Medication Dos and Don'ts
Dietary restrictions are one of the unique theories in traditional Chinese medicine. Dietary restrictions refer to paying attention to diet in clinical practice to avoid affecting treatment outcomes. In general, dietary restrictions include two aspects: one is the dos and don'ts for various conditions and pregnancy; the other is the dos and don'ts for medication. In terms of timing, medication dos and don'ts can be divided into before and after (during) medication. The broader dietary restrictions should also include the content of food incompatibility and opposition that are passed down in folk culture. This article discusses the dos and don'ts of drinking tea and alcohol as part of medication dos and don'ts. With the development of traditional Chinese medicine, the content of medication dos and don'ts for the application of Western medicine has also been continuously enriched.
The earliest record of medication dos and don'ts in existing materia medica is found in "Bencao Jingji Zhu" (Annotations on the Classic of Materia Medica). From "Yi Xin Fang" (Prescriptions in Medical Mind), there are supplements such as "Fan Wang Fang" and "Yang Sheng Yao Ji" from the Southern and Northern Dynasties. "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" also contains some content related to dietary restrictions for food and medicine.
Tea Dos and Don'ts
The most famous saying about avoiding tea while taking medication is "Don't drink tea while taking medicine." This sentence is from the book "Ge Zhi Jing Yuan" by Chen Yuanlong, a literati in the Qing Dynasty. It states, "Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, encountered seventy poisons in one day, and found tea to counteract them. Nowadays, people avoid drinking tea while taking medicine, fearing that it will neutralize the effects of the medicine." However, research on materia medica literature has shown that there is no mention of "Don't drink tea while taking medicine" in existing materia medica, but there are records of "avoiding tea" in specific cases.
Tea as Medicine
As an original beverage in China, tea has a long history of consumption and medicinal use, with its medicinal use preceding its consumption by more than a hundred years. The medicinal use of tea was first recorded in the "Xinxiu Bencao" (Revised Materia Medica) in 659 AD, stating, "Tea, for eliminating sleepiness" and "Tea, with a sweet and bitter taste, slightly cold, non-toxic. It treats ulcers, promotes urination, relieves phlegm and thirst, reduces sleepiness, and should be harvested in autumn. Bitter tea treats descending qi, eliminates retained food." The consumption of tea was first recorded in the "Cha Jing" (Classic of Tea) around 764 AD.
Tea can be used as a single herb for medicinal purposes, as seen in the "Zhi Shi Liang Xie Fang" (Citrus and Magnolia Bark Powder) which states, "For the treatment of stone-induced dysentery, simmer good quality tea leaves, take two to three liters, or one to two liters for milder cases, and the condition will improve."
Tea can also be used in compound formulas, as recorded in "Wai Tai Mi Yao" (Arcane Essentials from the Imperial Library) which describes a compound formula for treating "purple bamboo shoots ulcers" using "one part purple bamboo shoot tea powder, one lotus leaf, burned to ashes. Apply the mixture, washed with saltwater, to the affected area three to five times for complete recovery." According to statistics, the Song Dynasty's three official compendia of prescriptions, "Tai Ping Sheng Hui Fang," "Sheng Ji Zong Lu," and "Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang," contain a total of 43 tea-related formulas, including 2 single herb tea formulas and 41 compound tea formulas.
There have been records of avoiding tea while taking medicine since the Tang Dynasty, with the earliest mentioning the "Jie Geng San Fang" (Platycodon Powder) for treating "abdominal pain" in the "Wai Tai Mi Yao" (Arcane Essentials from the Imperial Library). It states that taking the medicine with hot tea is not conducive to its effectiveness: "Taking it with hot tea is not beneficial." However, these records are limited. According to the research of many scholars, the most extensive records of avoiding tea while taking medicine can be found in Li Shizhen's "Bencao Gangmu" (Compendium of Materia Medica) from the Ming Dynasty, but it only involves a few herbs such as Wei Ling Xian, Tu Fu Ling, Ban Mao, Fei Zi, and Shi Jun Zi. There are no other records of avoiding tea in later materia medica. In short, the avoidance of tea is limited.
Tea can be used to administer medication: Many prescription books throughout history contain formulas that involve using tea to administer herbal medicine. For example, in "Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang" (Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold), there is a formula called "Wu Mei Wan" for treating "persistent fever due to cold and malaria... Mix sixteen ingredients into a powder and make honey pills. Boil fine tea and take thirty pills." The three aforementioned Song Dynasty official compendia of prescriptions contain 378 formulas that involve using tea to administer medicine, targeting diseases related to the head and face (189 formulas), gastrointestinal tract (71 formulas), limbs and meridians (44 formulas), and skin ulcers (42 formulas). "Chin
