素食能降低早逝風(fēng)險(xiǎn)

The benefits of a vegetarian diet have greatly been underestimated, American physician and nutrition researcher Walter Willett told the audience at a recent conference. Giving up meat while still maintaining eggs and dairy in your diet does wonders for your health and could prevent up to one-third of all early deaths, Willett concludes.

最近，哈佛教授Walter Willett在第四屆“聯(lián)合治療梵蒂岡國(guó)際會(huì)議”上表示，素食的好處被嚴(yán)重低估了。素食飲食具有神奇的健康益處，能夠預(yù)防三分之一的早逝.

“We have just been doing some calculations looking at the question of how much could we reduce mortality shifting towards a healthy, more plant-based diet, not necessarily totally vegan, and our estimates are about one third of early deaths could be prevented,” he said.

而且你不需要完全素食，只要放棄肉類就行，雞蛋和乳制品可以照吃不誤。

“That’s not even talking about physical activity or not smoking, and that’s all deaths, not just cancer deaths. That’s probably an underestimate as well as that doesn’t take into account the fact that obesity is important and we control for obesity,” he added.

他說，這可能還是低估值，因?yàn)樗麄兛刂屏朔逝忠蛩?，也排除了鍛煉身體和不抽煙帶來的好處。另外，他們探究的是所有早逝類型，而不僅僅是癌癥死亡。

Recent research has consistently shown that vegetarian diets, while far from being a panacea, are effective at reducing weight and maintaining health. However, Willett’s study suggests that figures from previous studies gravely underestimate the benefits of such diets. For instance, the Office for National Statistics suggested that 141,000 deaths a year in Britain were preventable by renouncing meat, while the new research reports that about 200,000 lives could be saved each year in the UK if individuals removed meat from their diets.

最近，不斷有研究表明，素食雖不是靈丹妙藥，但能夠有效地降低體重、保持健康。然而，Willett的最新研究顯示，以往研究大大低估了素食的益處。舉例而言：英國(guó)國(guó)家統(tǒng)計(jì)局稱，在英國(guó)，每年有14.1萬例死亡能夠靠不吃肉避免;但新研究表明，這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)應(yīng)該達(dá)到20萬。

He wasn’t the only one to praise vegetarianism at the Unite to Cure Fourth International Vatican Conference, where he presented his results. Professor David Jenkins, of the University of Toronto, who is credited with developing the glycemic index, also praised the effect that a plant-based diet has on one’s health.

在會(huì)議上，Willett不是唯一一個(gè)提倡素食的科學(xué)家。東京大學(xué)的教授David Jenkins以提出“血糖生成指數(shù)”概念而著稱。他同樣表示，素食飲食具有極大的健康益處。

The glycemic index is a rating system which shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own, a unit widely used in nutritional and gastronomic guides

“血糖生成指數(shù)”是一項(xiàng)評(píng)價(jià)指標(biāo)，能夠反映單獨(dú)攝入某種食物時(shí)，血糖濃度的升高速率。

In a study on gorillas, Jenkins found that if gorillas are fed the equivalent of a human vegetarian diet, their cholesterol drops by 35% in only two weeks — the expected equivalent of a strong treatment with statins — a class of lipid-lowering medications. Having a simple diet change be as effective as a medical treatment is remarkable and shows just how important the vegetarian diet can be.

Jenkins進(jìn)行過一項(xiàng)大猩猩研究，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)：大猩猩在采取等同于人類素食的飲食后，膽固醇在兩周時(shí)間內(nèi)降低35%——這種效果相當(dāng)于服用他汀類藥物(一種降脂藥物)。原來，簡(jiǎn)單的飲食變化就能夠起到藥物治療的作用。

“That was quite dramatic,” Jenkins said “We showed that there was no real difference between what we got with the diet and what we got with a statin.” However, at least for now, the diet switch on its own is no substitute for medical treatment.

這項(xiàng)研究成果十分引人注目，它證明了素食飲食的重要性，證明了飲食變化和他汀類藥物的效果沒有差別——不過，至少就目前而言，飲食變化不能代替藥物治療。

Even if you don’t entirely give up meat, reducing meat intake can have extremely beneficial results. There is substantial research which shows that reducing meat from our diets (especially red meat) can help us be healthier and live longer.

無法完全放棄吃肉?那么可以選擇減少肉類攝入量。大量研究表明，減少肉類攝入量(特別是紅肉)能夠使我們更健康、更長(zhǎng)壽。