Why are most Chinese medicines bitter?
Traditional Chinese medicine is mostly plants, commonly known as herbs. Although processed, tannins (astringent taste), anthraquinone and alkaloids (bitter taste) in plants have not been removed. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine decoction is generally bitter, and its bitterness comes from its effective components, which is the embodiment of its efficacy. Berberine in coptis chinensis is bitter in itself!
But not all Chinese medicines are bitter.
Licorice in traditional Chinese medicine is sweet, and nourishing soup is generally light and slightly sweet.
Chinese medicine is not necessarily bitter. It has five flavors: sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty. Even so, due to the complexity of TCM symptoms and signs, it is difficult to ensure that there is no bitter medicine in a soup, as long as there is bitter medicine, it will be bitter.
Can Chinese medicine be eaten with sugar? Some Chinese medicines can be taken with sugar, while others can't.
Tonic drugs are sweet, and generally taste better when taken, while heat-clearing drugs are bitter, except syrup. Adults have good compliance with bitter Chinese medicine, even if it is bitter, they can drink it all at once. So I want to add sugar to Chinese medicine to cover up the bitterness of Chinese medicine, mostly for children.
Function of traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) relies on folk remedies, and each Chinese medicine has its own taste and sexual orientation. Traditional Chinese medicine decoction is often a combination of many drugs, so the ingredients are relatively complex.
Sugar is actually a traditional Chinese medicine, and the common ones are brown sugar, rock sugar and sucrose. Knowing their sexual taste and efficacy, it is easier to know whether it is right or wrong to drink Chinese medicine with sugar.
The nature and taste of sugar return to meridians.
Brown sugar, warm and sweet in nature, belongs to the spleen meridian, and has the effects of benefiting qi and enriching blood, strengthening spleen and warming stomach, relieving pain in the middle and promoting blood circulation, but it is forbidden for diabetics, people with phlegm-dampness constitution and obese people.
Sugar (sucrose) is sweet, belongs to spleen meridian, and has the effect of moistening lung and promoting fluid production, but it is not suitable for people with diabetes, obesity and phlegm dampness.
Rock sugar, flat and sweet in nature, cold in nature, belongs to spleen and lung meridians. Has the effects of invigorating middle warmer, regulating stomach, moistening lung, relieving cough and resolving phlegm. However, people with diabetes, obesity and phlegm dampness should not use it.
summary
Some diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. It is also common sense not to treat with sugar, not to use any sugar or sugary food, and not to use honey.
People with phlegm dampness, or those who take traditional Chinese medicine for eliminating dampness and regulating qi, should not take traditional Chinese medicine with sugar.
Brown sugar contains many elements, such as iron and calcium. It is easy to combine with protein and tannin in traditional Chinese medicine, thus affecting the efficacy.
In addition, it has been reported that drinking Chinese medicine with sugar will inhibit the absorption rate of the drug and delay its efficacy.
Considering the characteristics of drugs
As cool drugs, rock sugar and brown sugar belong to warm drugs, and it is not recommended to use them with traditional Chinese medicines that are contrary to their properties.
The medicinal properties of sucrose are relatively flat and generally do not affect the medicinal properties of drugs. For example, Radix Isatidis granules, Shuanghuanglian granules, Herba Leonuri granules, Yinhuang granules, Dandelion granules, Chaihuang Qingre granules and Xiaoqinglong granules all contain sucrose, but ordinary pharmaceutical excipients contain sucrose. However, there is no scientific conclusion about how much sugar should be added to the decoction of traditional Chinese medicine.
A painful fact
There are three kinds of bitter taste of traditional Chinese medicine: Coptis chinensis, Akebia manshuriensis and Gentiana scabra. Bitterness can be relieved, dried and strengthened. Bitter medicine is often used to treat heat syndrome, fire syndrome, asthma, cough, nausea, constipation, dampness syndrome, yin deficiency and excessive fire.
How can we make Chinese medicine less bitter?
1, control the drinking temperature.
Drinking Chinese medicine generally requires warm service. Our tongue is sensitive to the temperature above 37℃, so if we drink Chinese medicine immediately after boiling, it will feel more bitter if the temperature is too high. If the drinking temperature of traditional Chinese medicine is controlled between 35℃ and 37℃, it is warm and appropriate. Because of this temperature range, the human body is the least sensitive to bitterness.
2, swallowing is exquisite
Studies have shown that the bitter receptors of taste buds are mainly concentrated in the root of the tongue, and the longer the liquid stays in the mouth, the more bitter it feels. Therefore, bitter Chinese medicine can generally take a big sip of Chinese medicine, quickly lift the jaw and swallow it naturally, so as to be clean and fleeting.
3. The speed of taking medicine
The longer the Chinese medicine stays in the mouth, the more bitter it feels, so when drinking Chinese medicine, don't? Wandering around? The action is quick and clean, so the pain is only temporary.
Drink a cup of warm water after taking the medicine.
Drinking a proper amount of warm water after taking the medicine is not only beneficial to the absorption of the liquid medicine in the gastrointestinal tract, but also can alleviate the bitterness of the liquid medicine to some extent.
5. If necessary, you can communicate with Chinese medicine about whether the collocation of licorice and jujube is appropriate.
Brief introduction of Dr. Yao
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