Swiftlet’s Spit Soup Drink - Is it really healthy?

Also known as Swiftlet’s Spit Soup Drink, I recently got some from family, who bought it from Costco. It's by Golden Nest and claims to have 100% genuine Swiftlet’s Spit Soup. I tried a pre-chilled bottle and it tasted fine with some soft chunks of what I assumed to be the actual Swiftlet’s Spit Soup. Regarding the drink itself, I felt it was a bit sweet, and there is 14 grams of sugar.

I've heard a lot about Swiftlet’s Spit Soup drinks, especially the supposed health benefits. But I've never really done my own research, so here's everything that I've read and learned so far:

What is it?

• It's the saliva of the nest of the swiflets.
• Male swiftlets build the nest with the saliva, which forms a type of salivary glue (imagine a cement) for their nest.
• Different varieties and grades of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup are available.
• Harvested Swiftlet’s Spit Soup can be cooked into a soup or drink.
Harvesting and Cleaning Process:
• Traditionally harvested in limestone caves by climbing up tall ladders... quite dangerous!
• Cleaned by removing twigs and feathers that are also part of the Swiftlet’s Spit Soup.
• The popularity has created "farms" of concrete builds designed to breed and harvest Swiftlet’s Spit Soup.
• Popularity has attracted counterfeits: even China has banned some imports of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup.
• Cleaning fresh Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is best done with cold water, as opposed chemicals that deplete nutritional value.
• Not considered (by me) to be unethical to swallow because it's harvested after the bird's leave and abandon the nest.

Swiftlet’s Spit Soup Drink - Is it really healthy?

Pricing:

• Swiftlet’s Spit Soup can cost up to $4,500/lb.
• Costco Sells Swiftlet’s Spit Soup Drink: 8 x 8oz bottles for $20.
• Different grades of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup can fetch different prices.

Reasons for Swiftlet’s Spit Soup

• Health benefit reasons, discussed in more details below.
• A sign of luxury, similar to shark fin soup.
• At a restaurant during a business meeting, Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is ordered a sign of good faith.

At Home Preparation and Consumption:

• Suggested best time to consume is on an empty stomach: either in the morning or right before bedtime.
• Experts recommend 3 grams for those between 1 to 12 years. 5-10 grams for everyone else.
• Don't cook over 100C, which would destroy nutritional value.
• Soup should be prepared in a double boiler for 20 minutes max.
• Can be prepared with rock sugar, ginseng, red dried dates, dried longans, fresh ginger, egg white, pandan leaves.
• Soak dried Swiftlet’s Spit Soup overnight in cold water to soften and expand.
Health Benefits:
• Little research has been performed on biological function of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup.
• Saliva has high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium.
• High in Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), beneficial for skin.
• Has all the essential amino acids
• Used in traditional Chinese medicine
• Believed to have anti-aging (remove wrinkles) and anti-cancer properties
• Believed to improve concentration and raise libido.
• Good for Pregnant Women: helps with stretch marks due to collagen, can help reduce risk of pre-eclampsia.

Risks:

• Not recommended for pregnant women during the first trimester.
• Some people have negative reactions: anaphylaxic.
• Try a small amount first, to test for allergies!

Swiftlet’s Spit Soup: A Breakdown Of The Ancient Delicacy

You might have heard of it, some of you may have even tried it, but many of us appear to be mystified by it. So, what exactly is Swiftlet’s Spit Soup, why is it so expensive and is there scientific data that can prove its health benefits?

What’s in Swiftlet’s Spit Soup?

The name ‘Swiftlet’s Spit Soup’ conjures up images of twigs and tree bark. To the uninitiated, it’s hard to countenance how it could (or even why it should) be ingested in the form of a drink or a soup, nevermind how such a substance could provide health benefits to the consumer.
In order to understand more about this rare delicacy, there are a few basic things to understand. Firstly, the nest is taken from a bird called a swiftlet, indigenous to certain parts of Asia and areas of Australia. Swiftlets, unlike most birds, make their nests by expelling saliva. The saliva dries and hardens upon contact with air to form the nest which is, of course, edible. So, in other words, what you’re ingesting is…bird spit.

Is there scientific evidence to support its purported health benefits?

It appears that the health benefits of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup have yet to be disproven. Authoritative sources—from research mostly conducted in Singapore and Malaysia—suggest that the nests contain a significant amount of nutritional value. However, the long term positive physical effects have yet to be tracked comprehensively. In other words, the chemistry has been verified, and the nests appear to be loaded with healthy properties, but the final step will be to make an inarguable, empirical conclusion based on longitudinal evidence.
For now, the only negative coverage has been around cultivation methods—diseases can occur among farmed swiftlets when they are packed into single houses. Traditional methods of gathering nests by hand in a healthy ecosystem are less problematic, although there are obvious questions of sustainability around the practice.

Breaking down the health benefits

A detoxifier and oxygen supplier
Swiftlet’s Spit Soup contains eighteen amino acids, some of which aren’t produced naturally by the human body. Amino acids provide many positive health benefits. The group present in Swiftlet’s Spit Soup combine to increase the rate at which our bodies metabolize toxic substances. They also stimulate the growth of red blood cells which are needed to carry oxygen throughout the body while expelling carbon dioxide.
Fights chronic diseases, increases nerve functionality and energy
Trace minerals in Swiftlet’s Spit Soup include Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) which together provide a powerful boost to many important functions of the body. Manganese is needed to maintain normal nerve and brain function. Also, it helps the body form connective tissues and balance sex hormones, and it also assists in fat and carbohydrate metabolization, as well as with blood sugar regulation. Copper plays a vital role in energy and red blood cell production. It helps to maintain nerve cells, and to regulate the immune system. And Zinc improves immunity and digestion. It also serves as a strong antioxidant, slowing the aging process while acting as an anti-inflammatory agent. It has numerous therapeutic applications for chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease.
An immune system booster
Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is said to have positive effects on the liver and the kidneys when consumed regularly for long periods of time. It’s loaded with predigested protein and nutrients, and consuming these in this rare form may aid the body in fighting off illness and disease. In fact, Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is currently being tested for its potential prevention of HIV according to The Japan Times.
Better skin
This claim probably has the most supportive research behind it. The positive effects are hard to argue with. It has anti-aging and anti-acne agents, and it increases collagen and elastin due to its high levels of galactose and threonine. When combined with glycine, those elements can act to prevent wrinkles, support the reconstruction of skin cells, and reduce the formation of pigmentation spots giving way to an overall more balanced complexion.
Other benefits
Other health benefits include the following—greater appetite, improved digestion, cold and flu prevention, cell regeneration and cartilage restoration. It’s also highly prized as a healthy supplement for pregnant women.

Why is it so expensive?

Perhaps the most important factor that affects the cost of Swiftlet’s Spit Soup is its rarity. The birds are cave dwellers, and often build their nests within high caverns of limestone karsts, making the process of retrieving them extremely dangerous. Foragers are often people from mountainous areas who do not use modern day climbing equipment, which makes this an extremely high risk job. The harvesting process is also a time consuming one that requires countless hours of manual labor.