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Eat less, live longer? 禁食或斋戒健康吗?

分享到: 2012-08-17 00:00:00 BBC英伦网

摘要:如果你平时很贪吃,并且养成了个大胃口,想通过节食来减肥吗?有证据表明,短期的禁食可以帮助人们减轻体重,带来更好的健康。

Vocabulary: Eating and dieting 饮食和减肥

A girl looks at food

Can you resist the temptation of food?

If you love eating and have a gargantuan appetite, the idea of going on a diet might be hard to swallow.

Yet evidence suggests that short periods of fasting could help people lose weight and lead to better health. A lower calorie intake increases the life expectancy of mice, so could the same be true for humans?

Studies show that high levels of a growth hormone called IGF-1 can lead to accelerated ageing, whilst a low level can help prevent age-related diseases. Now evidence suggests the level of IGF-1 in our bodies can be lowered by what we eat.

It’s not only about eating less, but also about limiting the amount of protein we ingest. Research by Professor Valter Longo of the University of Southern California suggests that when the level of IGF-1 drops, our bodies switch from "growth mode" to "repair mode".

BBC journalist Michael Mosley went on the 5:2 diet, which involves eating normally for five days a week, then only consuming 600 calories for two days. Despite this reduced calorie intake two days a week, he didn’t crave more food on other days: "On my feed days I ate what I normally do and felt no need to gorge." However, he adds that "Current medical opinion is that the benefits of fasting are unproven and until there are more human studies it's better to eat at least 2000 calories a day. Fasting, like eating, is best done in moderation."

For those who want to reduce their weight whilst maintaining a varied diet, fasting for short periods of time might be healthier than crash diets or yo-yo dieting. However, others might decide they have enough on their plate without having to think constantly about what they eat. Either way, information about fasting provides food for thought.

Glossary 词汇表 (点击单词收听发音)
a gargantuan appetite惊人的食欲to go on a diet节食hard to swallow难以接受to fast禁食,斋戒calorie intake卡路里摄入量;热量摄取age-related disease 老化伴随病protein蛋白质to ingest摄取,吸收to consume消耗to crave渴望to gorge狼吞虎咽in moderation适量的,有节制的a varied diet一个均衡多样化的饮食a crash diet速成食疗yo-yo dieting悠悠球式减肥(指节食后达到体重减轻,但过一段时间体重增加又要节食的循环)to have enough on one’s plate一个人已经有很多令人操心的事情要处理food for thought令人深思的东西或话
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