Bird's Nest is neither in the catalogue of articles that can be used for health food by China Food and Drug Administration, nor in the catalogue of raw materials of health food, nor in the homology catalogue of medicine and food by the National Health Planning Commission, nor in the China People's Pharmacopoeia.
Whether it is used as health food or medicine, the nutritional value of bird's nest is lack of evidence.
The saying that bird's nest is magical is widely circulated. There is a saying that the efficacy of bird's nest is based on the Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen in Ming Dynasty. In fact, we can find that there is no record of bird's nest in compendium of materia medica. Bird's Nest was recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica compiled by Zhao Xuemin in Qing Dynasty.
Compendium of Materia Medica has sorted out the contents of bird's nest mentioned in dozens of books, but the functions of these books on bird's nest are very confusing, including treating "acne rash in children", frequent urination, asthma, excessive phlegm, loss of appetite, cough, physical fitness, aphrodisiac, diarrhea, vomiting and drug abuse. Nowadays, the function of bird's nest is advertised by merchants as beauty beauty, calming the nerves and refreshing the mind, which is far from the function in ancient books.
Gu Zhongyi, a nutritionist at Beijing Friendship Hospital, wrote that dried bird's nest contains about 50% protein, 30% carbohydrate, 65,438+00% water and some minerals. Look at the nutritional components of bird's nest. Pure carbohydrates, that is, sugars, mainly provide energy, but their nutritional value is not high. Protein content is high, but "considering that you don't chew like tofu skin at all, high unit weight content doesn't mean that you consume more protein". Secondly, the quality of protein is mainly measured by its amino acid composition. The protein amino acid composition of bird's nest is incomplete, and the quality of protein is "far inferior to that of eggs".
"In fact, its efficacy can be achieved through a reasonable diet," Fan Zhihong, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, College of Food Science, China Agricultural University, said in an interview with the media.
The sialic acid contained in bird's nest is N- acetylneuraminic acid, which is a characteristic substance in bird's nest detection, also known as "bird's nest acid". As for epidermal growth factor, popular science writer Yun inadvertently said that bird's nest is rich in epidermal growth factor, and even if it exists, it will not play a role. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a small molecule protein, which promotes cell proliferation through its special protein structure. However, the protein structure of bird's nest will be destroyed during cooking, and it will be decomposed into amino acids by digestive juice after being eaten in the stomach before being absorbed by the human body. If it can't maintain its unique protein structure, it can't play its role.