Wu Wenbo, Shijiazhuang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hebei Province
Tea therapy
The so-called tea therapy, is the use of "tea" or "medicinal tea" in the form of tea (i.e., imitation of tea medicinal tea, medicines instead of tea, regardless of the time, frequent drinking) to prevent and treat various diseases called tea therapy. Treatment of various diseases, known as tea therapy. Tea therapy has a long history. Experienced a "tea instead of medicine", "tea medicine combined" and "medicine instead of tea" three forms of evolution.
Tea instead of medicine
Composed of a single flavor of tea, also known as "tea instead of medicine". Highlight the medicinal value of tea, the use of tea, the various effects of health care.
The earliest discovery and utilization of tea, from the beginning of the medicinal use, the earliest for detoxification. China's earliest surviving pharmacological monograph "Shennong Ben Cao Jing" in the "Shennong tasted a hundred herbs, one day met seventy-two poisons, to get the tea and the solution of the" record. Hua Tuo, a famous medical doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty, mentioned in the "Food Theory" that "bitter tea for a long time, benefit meaning", indicating that tea has the effect of refreshing the brain. The above information shows that the application of a single flavor of tea can cure diseases and health care. The form of "tea as medicine" belongs to the original formulas of tea therapy. Thea sinensis refers to tea, which is used for medicinal purposes and is listed as one of the 20 medicines in the Tang Dynasty's Xinxiu Ben Cao (新修本草). The Newly Revised Materia Medica of the Tang Dynasty, as China's first official pharmacopoeia, formally included the efficacy and usage of tea, and the article "Tea, Bitter Tea" said, "Taste sweet, bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic. The main fistula, diuretic, phlegm, feverish thirst, people sleep less ...... main downward gas, elimination of food, as a drink with cornelian cherry, onion, ginger, etc., good", reflecting the medicinal value of tea, also recognized by the Tang government.
Emphasis: After the discovery of tea by our ancestors, the use of tea has experienced the chewing of fresh leaves, raw boiled drink, sun-dried collection, steaming green cake, fried green tea and other stages of development and evolution, before the development of today's loose tea drinking. The invention of tea drinking has a very important significance in the history of human civilization, affecting the process of social civilization and the quality of human life.
China's contribution to mankind in the tea industry, mainly lies in the earliest discovery and utilization of the plant tea, and its development into our country and the East, and even the entire world of a brilliant and unique tea culture. As China's historical records, before the unknown tea drinking, "the ancients were drinking water in summer and soup in winter", always quenching their thirst with warm water. Tea as a drink has changed people's bad habits of drinking raw water, and greatly improved people's health level. As for tea in Europe and the United States, it is considered "undoubtedly the best gift from the East to the West", "Europe without the introduction of tea and coffee, drinking must be more excessive", "tea to the benefits of mankind can not be estimated! "I am convinced that tea is one of the saviors of mankind", "is the great consolation", etc.
Tea is the best gift to the West.
Tea as a "medicine", Western medicine believes that there are the following pharmacological effects: excitement and refreshing, diuretic, dysentery and prevention of constipation, prevention of caries, digestive, eye, anti-aging, reduce the toxicity of smoking on the human body, anti-inflammatory sterilization, sobering up, anti-radiation, lowering blood pressure, blood lipids and anti-atherosclerosis, lowering blood sugar, and so on. Atherosclerosis, lowering blood sugar, anti-cancer, anti-mutagenesis, etc.
Tea and medicine combination
Tea with Chinese medicine, tea and Chinese medicine complement each other, so that the tea therapy formula to play a more ideal health care effect. The combination of tea and medicine can be done in the form of tea or tea-medicine pairing.
The earliest record of medicinal tea is Wei Zhang Yi's Guangya, which describes tea in this way: "To cook tea to drink, the first scorching red color, pounded powder in a porcelain vessel, covered with soup, with onions, ginger, orange, its drink to wake up, people do not sleep, elaborated on the combination of tea and onions, ginger, and orange, but it is not a good choice. Ginger. The tea made this way is boiled with onions, ginger and oranges. It has the effect of waking up wine and making people sleepless.
