shanghanlun

Cinnamon Twig Decoction recalibrated

By Fornia ⋅ February 1, 2008 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

The original formula (using 1liang = 15g)

• cinnamon twig 45g
• white peony 45g
• fresh ginger 45g
• licorice 30g
• red date 12 pieces

Why so much herbs being used?

We, let’s just see the preparation instructions:

Break cinnamon twig, white peony and licorice into small pieces. Use 7sheng (1400ml) of water. Boil over mild flame to get 3sheng (600ml) and remove dregs. Use 1sheng (200ml)

We note here that the final portion taken is 200ml,  exactly 1/3 of the 600ml we ended up with.

Since we usually drink all of what we boil these days, we can sort of recalibrate the original formula to reflect this.

The recalibrated formula

Since what we use today can be considered just 1/3 of the original decoction, let’s recalibrate:

• cinnamon twig 15g
• white peony 15g
• fresh ginger 15g
• licorice 10g
• red date 4 pieces

Which is reasonable enough.

Of Note

Studies have said that boiling it once like Mr. Zhang did will give us 45% of the active ingredients. These days, we boil the dregs once over to get 30-45% of the remaining active ingredients. Which means everytime we boil it we can get only about 1/2 of what is left.

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