Reviewed by Dr Jessica Gunawan on February 17, 2023
5 Ways Bird’s Nest Enhances Your Natural Beauty
Published | 4 min read
Edible bird's nest is chalked full of nutrients that keep your skin hydrated, glowing, and clear. Read more about how this superfood helps with natural beauty here.
Natural beauty
Studies show that people find others more attractive when they have a healthy glow from eating right as opposed to tanning or wearing makeup.
Edible bird’s nest is a delicacy that has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for centuries. It has proven health benefits when it comes to natural beauty and skin health.
Read on to learn more about how to use bird’s nest for glowing skin that starts from nourishing your body internally.
How Does Bird’s Nest Enhance Natural Beauty?
A traditional delicacy supported by modern science, bird’s nest has been proven to provide many benefits.
These are the five ways it can bring out your natural beauty:
1. It has superfood qualities.
A wide variety of studies have been conducted to find out why bird’s nest has become a trusted go-to natural beauty food for centuries.
The results found that bird’s nest is composed of many natural nutrients that can enhance your appearance.
This includes:
- Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF): EGF is responsible for the production of keratinocytes and fibroblasts, the two types of cells that are present in the skin. This can help improve skin texture and fine wrinkles.
- Amino acids and sialic acid: Research shows that these key antioxidant components of bird’s nest can boost the Lungs, improve skin health, and reduce inflammation.
- Glycoproteins: A 2017 study found that the glycoproteins in bird’s nest contain prebiotic activities. This helps contribute to the healthy gut bacteria in your digestive tract, which has been shown to improve skin health.
2. It brightens and smoothes skin.
The main minerals in bird’s nest improve skin condition. EGF stimulates keratinocytes and fibroblasts. These compounds boost the skin’s barrier and heal wounds, respectively.
Bird’s nest also consists of 18 amino acids. Out of these 18, nine are essential amino acids required by the body for tissue growth and reparation.
Together, these compounds support cell regeneration, which is important for smoother and younger-looking skin.
3. It protects against sun damage.
As an antioxidant, bird’s nest protects your body from oxidative stress due to sun exposure. Researchers conducted a study on the effects of edible bird’s nest on UVB irradiation-mediated oxidative stress and photoaging in the skin.
Results found that edible bird’s nest increased skin hydration, and reduced the production of melanin and wrinkle formation in hairless mice during UVB-mediated oxidative stress.
4. It promotes digestion for natural beauty from within.
In relation to the role of bird’s nest in improving digestion, TCM believes that it can tonify the Spleen.
The organ is important in TCM because qi (vital energy) is produced by the Spleen. It’s why TCM physicians usually recommend bird’s nest to those who want to tonify qi and promote blood flow.
Consuming bird’s nest helps with a Yin Deficiency and the flow of fluids in the body. Body fluids tend to stagnate if you have a Yin Deficiency. This, in turn, leads to Qi Deficiency.
By tonifying yin, circulation and toxin elimination improves, leading to clearer, moisturized skin and enhancing your natural beauty.
5. It nourishes the Lungs.
In TCM, bird’s nest is known to nourish yin, which helps cool the Lungs and stomach. This can relieve symptoms of thirst, sore throat, and dry cough in the process.
Traditionally, it’s been used to relieve chronic respiratory diseases, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, tracheitis, and bronchitis.
Try Bird’s Nest To Enhance Your Natural Beauty
There’s so much more to beauty than just physical appearance, and bird’s nest can achieve that.
Not only can it rejuvenate the skin, but it can also protect the body and keep your organs healthy. Try bird’s nest to bring forth your natural beauty from within.
Care to share your natural beauty hacks? Let us know in the comments below!
This is an adaptation of an article called “Get Your Essential Beauty On The Go,” which first appeared on the Eu Yan Sang website.
References
- Plos One. 2012. You Are What You Eat: Within-Subject Increases in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Confer Beneficial Skin-Color Changes.
- Frontiers. 2021. Edible Bird’s Nest: The Functional Values of the Prized Animal-Based Bioproduct From Southeast Asia–A Review.
- International Food Research Journal. 2017. Assessment on bioactive components of hydrolysed edible bird nest.
- Frontiers. 2020. Edible Bird’s Nest Protects Against Hyperglycemia-Induced Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction.
- Antioxidants (Basel), 2021. Standardized Edible Bird’s Nest Extract Prevents UVB Irradiation-Mediated Oxidative Stress and Photoaging in the Skin.
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