February 1999

Tonics in winter

Do they help?

By Cran Sin and Polly Lau

    Chinese people believe that they should eat tonics to nourish themselves during winter.

    Said Ms Irene Cheng, an executive director of the Institute of Chinese Traditional Medicine Open Degree Program of China Limited: "We are infected by 'wind' and 'cold' in winter, and people think they should have tonics to warm themselves up."

    Prof. Peter Cheung Chi Keung of the Food and Nutritional Science Program of the Department of Biology at The Chinese University of Hong Kong explained this phenomenon in a different way.

    "When the temperature is low, the amount of hormones in a human body change, and they in turn affect the metabolism rate. An ideal metabolism rate would produce enough heat energy," said he.

    Prof. Cheung thinks that there may be chemical substances within wild animals which help increase the amount of hormones. However, no scientific proof is available so far.

    Explaining the importance of having tonics, Ms Cheng said, "The main principle in Chinese medicine is to strengthen one's body before diseases arise. Having tonics is to serve this purpose."

The use of tonics is to bring the level of Yin Yang, vital energy, blood and body fluid back to normal whenever there is any insufficiency in these body elements. Said she: "Any excess of tonics is no good. People may impair their health if they do not stop having tonics at the right time." The climatic and seasonal conditions, the geographical localities, the person's constitution, age and sex should be considered when deciding whether it is suitable to have tonics. If the physical state of a person is defined as 'heat', he or she should not take in Chinese angelica root as it only suits people who are 'cold'," said Ms Cheng.

    Ms Cheng and Prof. Cheung both agreed that farm animals such as pigs and hens can be served as tonics. Their benefits are the same as that of wild animals.

    For normal people, Prof. Cheung believed that there is no need to have any special meals in winter.

    Another matter of concern is the hygienic conditions of tonics.

    The Associate Prof. Julia Ling of the Department of Microbiology said it would be okay only if the wild animals are cooked thoroughly. "Also, we should consume the cooked food as soon as possible because bacteria will activate again if the food is left idle for a long time," she added.

    However, people consume wild animals without cooking them. For example, they may consume raw snake bile.

    "To sterilize the snake bile, liquid with around 70 to 75 percent alcoholic content should be used. But in practice, the alcoholic content is often not enough," said Prof. Ling.

    According to Mr. Yan Ka Hing, the owner of Shea Wong Fat, a shop that specializes in selling foods made of snake and lizard, the trend of eating snakes has existed since the Han Dynasty.

    "Winter is the most suitable time for eating snakes because snake meals help increase blood circulation and keep the body warm.

    Different parts of snakes are eatable, including their gall bladders, penises and meats. Each part has similar medical functions of curing asthma, bronchitis and accelerating blood circulation, but with different degrees of effectiveness."

    Mr. Lam, who works at a school, consumes wild animals regularly.

    Although eating wild animals is prohibited in Hong Kong, Mr. Lam started to hunt wild animals several years ago. Traps and cages are set to catch the wild animals at Ma On Shan Country Park.

Most wild animals are caught in winter when plants in hilltop die, since animals have to come down the hillside to find food.

Last year I got three pangolins within a month. Sometimes wild pigs were caught, too.

At first, Mr. Lam ate wild animals because they were conducive to health. Later on, he became crazy about the tastes of wild animals.

Said Mr. Lam: "Wild animals are delicious. There is a great difference between fed animals and wild animals. Since wild animals have enough exercise, their meat contains very little fat."

    Some people suspect whether wild animals are edible for hygienic and ethical reasons.

    However, Mr. Lam insisted that wild animals are edible.

    "I deal with the wild animals caught carefully. They are cleaned and cooked thoroughly."

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