Can you drink tea while taking Chinese medicine? To ensure the effectiveness of Chinese medicine, there are many things to pay attention to when taking it. Many people have a question: can you drink tea while taking Chinese medicine? In fact, it's not just about drinking tea; there are many other precautions to be aware of when taking Chinese medicine. Let's find out more from the text below.
It is best not to drink tea while taking Chinese medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) holds that it is best not to drink tea while taking Chinese medicine. This is because the chemical components in tea not only reduce or affect the efficacy of the medicine but can also produce some side effects. Therefore, medicine should not be taken with tea water. Additionally, it is generally not recommended to take Chinese medicine with tea water because tea can "counteract" the medicine's effects. Tea contains a large amount of tannic acid, which easily forms an insoluble precipitate with alkaloids. Many of the active ingredients in Chinese medicines are alkaloids, such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in ephedra, berberine in coptis and cork tree, and stemonine in stemona. Other herbs like yuhuang, daji, xiaoji, chuan niuxi, and datura also have alkaloids as their primary active ingredients. When the decoction of these medicines is taken with tea, a precipitate forms, affecting the medicine's efficacy. At the same time, the tannic acid in tea has an astringent effect, which can prevent the body from absorbing nutrients like proteins. Therefore, when taking tonifying medicines such as dangshen (Codonopsis root), huangqi (Astragalus root), or shanyao (Chinese yam), drinking tea, especially strong tea, can also reduce the medicine's efficacy.
What other taboos are there when taking Chinese medicine?
1. Avoid eating food for half an hour before and one hour after taking Chinese medicine, especially vegetables and fruits. This is because some vegetables and fruits contain substances that can react chemically with Chinese medicine, altering its effects. This is especially true for cold-natured fruits like snow pears, hawthorn, bananas, and persimmons.
2. Besides avoiding tea and cold-natured foods, it is also best to avoid milk, especially for patients with high blood pressure. Milk is rich in tyramine, which can accumulate in the body and potentially lead to increased blood pressure and an irregular heart rate. If a patient with high blood pressure takes their Chinese medicine with milk, it not only fails to provide better health benefits but could even be life-threatening.
3. Raw radish should not be taken when taking Chinese medicine (except for those taking qi-regulating and phlegm-resolving formulas). This is because radish has the effects of promoting digestion and dispersing qi. When taking tonifying medicines like renshen (ginseng) and huangqi (Astragalus root), eating radish can weaken their tonic effects, reduce the medicine's efficacy, and fail to achieve the treatment goal.
4. Hot and spicy foods are generally warm in nature and can deplete qi and stir up fire. When taking Chinese medicine for clearing heat and toxins, nourishing yin, cooling the blood, or for treating heat-related diseases like carbuncles and sores, one must avoid spicy foods. Foods like green onions, garlic, pepper, lamb, and dog meat are hot and spicy. Consuming them can counteract the effects of the Chinese medicine, and in some cases, can even promote inflammation, damage yin, and cause bleeding.
5. Greasy foods are often sticky, promote dampness and phlegm, and can cause loose stools and hinder qi. They are not easily digested or absorbed. Moreover, when mixed with medicine, greasy foods can further hinder the gastrointestinal absorption of the active ingredients, thereby reducing the efficacy. During the course of taking Chinese medicine, consuming greasy food will inevitably affect its absorption. Therefore, patients with heavy phlegm-dampness, weak spleen and stomach, indigestion, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, high blood viscosity, and obesity should especially avoid greasy foods like animal fats.