When is the best time to take Chinese medicine?

We all know that Western medicine is best taken after meals. This is because Western medicine contains a lot of chemical substances. If taken before meals, it will damage the gastric mucosa and make people feel nauseous. This problem can be avoided by taking it after meals. Although there are no chemical substances in Chinese medicine, the time of taking it is also particular. When is the most appropriate time to take Chinese medicine? Let’s take a look together below.

1. Do not take medicine on an empty stomach

When Chinese medicine practitioners use Chinese medicine in combination, they pay attention to the "four properties and five flavors". They often combine prescriptions based on the cold, hot, warm, and cool properties of the medicine, and refer to the five flavors of pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. When taking medicine on an empty stomach, cold medicines or medicines with strong flavors may cause certain damage to the gastric mucosa.

2. Determine the time of taking according to the efficacy of the drug

Different types of Chinese herbal decoctions have different times of taking. Generally speaking, for liver, kidney, and intestinal diseases, medicines should be taken before meals; for dizziness and throat diseases, medicines should be taken after meals; laxatives, tonics, and anthelmintics should be taken on an empty stomach; sedatives should be taken before bedtime. These are general requirements for medication time based on different conditions and the characteristics of the drug's effects.

3. Avoid eating time

Modern Chinese medicine believes that, in principle, medicine should be taken away from meal times. Chinese medicine should not be taken from half an hour before meals to one hour after meals to prevent food from affecting the gastrointestinal tract's absorption of the medicine.

In our traditional concept, Chinese medicine needs to be taken on an empty stomach before meals, which is actually very unhealthy. Only medicines for treating stomach diseases need to be taken on an empty stomach. Others are best taken half an hour after meals to avoid damage to the originally healthy gastric mucosa due to pharmacological effects.