MadSci Network: Biochemistry
Query:

Re: . I am writing to ask about the nutrition value behind Bird's nest soup

Date: Tue Feb 27 15:08:00 2007
Posted By: Peter Bosani, Independent
Area of science: Biochemistry
ID: 1171878332.Bc
Message:

Hello, Kita.

You're right in your suspicions about many websites relating to bird's nest soup as being biased.

The site you visited, www.naturalnest.com has something to gain, right? After all they want to sell you the product - bird's nest soup, which incidentally doesn't come cheap, as they're asking a whopping $322.00 US to $336.00 US for 5.4 ounces! Obviously for people that have something to gain by selling you a particular product, they're not about to tell you anything negative. Quite the contrary, so yes, I would say it is biased!

The difference in information on such "delicacies" stems from a different philosophy, think East meets West. The Asian philosophy is based on "yin and yang", which encompasses everything in life, from where to place your furnitiure, to eating, and even the wearing of bracelets. This is done in order to "balance energy and vitality", (known as "chi"), by balancing such opposites as; sweet and sour, hot and cold, and positive and negative forces. For many Asians, bird's nest soup falls into this philosophy. They claim it will cause a "rebirth of cells, boost the immune system, and restore our cells after damage from x-rays." Right! I wonder if it works as well as that silver-ionized bracelet purported to "revitalize and re- energize" us?

Science is not based on philosophy or anecdotes.

Food will not protect us from the damage of x-rays per se, but eating any food, helps boost our immune system and provides us with the tools to repair and renew damaged or dying cells. This is due to the nutrients that food contains. Bird's nest soup is certainly not exclusive to those properties. In fact it is deficient in certain amino acids, i.e. lysine, methionine, and tryptophan (1). Similar to gelatin, it is a rather poor source of protein. Any nutritive qualities obtained from bird's nest soup would be more from its added ingredients, such as, egg whites, corn starch, chicken breast, chicken stock, onions and even ham (2).

After all, the soup's controversial ingredient is nothing more than bird saliva. Saliva is 99% water, with insignificant amounts of protein, in the form of enzymes, along with some salts.

Any other soup, using such added ingredients would have a similar nutritive profile.

The reason bird's nest soup is so expensive is due to the danger involved in obtaining the nests. It necessitates climbing into a dark, damp cave, and climbing up a pole to heights where the nests can be found clinging precariously to its walls. Many a climber has died trying to accomplish this feat. Ultimately, the labor-intensive supply, to meet the demand, dictates the price, where a bowl of authentic bird's nest soup can cost $60.00 US!

But for this price, this delicacy has resulted in arsenic poisoning, as written up in the American Journal of Medical Science ( Luong and Nguyen, 1999). (See my MadSci article on this subject. www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2005-04/1112922484.Bc.r.html ) It is also the leading cause of food allergies in Singapore. (See - www.mirabilis.ca/archives/000609.html

Furthermore, according to research carried out in Ohio-State University, the process whereby the nests are cleaned virtually destroys the proteins, negating any possible immune system benefits. See: www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/story.php?id=2906

As the late astronomer Carl Sagan used to say, "For extraordinary claims, we need extraordinary evidence."

Unfortunately, this evidence is lacking when it comes to justifying the price tag of bird's nest soup, and not the least, its negative impact on the species.

Hope that helps,

Peter Bosani.

References:
(1). www.asianonlinerecipies.com
(2). www.chinesefood.about.com/library/bltrivia33.htm

also: www.oardc.ohio-state.edu
and: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov


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