The claimEvidence D · marketing folklore
Bird's nest and e-jiao nourish blood and beauty
The evidence
Bird's nest is mostly glycoprotein, e-jiao is basically collagen/gelatin; claimed benefits come mostly from lab and animal work, with little quality human evidence.
The mechanism, in brief
With the first two gates in hand, several widespread folk claims fall apart.
Sources (4)
- Hsu, D., Lee, C., Tsai, W., & Chien, Y. (2017). Essential and toxic metals in animal bone broths. Food & Nutrition Research, 61(1), 1347478. Ca and Mg per serving did not exceed low tens of mg (<5% of daily recommended); Pb/Cd intake risk judged minimal.
- Chen, J., & Tsim, K. W. K. (2020). A review of edible jujube, the Ziziphus jujuba fruit: a health food supplement for anemia prevalence. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 11, 593655.
- Hurrell, R., & Egli, I. (2010). Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 91(5), 1461S-1467S.
- Wang, X., Ouyang, Y., Liu, J., Zhu, M., Zhao, G., Bao, W., & Hu, F. B. (2014). Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ, 349, g4490.