Herbal Medicine: Doesn’t That Taste Bad?
When Chinese Medicine is dispensed, multiple herbs are combined together to create a formula. This will usually involve around 10 to 12 different herbs. Each herb has it own flavor, and the taste of the decoction, will evidently depend on which herbs are included in the formula. Given the extensive range of herbs used in Chinese Medicine, there are a myriad of possible flavour combinations.
So, do they taste bad? That depends on who you ask. Most find drinking the herbs don’t have a problem at all. Some even enjoy it and very few report that the herbs are too difficult to drink.
What are the flavours found in Chinese Medicine? There are five main flavours. These are sweet, bitter, sour, pungent and salty. The absence of taste is also recognised, and is termed “bland”. Some texts also include an extra taste. This is acrid, and it is described to be bitterly pungent.
What is the relevance of taste? The taste of a herb partly determines it’s therapeutic function. Each of the recognised flavours in Chinese Medicine have their respective therapeutic benefits. These are:
Sweet – tonifies, harmonizes, and can be used to moisten;
Bitter – drains and dries;
Sour – astringent (prevents leakage or drainage);
Salty- purges and softens;
Bland – drains dampness and promotes urination; and
Acrid – disperses and moves.
