February 1999 Tonics in winterDo 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 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.
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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