🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Soaking Chinese herbal medicines in alcohol produces medicinal wine. Medicinal wine has functions such as promoting blood circulation, facilitating drug action, relieving pain, and dispelling wind-dampness, making it an excellent tonic for winter and spring seasons. But how should one prepare and consume medicinal wine?
First, crush or cut the purchased herbs short and clean them with cold boiled water. This both removes impurities and prevents the herbs from absorbing too much alcohol. Then place the damp herbs into a glass bottle or jar and add white liquor. The general ratio of herbs to white liquor is 1:7 to 1:10, ensuring the herbs are fully submerged. Finally, seal the container tightly and shake it several times daily to help extract the effective components. After soaking for about half a month, it can be consumed. For valuable herbs, you may reuse the wine multiple times after finishing it.
Soaking Chinese herbs in alcohol can extract many active ingredients that water cannot dissolve, thus medicinal wine often has better nourishing and therapeutic effects compared to decoctions. However, medicinal wine is not ordinary alcohol. Except for tonifying varieties, it should be discontinued once the treatment course ends or the condition improves.
Medicinal wine is typically taken in small doses; based on individual tolerance to alcohol, each dose should be 30–50 ml. Those who do not tolerate alcohol well can dilute the medicinal wine at a ratio of 1:1 to 1:10 with red wine, yellow wine, or cold boiled water and consume accordingly. Although medicinal wine contains alcohol, its concentration is low and dosage is small, so side effects are generally minimal. Small amounts may even stimulate saliva and gastric juice secretion, aiding digestion and absorption. Individuals with liver or kidney disease, hypertension, allergic conditions, or skin diseases should avoid medicinal wine. If necessary, dilute the wine tenfold with water, boil it briefly to remove most of the alcohol aroma, then drink.
Medicinal wine aids in the body’s absorption of drugs. Many patients, especially those who dislike alcohol, prefer taking it at night due to fear of intoxication. However, from the perspective of maximizing therapeutic effect, daytime consumption is superior to nighttime.
Drug elimination follows a circadian rhythm. Typically, the clearance and metabolism of medicinal wine in the body are slowest from morning to noon, and liver enzyme (a biological catalyst in the liver that promotes drug transformation) activity is highest during this period. Blood levels of alcohol and medicine remain high, which enhances therapeutic effects.
From 2 p.m. to midnight, alcohol is metabolized and cleared fastest, resulting in lower blood concentrations. At this time, liver enzyme activity peaks (around 2 a.m.), while kidney function peaks after 5 p.m. Thus, drinking medicinal wine from afternoon to evening leads to rapid excretion and metabolism, which is unfavorable for its therapeutic effect. Therefore, medicinal wine is best consumed during the day.