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Lung ailments and Bird's Nest Soup

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  • Lung ailments and Bird's Nest Soup

    Ever since my lungs have been ravaged by that damn SARS last year, and the recurrent allergic bronchitis that plagues me, I've been looking into non-western medicine approaches towards treating lung disease.

    Bird's nest soup comes to mind.

    It's actually a very popular medicinal agent here in Thailand, and Asia as well. So much so, that a mafia formed in Phang Na Bay, near Phuket, where many of the swallow's nests are found. People are routinely shot for invading the wrong turf, in their search for the swallow's little nest. That is, if the pythons don't get them. Or, if they don't fall off the cliff into the sea. All for a nest. A nest, made of feathers, twigs, and bird sputum.

    Spit. Bird spit. Tastes like it too.

    But, it's highly valued here in Asia. The prices for a box of these nests, a box about the size of a fairly decent hardcover book, can easily run you over two thousand dollars. (When the Japanese tourists show up in their buses, the Thai here rapidly run around putting new price signs everywhere, usually double or triple the regular price). The Japanese buy huge amounts of this stuff, and then resell it at a higher price in Japan. The health benefits are supposed to be huge, especially for lung function.

    I hate the ****. But I take it every day now.

    Preparation is a pain in the ass. You have to soak the nest in water for about two hours, then, using a tweezer or forceps, pull out the tiny feathers, remaining twigs, and pieces of dirt. I've been told that the birds don't **** in their little homes, but, if they're anything like all the dogs I've had, I remain suspicious. Once cleaned, it's boiled, and then cooled. You can add sugar to taste.

    As I feel above the whole concept of picking bird feathers out of spit, I buy the commercially prepared stuff. It's about three bucks a dose. One a day. 70 milliliters.

    Here's some information that I found on the net, from ENaturalHealthCenter.


    Latin: Collocalia fuciphaga

    Origin:
    Swallows or swifts make nests by regurgitating gelatinous substances, or the saliva. The nests are called swallow's nest. It is also referred to as bird's nest.

    Swallow is the bird Collocalia fuciphaga (Edible-nest Swiftlet), belonging to the Apodidae family and many other birds of the same breed.

    Swallow's nest consumption has been known by the Chinese for thousands of years, and people especially those riches love it and consider it as one of the most precious tonic food they can have. As a food and a tonic, it is said to be highly nourishing, containing with elements which can stimulate cell and epidermal growth. If the swallow's nest is taken regularly, so the tradition says, the skin will be glowing and delicate. Swollow's nest is also good for the eyes. It is beneficial to the elderly and those who have just recovered from illness.

    Most swallows live in the northern part of the earth, commonly seen in China, India, Europe and North America. Instead of using saliva to build their nests, they use tiny tree branches, dry grass, or even mud to form their nest.

    The ancient saliva nests are produced by bird commonly known as swiftlet (or walet in Indonesia), which can only be found in the tropical coastal areas. The precious swiftlet nest is the only swallow's nest constructed entirely from their saliva and is the only edible swallow's nest beneficial to human body.

    Collocalia fuciphaga is the only commercial edible-nest builder. Its lower legs have a row of small feathers on the outer and inner side. The white edible-nest built by this type of swallows is found in caves and cliffs in offshore islands of Malaysia, Thailand and mostly Indonesia.

    Most swiftlets have dull dark grey-brown to black plumage with variable areas of grey to white on the underparts or at the base of the tail. All swiftlets construct their nests with a glutinous nest-cement produced by a pair of large, labed salivery glands under the tongue. It is this nest-cement that constitutes the raw material of swallow's nest soup.

    Collocalia fuciphaga weighs about 15 to 18 g. This swiftlet has a band of brownish grey feathers across the rump. The grading of nests for the black-nest swiftlet is based on the proportion of nest-cement.

    Low grades are given to nests with many feathers incorporated in the nest-cup, with red- stained (red-legged) or softened bases. Good quality nests are distinguished by the firm, white basal attachments (white-legged) and a comparatively large proportion of nest-cement with few feathers in the nest-cup.

