How many times can Chinese medicine be boiled?

Traditional Chinese medicine is a medicine that people trust to treat diseases, especially many diseases will receive relatively ideal treatment effects after using traditional Chinese medicine. Everyone knows that each kind of Chinese medicinal material has its own unique medicinal properties. There are many things to pay attention to when boiling Chinese medicine, such as the time, number of times, steps, etc., which need to be paid attention to when boiling Chinese medicine.

How many times can Chinese medicine be boiled?

Generally, it is decocted twice. After the first decoction, pour out 150-200 ml of the medicine liquid, which is called the first decoction. Then, add appropriate amount of warm water (if the residue is cooled, cold water should be added when decocting again) for the second decoction, which is called the second decoction. Sometimes you can add more water and boil it for the third or fourth time. This should be done according to the doctor's instructions.

Decoction steps

1. Utensils

If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. It is best to use ceramic pots, casseroles or stainless steel utensils to decoct Chinese medicine. Avoid using iron, aluminum and other corrosive utensils.

2. Soak

Just like soaking soybeans before making soy milk, Chinese medicine should be soaked in cold water for 1-2 hours (except for medicine soaked in vinegar or wine), which takes 20 minutes before decocting it.

3. Use water

Tap water can be used to decoct the medicine, and the amount of water should be 1-3 cm above the surface of the medicinal materials. If there are too many medicinal materials or they are easy to absorb water, the amount can be increased appropriately.

4. Heat

When decocting, first boil the medicinal liquid with high heat (i.e., high fire), then use low heat (i.e., low fire) to simmer.

5. Pot lid

Usually, you should cover the pot tightly when you start decocting the medicine. When the water boils, you can use two chopsticks to prop up the lid, leaving some gap for the steam to escape. Some Chinese medicines contain volatile ingredients, such as mint, patchouli and other antipyretic drugs and precious medicinal materials such as American ginseng. Their active ingredients are easily released into the air during the decoction process, so they must be boiled with the lid covered.

6. Operation

When decocting medicine, pay attention to stirring the ingredients to ensure that the medicine liquid is fully decocted. Each dose of Chinese medicine is generally decocted twice, and the second time may be slightly shorter. Some medicines need to be treated differently, such as decocting first, taking it later, or taking it with water, etc. The Chinese medicine pharmacist will explain this when dispensing the medicine.

7. Time

The length of time it takes to boil medicine directly affects its efficacy. The decoction time of Chinese medicine starts from the time the medicine liquid boils. Generally, Chinese medicine for treating colds and other external diseases only needs to be boiled for 10-15 minutes, tonic Chinese medicine needs to be boiled for 40-60 minutes, and the rest of the Chinese medicine only needs to be boiled for 20-25 minutes.

8. Reheat

In order to save time, many people will decoct several days' worth of medicine at a time. When reheating the medicine, it is generally not necessary to boil it, as long as it reaches the temperature of warm drinking water. Usually use a low fire, and the medicine liquid will just boil, then let it cool down before drinking. It should also be noted that it is generally not recommended to use a microwave oven to heat traditional Chinese medicine. The ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine are very complex. When heating it in a microwave oven, the heat generation process may cause the medicinal materials to be destroyed at the molecular level, causing them to lose some of their effectiveness. It is best to put the decoctions decocted in the hospital and sealed in plastic bags into a container and then pour in hot water to heat them.

9. Storage

When storing, put it in a sealed container and place it in a cool place or refrigerator. The former can be stored for about 2 days, and the latter can generally be stored for about 5 days.