Tea in traditional Chinese medicine books in the earliest records in the Tang Dynasty, "Preparing for the emergency Qianjin to be square", the book has not yet appeared in the "medicinal tea" term, but there have been two medicinal tea formulas. One of the prescriptions is "typhoid fever - warm malaria sixth" in the article of wu mei pill, the main treatment of "cold and heat labor malaria for a long time without disease, body lean, phlegm knot chest hall, food and drink to reduce, or because of travel, long time labor, suffering from years without disease", use "for the end, honey pills, empty heart fried fine tea under thirty pills, two services a day, young and old children to the amount of universal no contraindications", that "served by the divine effect"; another song is "large intestine - phlegm and drink the sixth" article The other is a "large intestine and internal organs - phlegm drink sixth" chapter of the prescription, the treatment of "chest and diaphragm phlegm syncope gas upward due to syncope headache", using only a single flavor of tea boiled drink to take, appropriate vomiting and then drink, the condition of the serious must be "spit out the bile is to stop, do not damage people, and thirst is disease". Wai Tai Secret Essentials" collects about 6000 prescriptions, contains 6 medicinal tea prescriptions. Later, in the Song Dynasty, there were 114 medicinal tea formulas in the Taiping Shenghui Fang. The Yuan Dynasty "Royal Pharmaceutical Institute Formula" has 38 medicinal tea prescriptions. The Ming Dynasty "Pu Ji Fang" recorded about 1500 medicinal tea prescriptions, the Qing Dynasty "Medical Zong Jin Jian" also has 62 medicinal tea prescriptions.
Tea instead of medicine
The formula does not contain tea, all the composition of Chinese medicine, tea drink (and the biggest difference between the Chinese medicine soup is that it is not limited to the time).
The medicine instead of tea (prescription), the first recorded for the Tang Dynasty "outside the secret of the Taiwan" (752 years) in the "new drink on behalf of the tea formula", the prescription does not contain tea, the group often contains "astragalus, Tongcao, Poria, dry ginger, dry kudzu, mulberry root, etc.," the prescription The formula does not contain tea, the group often contains "astragalus, Tongcao, Poria, dry ginger, dried kudzu, mulberry root and white skin, etc.", made into cakes, easy to store, when the need to take, then baked on the fire and then pounded, decocted and drink instead of tea, it can be "deaf and clear-sighted, firm muscle and long muscle, slow sinews and muscles, and pass the couper". ".
Medicinal Tea and Tea
Medicinal Tea and Tea, is a different title for the same substance. Medicinal tea emphasizes the medicinal beverage; tea emphasizes the boiling water infusion or decoction taken internally this mode of delivery of medicine .
Tea, "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" records: tea refers to tea or tea-containing herbs or herbal extracts with boiling water or decoction to take the internal preparations. Divided into tea blocks, tea bags and decoction tea. Tea block refers to herbs coarse powder, fragments and suitable binder pressed into a block of tea. Bagged tea refers to tea, herb powder or part of the herbs to absorb the herb extracts after drying, into the bag (bag) of tea. Into the drinking tea bags, also known as tea bags. Decoction of tea refers to the herbs pieces, blocks, segments, silk or coarse powder, into the bag (bag) made of tea for decoction. Coarse powder made of decoction tea is also known as boiling agent. Tea has the following characteristics: ① small size, easy to store and carry, easy to use; ② boiling water as a solvent, soak the drug can be quickly destroyed by its enzymes to avoid decomposition of the active ingredients destroyed; ③ composed of tea drugs for the coarse powder or filaments, small segments, so that the surface area increased, and then increase the contact surface with the solvent, so that the active ingredients are easy to dissolve; ④ tea is generally tea cups and other containers, good insulation performance, the temperature of water can be maintained 80-90 degrees Celsius. The temperature of water can be maintained at 80-90 degrees Celsius, so as to ensure that the active ingredients can be fully dissolved, but not destroyed; ⑤ Save medicine. Decoctions are generally decocted 2-3 times that is discarded, a waste of medicine, while the tea can be repeated many times steeped; (6) the efficacy is reliable. Tea can avoid the loss of some active ingredients due to the long decoction or made into other dosage forms, and thus the efficacy is reliable; (7) localized medication is good. Certain oral and dental diseases, nasopharyngeal, esophageal, gastric and other disorders using tea, directly in contact with the lesion site, to play the advantages of local medicine, every good results; ⑧ better for the treatment. Tea can be avoided punch, syrup due to sugar, not conducive to the treatment of diabetes, bronchitis cough. In addition, for some gum drugs (such as Colla Corii Asini, antler gelatin, etc.), do not tolerate high temperature of the drug, containing volatile components of the drug (such as chrysanthemum, silver flowers, etc.) or should not be decocted for a long time of the drug (such as mulberry leaves, senna, etc.), made of tea is more appropriate.
With the development of society, the therapeutic role of tea diluted, mainly used for disease prevention. Since modern times, the role of health care and health maintenance of medicinal tea is increasingly being emphasized by the people, the types of medicinal tea and the role of continuous enrichment and expansion. Medicinal tea has become a major feature of our people's disease prevention and treatment and health care. I believe that tea as a way of medicine, in the process of health will play an increasingly important role.