    Processing swallow's nest is a long, tedious and labor intensive process. First the raw swallow's nest has to be soaked for 6 to 48 hours for them to absorb water and expand. The next step is to separate the feathers from the edible cement content. Larger feathers can be easily plucked off with a pair of forceps. The fine feathers are removed with floatation technique using vegetable oil.

    Particular attention is taken to isolate the long strands of nest cement to produce premium grade nest later. The broken strands are further meshed and are used to constitute the base of the cleaned nests. Normally the color of the cleaned nests will resemble the original raw nests whether it is white or red. Swallow's nests from Collocalia fuciphaga are normally very clean with few strands of black feathers.

    One can tell the difference between chemically treated processed nests from those of untreated materials by the shine of the cement strands. Nest cement that is too shiny may also be the result of chemical additive.

    Cleaned nests that are too red in color could be the result of dye additives which will dissolve when cooked. For the layman, it is therefore advisable to purchase processed nests from agents who are reliable and trustworthy as most of the nests in the current market look very much alike.

    A simple test that can be carried out to determine if the nests are genuine is the iodine test for starch. Adulterated nests will turn mouldy if left in a moist chamber for a couple of days. Other more complicated tests such as gas or gel chromatography can be used to separate the contents further in the laboratory.

    The world's major producers of swallow's nest are Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Most of the product is exported to Hong Kong and Singapore.

    Properties:
    Sweet in flavor, mild in nature, it is related to the channels of the lung, stomach and kidney.

    Functions:
    Nourishes yin to moisten dryness, tonifies qi (energy) and reinforces the functions of the spleen and stomach.

    Applications:
    Swallow's nest is used to treat consumptive diseases, tuberculosis, cough and phlegm-dyspnea (difficult breathing), asthma, hemoptysis (coughing blood), hematoma (mass of clotted blood that forms in a tissue, organ, or body space as a result of a broken blood vessel), prolonged dysentery, chronic malaria, dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), hiccups, regurgitation and general weakness.

    1. For dry coughs with little sputum, coughing blood, vomiting blood, night sweats, feeling hot in limbs and chest, thirsty, etc., due to deficiency of yin, lung heat and fatigue:

    Stew with white fungus or a pear.

    2. For fatigue, thinness, poor appetite, weak stomach, etc., due to prolonged illness:

    Boil swallow's nest with milk, or with chilken or beef juice.

    Dosage and Administration:
    Rinse nests in cold water, changing the water once, and soak in water for 5 to 6 hours. Clean off the feathers and impure materials. Remove to dry, then cut up and place in a large bowl with one cup of water for every 20 g. Boil over medium heat for 15 minutes, then add rock sugar or salt to season.

    There are many ways of preparing swallow's nests soup for consumption depending on the taste of the individual. The most common way to cook the nest material is to double boil it in a covered porcelain pot.

    Initially, the processed nest is soaked for an hour in cooled boiled water to enable it to expand. For a serving of an average adult about 4 to 5 g of cleaned dry nest is recommended. The nest should be cooked in about one and a half cup of water for a minimum of two hours depending on the grade of processed nests used. The best grade quality nests do not require long hours of cooking. Rock sugar is added to taste in the last ten minutes of the cooking. Some people may add in little strips of pandan leaf or ginseng for added flavor.

    This method of cooking is preferred for those in the post therapy recovery stage and those with bronchial disorders. The steamed nests should be consumed while still warm with a porcelain spoon before the person goes to sleep or preferably in the early hours of the morning for maximum effect.

    Cautions on Use:
    For those swallow's nests that show yellowish or blackish colors, or are spoiled by mildew, they are likely toxic and shouldn't be consumed.

    Reference Materials:


    Toxic or Side Effects:


    Modern Researches:
    Edible swallow's nest is a glycoprotein with properties of a protein as well as of a carbohydrate. Its composition resembles that of salivary mucin with a high ash content of 2.3 percent. It contains substances composed of 10.8 percent nitrogen, such as amide nitrogen, arginine nitrogen, cystive nitrogen, histidine nitrogen, non-amino nitrogen. etc. There are also 15.4 percent carbohydrate with traces of phosphorus, asernate, sulphur, calcium, fat, iron, kalium, hexosamine, and vitamin B1.

