Can bird's nest really nourish the face and beauty? Careless consumption may cause diarrhea and allergies in children

Bird's nest has been an expensive health food since ancient times and is loved by many dignitaries, and the price is still high. However, does a bird's nest really have health benefits? If consumed carelessly, it may cause diarrhea due to contaminants or increase the risk of cancer by consuming too much nitrate.

Bird's Nest: The Caviar of the East

A bird's nest is made from swiftlets. They build their nests from saliva, feathers, seaweed, soil, and other materials, which were mixed with sugar to make a bird's nest. Currently, they are mostly produced in Malaysia and Indonesia and can be divided into white, black, and blood bird nests. White bird's nests are less impure and therefore more expensive than black bird's nests, while blood bird's nests are the rarest.

Chinese medicine believes that a bird's nests can prevent lung diseases, strengthen immunity, and nourish skin and beauty. Due to the scarcity of bird nests and their therapeutic effects, bird nests were once a prized item for the imperial court. To this day, the bird's nest is still loved by many people and is known as the "Caviar of the East".

What is a blood bird's nest?

In fact, the red color of the nest is due to the heat and humidity of the nest and the chemical effect of the nest excrement.

Potential Nutritional Benefits of Bird's Nest

Bird's nest contains glycoprotein, calcium, sodium, potassium, and carbohydrates, with protein accounting for 50% of the nutrients, and carbohydrates and trace elements for the rest.

Despite the many health benefits of bird's nests, there are very few scientific studies on bird's nests, and more experiments are needed to prove the potential benefits of bird's nests as listed below

Improving colds: Studies have shown that bird's nest extract contains various compounds, such as sialic acid and thymol, which can inhibit the activity of influenza virus and prevent red blood cells from binding to the coagulant of influenza virus, reducing the risk of influenza virus infection in humans.

Protecting nerve cells: In animal experiments, bird's nest extract has been shown to inhibit 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and protect nerve cells, which may help prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

Prevention of bone aging: An animal experiment found that bird's nest extract was also effective in helping to increase calcium ions in the bones of rats, increasing bone density; another experiment found that bird's nest extract helped to increase HAC by extracting human articular chondrocytes (HAC) from patients with osteoarthritis, which may have a chondroprotective effect.

Antioxidant effect: Bird's nest contains a variety of antioxidant compounds, including ferritin, lactoferrin, amino acids, sialic acid, minerals, and vitamins, which can inhibit the damage caused by free radicals, help the body to mediate immune function, prevent diseases, and slow down aging.

Beauty: EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor) can help promote the growth of the human epidermis, promote DNA activation, help skin growth, and reduce pigmentation. In experiments, bird's nest has shown effects similar to those of EGF, and bird's nest extract can react with the proteins in the epidermis of the skin, helping to regulate the moisture of the skin.

The 7 therapeutic effects of bird's nest

Consumption of bird's nest may cause nitrate overdose and allergy in children

Because a bird's nest is made from the saliva, feathers, and soil of swiftlets, it contains germs, fungi, and microorganisms carried by swiftlets.

According to a report by the National University Hospital of Singapore, bird's nest is one of the common food allergens in children aged 0-15 years old, probably due to the "66 kDa protein" contained in bird's nest, which may cause hives, abdominal pain, angioedema, and other symptoms in allergic individuals.

In addition, the blood bird's nests made by some unscrupulous businessmen through processing and smoking contain high amounts of nitrite, which may form nitrosamines in the body after consumption and increase the risk of cancer, therefore, consumers are advised to choose white and black bird's nests.