When simmering Chinese herbal medicine, it often happens that the water is too little, the heat is too high, or the simmering time is forgotten, resulting in the medicine juice drying up or even the medicine being burnt. Some people think that adding more water during the second simmering can extract the remaining medicinal ingredients. This practice is incorrect. For the medicine that has not been burnt but has been simmered dry, it can still be consumed by adding an appropriate amount of water and simmering for a while. However, the components of the burnt medicine have been destroyed, and the therapeutic effect is consequently reduced.
Some medicinal materials, after being burnt, acquire different therapeutic effects. For example, Schizonepeta is a medicine for exterior syndrome, but after being burnt, it turns into Schizonepeta Carbonisata, losing its ability to treat exterior syndrome and instead gaining hemostatic properties. Another example is Cinnabar, which is used for promoting blood circulation, but Cinnabar Carbonisata, after being burnt, stops bleeding, exhibiting the opposite effect.
Therefore, when simmering medicine, attention should be paid to the amount of water, heat, and time, in order to prevent it from drying up or being burnt. Once the medicinal herbs are burnt, they should never be consumed. It is better to discard them and buy a new batch. Continuing to take medicine that has lost its efficacy not only fails to treat the illness but also delays the recovery. As for medicine with altered properties, taking the wrong medicine will worsen the condition and may lead to serious adverse effects.
