What do some extreme distance runners have in common with the athletes at the Tour de France cycle race? Suddenly, everyone seems to be talking about adopting a high-fat diet.
一些極限長跑運(yùn)動員與環(huán)法自行車賽(Tour de France)的運(yùn)動員有什么共同點(diǎn)呢?突然之間,似乎所有人都在談?wù)摳咧嬍场?/p>
The idea behind these diets is that when humans enter starvation mode, their bodies are able to switch from burning glycogen, the sugars produced by eating a meal including carbohydrates, to burning stored body fat which is released into the bloodstream as ketones. These extremely low carbohydrate diets are called ketogenic.
選擇高脂飲食背后的想法是,當(dāng)人進(jìn)入饑餓狀態(tài)時,身體可以從燃燒糖元(食用包含碳水化合物的食物后產(chǎn)生的糖類)轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)槿紵w內(nèi)儲存的脂肪,分解的酮體進(jìn)入血液中。這些碳水化合物含量極低的飲食就被稱為生酮飲食。
The rationale is that there is only about 40 minutes of glycogen stored in leg muscles, which is why runners have to keep gulping down sweets during marathons or they end up “hitting the wall” two-thirds of the way through the race.
其原理是大腿肌肉中儲存的糖元僅夠維持40分鐘左右,這就是為什么運(yùn)動員會在跑馬拉松期間大量攝入糖分,或者在跑完三分之二路程時就體力不支了。
But even lean athletes have several pounds of stored fat reserves, so if those could be tapped, you could cycle for hours without running out of fuel. So some Tour de France cyclists have started using this approach.
然而,即便體形瘦削的運(yùn)動員也有幾磅的脂肪儲備,如果能夠利用這些儲備,你就可以連續(xù)幾個小時騎車,而不用擔(dān)心耗盡能量。因此一些環(huán)法自行車賽的騎手們已開始采用這種飲食方法了。
What’s tempting more athletes to try ketogenic diets is recent research that casts doubt on the link between saturated fat in the diet and heart disease. But I asked Peter Attia, a medical doctor who practises in New York and southern California, and who also happens to be a cycling enthusiast, his view on the persistent medical concerns about fat.
最近的一項研究吸引了更多運(yùn)動員嘗試生酮飲食,該研究對飲食中的飽和脂肪與心臟病之間的關(guān)系提出質(zhì)疑。我向在紐約和南加州執(zhí)業(yè)的醫(yī)學(xué)博士彼得•阿提亞(Peter Attia)問到他對于脂肪這個長期醫(yī)學(xué)問題的看法。他還是一名騎行愛好者。
Dr Attia, who spent three years on a ketogenic diet, has written about his experiences on his blog, where he gives a scientist’s explanation of how the diet works.
阿提亞堅持過3年的生酮飲食,他在博客中寫下了自己的經(jīng)驗(yàn),從科學(xué)家角度給出了有關(guān)這種飲食如何發(fā)揮作用的解釋。
He says it made him “far more metabolically flexible and efficient” as a cyclist. So would he recommend that his patients go on a ketogenic diet, which usually means eating very few carbohydrates? He would in about only a third of cases.
他表示,作為一名騎行者,這種飲食讓他“的新陳代謝更靈活和更高效”。那么他會建議他的患者采用生酮飲食嗎?這通常意味著攝入非常少的碳水化合物。他會建議大約三分之一的患者這么做。
His point is that there are no one-size-fits-all diets out there. What works for one person may not work for others. Some people perform better by eating more fats, while others actually do better in endurance by eating a lot of nonprocessed carbs such as vegetables. And a lot of an individual’s response to nutrition is determined by genetic make-up.
他的觀點(diǎn)是沒有一種適合所有人的飲食。對某一個人有益的飲食可能不適用于其他人。一些人在攝入更多脂肪后表現(xiàn)會更佳,還有一些人在攝入大量未經(jīng)加工的碳水化合物(例如蔬菜)后會擁有更強(qiáng)的耐力。個人對于營養(yǎng)的回應(yīng)很多取決于基因組成。
Dr Attia suggests that before going ketogenic, athletes work with a sport-orientated physician to determine if such a diet would be beneficial or even safe. You need to get blood tests before and during the diet to make sure you are not experiencing a sudden increase in small-sized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles, or triglycerides, which are known contributors to heart disease.
阿提亞建議,在采用生酮飲食之前,運(yùn)動員應(yīng)與運(yùn)動醫(yī)生合作,確定這種飲食是否有益甚至安全。你需要在餐前和用餐期間查血,以確保你的小型低密度脂蛋白(LDL)顆?;蚋视腿]有突然升高。人們認(rèn)為,甘油三酯會引發(fā)心臟病。
He also points out that, while it might be low in carbohydrates, the ketogenic diet is not actually a high protein diet — too much animal protein can cause a rise in IGF-1, which controls growth hormone and, at high levels, has been associated with cancer. Healthy fats can be obtained through foods such as coconut oil, avocados and nuts but many prefer to pile on the bacon and butter.
他還指出,生酮飲食的碳水化合物含量很少,但實(shí)際上并非高蛋白飲食,太多的動物蛋白會導(dǎo)致類胰島素一號增長因子(IGF-1)升高,它控制著生長激素,如果它處于高水平,會與癌癥產(chǎn)生關(guān)聯(lián)。健康脂肪可以通過椰子油、牛油果和堅果等食物獲得,但很多更喜歡堆積在熏肉和黃油上。
Other concerns about low-carb diets include the effect these regimes have on gut bacteria, which mainly ferment undigested starches such as vegetable fibre and produce short-chain fatty acids that help protect your gut. Because these diets are low in fibre, athletes have reported issues with constipation.
其他對于低碳水化合物飲食的擔(dān)憂包括這類飲食對于腸道細(xì)菌的影響,腸道細(xì)菌主要是把植物纖維等未消化的淀粉發(fā)酵,并產(chǎn)生有利于保護(hù)腸道的短鏈脂肪酸。這類飲食纖維含量很低,因此運(yùn)動員報告過有便秘問題。
Ketogenic diets are probably best for short-term periods of training only and should not be considered a lifestyle choice. The long-term effects have not been assessed.
生酮飲食或許最適用于短期訓(xùn)練,而不應(yīng)被視為一種生活方式選擇。其長期效果尚未得到評估。