Guest guest Posted July 13, 2000 Report Share Posted July 13, 2000 Dear Group: I would like your advice on a question posed to me today. Instead of cooking herbs twice and combining the two batches (which is the way I was taught to cook them), is it just as effective to cook them one time, but just twice as long, using twice the amount of water? Or is there some magic thing that happens during the second cooking? I'm told by my Chinese doctors that they use one packet of herbs for one cooking, in China. Please advise. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 13, 2000 Report Share Posted July 13, 2000 Todd help her out please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 13, 2000 Report Share Posted July 13, 2000 Generally I tell patients to cook enough for one day, leave the herbs in the pot and then cook another pot the next day with new water. It seems to be the easiest and least messy way. To get more specific, some say that tonic herbs get more " juice " or deeper healing properties out of the second cooking. If used as a diaphoretic then one cooking per pack is preferable. I think putting twice as much water and then cooking twice as long is not a good idea. I would prefer to put twice as much water and cook the same amount of time. I say to my patients if they start to get confused: the only wrong way to take the herbs is cook them in a metal pot, burn the herbs or not take them at all. At 06:52 PM 7/13/00 -0400, you wrote: Dear Group: I would like your advice on a question posed to me today. Instead of cooking twice etc.... L.Ac. safe, compassionate care acupuncture, herbs, Chinese Internal Medicine Santa Monica, California Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 13, 2000 Report Share Posted July 13, 2000 juliej8 wrote: > Or is there some magic thing that happens during the second cooking? > > I'm told by my Chinese doctors that they use one packet of herbs for one > cooking, in China. As I understand it, the first cooking will pull the Qi out into the tea and the second cooking will pull the taste out into the tea. So, you could say that the first cooking will decoct more of the Yang or the temperature energetics while the second cooking will pull out the Yin or taste properties of the formula. -- Al Stone L.Ac. <AlStone http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Attachment: vcard [not shown] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 14, 2000 Report Share Posted July 14, 2000 -----Original Message----- L.Ac. [] Thursday, July 13, 2000 5:02 PM Re: Herb Cooking Times Generally I tell patients to cook enough for one day, leave the herbs in the pot and then cook another pot the next day with new water. It seems to be the easiest and least messy way. Although this seems easiest, it seems to me that this creates an inconsistency in the doses and energetics of their decoction. I personally have tried this method and can taste and feel the difference drastically. -Jason To get more specific, some say that tonic herbs get more " juice " or deeper healing properties out of the second cooking. If used as a diaphoretic then one cooking per pack is preferable. I think putting twice as much water and then cooking twice as long is not a good idea. I would prefer to put twice as much water and cook the same amount of time. I say to my patients if they start to get confused: the only wrong way to take the herbs is cook them in a metal pot, burn the herbs or not take them at all. At 06:52 PM 7/13/00 -0400, you wrote: Dear Group: I would like your advice on a question posed to me today. Instead of cooking twice etc.... L.Ac. safe, compassionate care acupuncture, herbs, Chinese Internal Medicine Santa Monica, California Chinese Herbal Medicine, a voluntary organization of licensed healthcare practitioners, matriculated students and postgraduate academics specializing in Chinese Herbal Medicine, provides a variety of professional services, including board approved online continuing education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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