In daily life, most people believe that the stronger the concentration of Chinese herbal medicine when boiling, the better the effect, and the longer the boiling time, the more active ingredients will be extracted. However, this is not true. Boiling Chinese herbal medicine is a process of continuously releasing and dissolving the active ingredients. Once the concentration of active ingredients in the herbal medicine and the liquid reaches a balance, this process stops. Continuous boiling not only does not further dissolve the active ingredients in the medicine, but also causes the evaporation and reduction of the active ingredients in the liquid. It may even lead to the degradation of active ingredients under prolonged high temperature, resulting in a decrease in efficacy.
Therefore, it can be seen that Chinese herbal medicine is not better when boiled for a longer time. Different prescriptions have different requirements for boiling time after reaching boiling point, and should be followed according to the doctor's instructions.
