Generally speaking, a casserole is used when boiling Chinese medicine, but not many people may know why a casserole is used to boil Chinese medicine. What I will share with you below is an introduction to the reasons why a casserole is used to boil Chinese medicine. Welcome to read! The reasons why a casserole is used to boil Chinese medicine

In life, when we take Chinese medicine, we usually boil the medicinal materials. It is made into a decoction, the ingredients in the medicine are dissolved in the water, and then the medicine is taken by the patient. Different from making soup and stir-frying, you cannot use iron pots, copper pots or other metal pots to cook Chinese medicine. It is best to use clay pots or earthen pots. This is because: first of all, the bottom of the casserole and earthenware pot conducts heat very evenly, and the firepower is relatively gentle when cooking. Moreover, the entire pot has strong heat preservation, and the evaporation of water is relatively small, which is conducive to the preservation of heat-labile ingredients and the retention of pharmaceutical ingredients. Secondly, many plant medicines contain tannins, organic acids, etc., which will react chemically with the iron ions in the iron pot and turn into water-insoluble precipitates, which cannot be absorbed by the human body. In addition, the alkaloids in traditional Chinese medicine need to be combined with tannic acid to be soluble in water. If the medicine is decocted in an iron pot, the tannic acid will be consumed and the alkaloids will not be dissolved, which will also affect the efficacy of the medicine.

Of course, most people choose to use casseroles and earthen pots to boil traditional Chinese medicine. In addition to scientific reasons, it is also largely due to habit. In fact, stainless steel and enamel containers can also be used to boil traditional Chinese medicine, and they are also very safe. Steps for boiling Chinese medicine in a clay pot

1. When you prescribe Chinese medicine, it will indicate which medicinal materials are added later; if there is no such instruction, you can also ask the doctor if they are all boiled together.

2. Prepare the casserole. The Chinese medicine does not need to be specially cleaned. Put it directly into the casserole, and then pour in water until the medicinal materials are just covered (floating medicinal materials must be pressed by hand to check whether they are submerged). , according to experience, generally 3-3 bowls and a half (small rice bowl) is enough. You can adjust it according to the size of the bowl according to the measurement method I mentioned above.

3. After cooking for about half an hour, if there are any medicinal materials added later, they can be added at this time (the medicinal materials added later will not be effective if added in advance, so be sure to add them 5 minutes later) ), simmer for about 5 minutes and then pour into a small rice bowl. Generally, just a small bowl is best. A little more or less is fine. If there is still a bowl more than 1 bowl after cooking, pour it in again and cook again. After brewing for a while, if only half a bowl is cooked, it only means that the brewing was not successful and you need to add water and simmer again for a while.

Issues to pay attention to when decoction

1. Soaking before decoction: The medicine must be soaked before decoction. This is because most of the traditional Chinese medicine derived from plants are dry products. , the medicinal materials can be softened by adding water and soaked, and the tissue cells can return to their natural state after swelling, making it easier for the active ingredients to leach out when decoction. Generally, the soaking time for medicines based on flowers, leaves, and stems is 1-1.5 hours. The soaking time for drugs based on roots, seeds, rhizomes, and fruits is 2-3 hours. Use tap water or clean well water; do not use dirty water, sewage, cold boiled water or long-boiled water.

2. Decoction times: Decoction multiple times is better than decoction for a long time. Practice has proved that decoction can extract about 80% of the ingredients by decoction twice, so the number of decoctions is two or three times. If the medicine has been fully soaked before decoction and the decoction time is sufficient, you do not need to decoct it for a third time.

3. The temperature of the decoction: The temperature of the decoction is called fire in traditional Chinese medicine. It is generally called slow fire or strong fire. The so-called slow fire is a weak fire, the temperature rises slowly and the water evaporates slowly. The so-called martial fire is a strong fire. The temperature rises quickly and the water evaporates quickly. If the heat is too strong when decoction, the water will evaporate quickly, which will affect the leaching of the active ingredients, and it will also easily burn the pot. On the contrary, if the heat is weak, the effect of decoction will be poor. Generally, use strong fire before boiling, and then switch to slow fire after boiling. Keeping it in a slightly boiling state can slow down the evaporation of water, which is conducive to the decoction of the active ingredients.

4. Decoction time: mainly depends on the nature of the drug and disease, as well as the condition of the drug. Generally, the first frying time starts from boiling and takes 20-30 minutes, and the second frying time takes 30-40 minutes. To treat colds, boil the medicine for 10-15 minutes for the first time and 15-20 minutes for the second time.

For nourishing drugs, boil for 30-40 minutes for the first time and 40-50 minutes for the second time.