    The energy value per 100 g edible portion is 345 kilocalories. The total protein content is about 49.9 percent.

    Swallow's nest has been recommended for use in the curing or strengthening of the body in diseases related to weak blood or body overheat; cold, influenza; coughs; asthma, and other bronchial aliments.

    Consumption of swallow's nest is also recommended to complement other treatments to combat degenerative diseases such as cancer and also for convalescence or to recover health after illness or surgery. Consuming swallow's nest regularly can give a person excuberant physical and mental strength as well as to restore one's youthfulness. The tonic powers of swallow's nest seems boundless--from improving skin complexion to slowing down aging.



    Anyone have any ideas on this stuff???
    Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

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  • #2
    Never heard of it before. From the description and the indications it appears to be cheifly for tonifying lung yin and kidney yin, while also tonifying the spleen qi and for spleen qi deficiency. Another apparent function is that it harmonizes the stomach to subdue rebellious qi in the form of nausea, hiccups, and acid regurge.

    Tremelia mushroom, aka cloud ear or wood ear mushroom, aka Bai Mu Er, is another good herb for tonifying lung and stomach yin. Its also much cheaper than swallow nests.

    In general, any consumptive chronic respiratory disease or any COPD which manifests with heat symptoms (yellow phlegm, hemoptysis, night sweats) will turn into a pattern of lung yin deficiency with empty heat. Tuberculosis usually manifests as severe consumptive lung yin deficiency. As such these conditions are treated with yin tonics which enter the lung channel. Since it is beleived that phlegm is generated by the stomach, and dampness by the spleen, herbs which treat lung yin xu with excessive phlegm or dampness retention in the body (which can be evident in the form of a thick white or yellow tongue coat) many effective herbs for treating lung yin xu will also enter the stomach and spleen to help resolve digestive problems which are complicating the pattern of disharmony.

    Those are my ideas for the moment.
    Show me a man who has forgotten words, so that I can have a word with him.

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    • #3
      Dao, how about a new thread describing these lung yins and spleen qi's and so on in the TCM section? This stuff is not commonly understood by the rest of us mere mortals.
      Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

      "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

      (more comments in my User Profile)
      russbo.com


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      • #4
        read wkks TCM book

        interesting thread about birds nests though

        amitabha
        "did you ask me to consider dick with you??" blooming tianshi lotus

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        • #5
          Dah, there's so much to describe though.................. are we all at least familiar with yin and yang?
          Show me a man who has forgotten words, so that I can have a word with him.

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          • #6
            No. Time to educate us. Do a good job and we'll advance you further towards russbo.com godhood.
            Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

            "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

            (more comments in my User Profile)
            russbo.com


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            • #7
              So there is yin and there is yang. But there is no yin, and there is no yang. However, there is yin and yang. What this means is that these are relative terms which are only used to describe something in reference to something else. When one looks at the sun and the moon, one can say that the sun is yang to the moon's yin. However we could also say that when looking at the moon and a black hole, the moon is yang and the black hole is yin. The laws of yin and yang theory are as follows.

              The intertransformation of yin and yang: the can turn into each and back. The interdependence of yin and yang: one does not exist without the other. The infinite divisibility of yin and yang: we can divide anything into yin and yang aspects, and then divide one of those aspects into yin and yang, so on and so forth forever.

              I think there are two more laws, but the are just extrapolations of the first three.

              So in the body, there is yin and yang. Yin represents the more sunbstantive parts of the body, primarily fluids. Yang represents the more ethereal parts of the body, such as Qi, fire, and energy.

              To say someone is yin deficient is to say that they don't really have enough body fluids. Furthermore, because of the balance of yin and yang, when there is not enough yin, yang is in relative (but not actual) excess. Therefore yin deficiency is often accompanied by heat symptoms due to the relative excess of yang in the body. Similarly, yang deficiency is often accompanied by cold symptoms due to a relative excess of yin.

              However, there can also be true excess hot and cold patterns that do not have yin or yang deficiency associated with them. But these patterns are often acute in nature, and if they become chronic they often exhaust the bodies energies, leading to a deficiency pattern.

              That's all for today, try not to bang your head on the wall.
              Show me a man who has forgotten words, so that I can have a word with him.

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