People eat all sorts of weird animal body parts and animal products.

We guzzle milk and blood from animals.

We cook up their brains, their eyeballs, and sometimes even their testicles.

Ew!

Heck, we can't get enough of honey.

And fundamentally, honey is just bee barf.

Tasty, tasty bee barf.

But one of the most bizarre animal products that humans eat is bird nests.

Not just any old nest, mind you, but those of some very special little birds. We'll talk about

them in a few minutes. Edible bird nests, or E.B.Ns, as they're called by those in the know,

are a traditional delicacy in East Asia, especially in China. For centuries, wealthy Chinese people have consumed edible bird nests,

usually in the form of birds' nest soup.

Throughout much of recent history, this dish has been one of the most expensive foods in the world.

No wonder people have called edible bird nests the caviar of the East,

or white gold. Perhaps the primary reason people spend ungodly amounts of money on bird's nest soup

is because of its medicinal properties. Well, it's supposed medicinal properties anyway. In traditional Chinese medicine,

it's believed that the benefits you can get from eating these nests include a prolonged life,

increased attractiveness, increased libido, brain health, bone strength, no more diabetes,

no more cancer, a stronger immune system,

more energy, better looking skin, and better circulation. Wow. So basically, it sounds like

an edible bird's nest is a cure-all, a panacea. That's pretty impressive. But is it true? And where did these nests come from? What do they

look like? Well, if you hear me say nest and you picture a cute little bowl-shaped thing made of

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