.
A Chinese medicinal decoction method
1. Casseroles, enamelware and stainless steel should be used for decocting containers, and iron should not be used.
Second, Chinese medicine should be soaked in cold water for about 20 minutes before frying. Generally, the water consumption for decoction after soaking the powder is 1-3cm. Drugs with large dosage, loose foam and easy water absorption can increase the water consumption appropriately.
Three, decocting time should be based on the nature of the drug, the general drug is 30 minutes. Antiexterior drugs, antipyretic drugs and aromatic drugs should not be decocted for a long time. Boil and then fry 15-20 minutes. After the tonic is boiled with strong fire, it is slowly decocted with slow fire for 40-60 minutes. Stir the ingredients for 2-3 times when boiling. Each dose of traditional Chinese medicine is generally decocted twice, and the second decoction time can be slightly shorter.
Dosage of decoction: 50- 100 ml for children. Adult 150-200ml per dose.
Five, special medicine decoction method:
1、? Decoct the medicine first? Boil 10- 15 minutes, then add other drugs and decoct together.
2、? After drugging? When the general medicine is about to boil to a predetermined amount, it can be boiled for 5 minutes.
3、? Dissolving drugs? Other drugs should be decocted to a predetermined dose, and the decoction should be decocted with slow fire and constantly stirred to dissolve.
4、? Take medicine? Put the medicine into decoction or boiled water for oral administration.
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