If you ever visited a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Practitioner and also took the prescribed herbal medicine, you get the idea of what “bitterness” truly is! In fact, many Westerners hesitate about TCM only because of the infamous inky black, extremely bitter medicine.
“Unfortunately, herbal medicine is one of the core elements of TCM that you hardly can avoid when receiving TCM treatment,” TCM Practitioner said. “Fortunately, there is a way to minimize the bitterness.”
There are about 10,000 taste buds on our tongue. While the sides of the tongue tend to be sensitive to sour and salty taste, and the tip of the tongue to sweet, the sensitivity to bitter taste is highest at the base. The lesser the contacts between food and taste buds, the weaker the flavor of food you sense.
So, how to reduce the contacts between the herbal medicine and the taste buds? The answer is to use a straw to drink the medicine. “Stick the straw way down deep. In doing so, the medicine can travel through from the cup to your throat without contacting too many taste buds.” TCM Practitioner said.
Now you may ask how you are able to drink the medicine with a straw as the liquid is so hot. “Well, you should know that when the temperature of food is close to that of our mouth (96.8-98.6 degree Fahrenheit / 36-37 degree Celsius), the sensitivity of our sense of taste is at its highest; whereas the sense will be less sensitive when food’s temperature is higher or lower than this level,” TCM Practitioner said. “However, medicine with temperature higher than 100.4 degree Fahrenheit / 38 degree Celsius would be too hot to suck up; the best way is to wait until its temperature drops to between 68-86 degree Fahrenheit / 20-30 degree Celsius).”
No matter how much you hate bitterness, there is one worst thing that you should never do: To add sugar to your herbal medicine like you do to the coffee! “This is because different flavor of herbal medicine produces different efficacy. For instance, while medicine in bitter flavor drys dampness and purge fire; sweet, on the other hand, replenishes “Qi” (essential energy) and blood, and relieves pain,” TCM Practitioner explained. “If sugar is added to the medicine, the property of the medicine will be altered.”
Furthermore, the chemical composition of herbal medicine is rather complicated. When the protein and tannin that herbal medicine contains interact with the iron and calcium in sugar (especially brown sugar), a chemical reaction may occur, causing some effective components coagulate, and generating turbidity and precipitation. As a result, not only the efficacy of the medicine is affected, it may also lead to diarrhea.
Last but not the least, some herbal medicines are administered to stimulate the release of secretion from digestive gland through the flavor of bitterness. “The extremely bitter Rhizoma Coptidis, for example, is used for boosting the gastric secretion in order to invigorate the stomach,” TCM Practitioner said. “If you add sugar in it, this function is destroyed and so is the treatment.”
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“The components of an effective herbal bath comprise not only the right ingredient (herb), but also the right water temperature,” TCM Practitioner said. “The liquid is absorbed through the bather’s skin and respiratory system and takes effect by activating the potential life functions in his/her body.”