Or refer to the following method: decoct the first part of the tonic medicine for 50 minutes, and the second decoction for 30 minutes; the first decoction of the anti-inflammatory drug takes 15 minutes, and the second decoction takes 10 minutes; the first decoction of the other medicines takes 30 minutes, and the second decoction 15 minutes will do.

5. The amount of medicinal liquid retained: generally refers to the amount of medicinal liquid after two decoctions of a dose of medicine. Adults take 400-600 ml, divided into two times a day. Children: Take 200-300 ml, divided into two to three times a day. (Usually two and a half bowls are fried, one bowl is fried, two bowls are fried for eight minutes, and one bowl is fried for five minutes (half bowl). One bowl of water is about 250ML, which is roughly equivalent to half a catty of milk.)

6 .How to take medicine: Generally, boil one dose of medicine twice and then combine the medicine liquid and take it in two parts. Children can take it in 2-3 times. Medicines for the treatment of colds, fever, enteritis, and diarrhea can also be taken frequently, that is, taken once every 4 hours, 30-40 ml each time. Once the disease is cured, it can be taken 2-3 times a day. For children, it is better to take a small amount many times.

7. Decoction of special medicines: Doctors will prescribe medicines with footnotes in the prescription based on the patient's condition and the nature of the medicine.

(1) Decoct the medicine first: usually some minerals, shells, and horny drugs. Because of their hard texture, the active ingredients are not easy to decoct. Generally, they need to be decocted for 20-40 minutes before mixing with other medicines. Then fry and cook. Common ones include raw gypsum, raw keel, mother-of-pearl, raw ocher, etc. There are also toxic drugs that can be detoxicated or detoxified by decoction first or for a long time. For example, long-term decoction of aconitum drugs can decompose aconitine into aconitine, and its toxicity is only 1/2000 of the original. For example, long-term decoction of aconite can not only reduce the toxicity but also increase the cardiotonic effect. Aconite, aconite, etc. need to be fried for at least an hour to reduce side effects.

(2) Add the medicine afterwards: Generally, medicines that are fragrant and contain volatile oils or are difficult to cook for a long time should be put into the pot 10-15 minutes before the medicine is cooked. Common ones include Huaxiang, Uncaria, rhubarb, etc. For example, the antihypertensive components of the vineine contained in Uncaria are easily destroyed if the boiling time exceeds 20 minutes. Rhubarb, the ingredient with purgative and heat-clearing effects, is rhubarb glycoside, but it is unstable to heat and will decompose when heated for a long time. The purgative effect of rhubarb glycoside is stronger than that of aglycone, so it is not easy to decoct for a long time, so the method of decoction is often used.

Tips: Some qi-promoting medicines are often added to nourishing prescriptions, such as green peel, tangerine peel, citrus aurantium, citrus aurantium husk, Amomum villosum, cocoa kernel, etc. We recommend that these should also be added first and decoctioned. Remove from the pot after 10-15 minutes, because tonic medicines need to be fried for a long time, and these medicines are not durable and should be packed separately.

(3) Pack decoction: usually seeds and various pollen medicines, packed in gauze bags and placed in a group of medicines for decoction. Common ones include Plantago, Inula, etc. For example, plantain seeds tend to stick to the pan, become gelatinous, and become coke. So it needs to be fried. Xuanfu Huabao Jian can prevent the fluff from falling off and being mixed into the soup to irritate the throat. If not decocted, the liquid should be filtered before taking.

(4) Dissolve and take: dissolve the medicine with hot liquid before taking it. Common drugs include Xuanming powder and Glauber's salt.

(5) Nasalized medicine; mainly some glue-based drugs, which should be dissolved with hot liquid before being taken. Mixing and decoction will make the medicine liquid more viscous, which will affect the leaching of other ingredients, and there will also be a certain loss of glue medicine, so the method of taking it in a boiled state is adopted. Common ones include raw donkey-hide gelatin, antler glue, and tortoise shell glue.

(6) Decoction and mix it separately. Some valuable medicines should be boiled separately (in order to better decoct the active ingredients and prevent waste), and then mix the medicine liquid together and take it together. Common ones include wild ginseng, Korean ginseng, American ginseng, etc. Cordyceps sinensis can be decoctioned separately and eaten with the medicinal materials, or it is better to grind it into powder and drink it.

(7) Ingestion. Some precious fine powders of drugs cannot be boiled together with other drugs. They are often taken by infusion, that is, the powder is dissolved in the liquid. Such as pearls, rhinoceros horns, antelope horns, musk, cinnabar, Panax notoginseng, amber, etc.; fresh Chinese herbal medicines can also be juiced and taken when necessary; Gastrodia elata, Gallus gallus gallus gallus gallus gallus gallus gallus gallinae, grinding into powder and taking it as a powder is better than decoction. >>>More exciting things on the next page? Which is a good brand of electric casserole for boiling Chinese medicine?