Notes when preparing oriental medicine

According to the experience recorded in the book "Essentials of Medicine" by the famous physician Hai Thuong Lan Ong, the way of decocting medicine has a great impact on the medicinal properties of the medicine.

The usual way to boil medicine is to put the medicine in a pot, pour water to cover the medicine. When the water boils, simmer over low heat, avoid boiling over. Cover the pot tightly, do not open the lid of the pot, because it can easily evaporate, losing the active ingredients of the medicine. Usually, add 3 parts water, boil until concentrated to 1 part.

In case the patient or the patient's family member prepares the medicine at home, they should pay attention to some points to ensure the medicinal quality of the medicine:

1. Medicine decoction tools

Nowadays, on the market there are many models of convenient, easy-to-use medicine pots with capacities suitable for modern kitchen spaces. Pots are made from a variety of materials such as metal pots, stainless steel, clay pots, etc.

Choosing the material of the medicine decoction tool plays a very important role, because the material in the decoction pot can change the medicinal properties of the medicine, leading to a reduction in the treatment effectiveness of the medicine.

Never use a metal pot to boil medicine. It is best to use a clay pot to boil medicine. We can refer to some electric kettles made from ceramic produced in Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan, etc.

2. Pay attention while boiling medicine

2.1. Before decocting the medicine

Most of us often skip the step of soaking the medicine and just boil it. For the medicine to treat acute diseases such as colds, digestive disorders, etc., if the disease is new, this step can be skipped.

However, with the medicine to treat chronic diseases, the disease has been progressing for about 3 months or more, it is necessary to soak the medicine before boiling.

Soak in clean water for 15 - 20 minutes so that the water can penetrate the medicine. This way, when boiled, the maximum medicinal properties of the medicine will be extracted.

Do not leave the medicine intact for some hard medicines of animal origin such as miếp giáp, quy bản, long cốt, mẫu lê... or herbal medicines in the form of seeds, hard dry fruits such as almonds, peach kernels, cardamom, nutmeg...

In the case of medicinal herbs from animals and plants with hard properties as mentioned above, before boiling the medicine, it is necessary to crush and grind the medicine into fine powder, then put it into the pot to boil. Only then will the active ingredients from the medicine be absorbed better and faster.

Particularly, small herbs with small hairs… can irritate the throat mucosa, causing allergies and discomfort for the person taking the medicine. To overcome this situation, we should put those herbs in a filter cloth bag, wrap it up, and put it in a pot to boil with other herbs. Or we need to carefully filter the residue after boiling the medicine.

Some herbal medicines use large leaves or whole herbs such as ty qua lac, kim tien thao, khoi leaves... which will take up a lot of space in the pot, affecting the ratio of decoction and concentration of the medicine. Therefore, it is necessary to decoct and remove the residue first, then put the decoction into the pot to decoct the medicine, and take the decoction with other herbs to drink.

Finally, before boiling the medicine, you need to boil the poisonous herbs such as black aconite... into the pot first, then add the remaining herbs.

2.2. While preparing the medicine

For medicines in the group of anti-exhaustive drugs, with fragrance… should not be boiled for too long over low heat. Because when these medicines are boiled for a long time, the fragrance will spread, reducing the medicinal properties of the medicine.

Note, when the water boils, put the medicine into the pot, boil for only 3-5 minutes then remove the pot of medicine. Or crush the medicine and mix it into the medicine to drink.

For medicines that are mainly tonics such as rehmannia glutinosa, atractylodes macrocephala, Chinese yam, longan, lotus seed... you need to boil the medicine over low heat and slowly brew the medicine.

After the medicine is boiled, while the water is still boiling, add the sticky herbs such as Di duong, honey, a giao... Wait for these herbs to dissolve into the water before drinking.

Note:Patients using any oriental medicine should consult a doctor or specialist for advice./.