“無辣不歡”或許對身體有益

What can be both red or green, round or sharp, big or small, and more importantly, loved or hated by someone? Yes, the answer is chilies.

什么東西是可紅可綠，可圓可尖，可大可小，更重要的是，讓人又愛又恨?沒錯，答案就是辣椒。

Many of us in China enjoy adding chilies to our food, but did you know that this spicy vegetable could also be dangerous?

在我國，有不少人喜歡在食物里放辣椒，但你知道這種辛辣的蔬菜或許也會帶來危險嗎?

A 34-year-old US man recently ended up in hospital after eating a Carolina Reaper, the spiciest chili in the world. After taking just a single bite of one, the man suffered from “thunderclap”headaches in the following few days, reported BBC News.

最近，一名34歲的美國男子在吃了世界上最辣的辣椒 —— “卡羅來納死神”后被送醫(yī)救治。據(jù)BBC新聞報道，才咬了這種辣椒一口，該男子就在接下來的幾天中都感到頭痛欲裂。

In fact, reports of stomachache and headache caused by eating spicy food are not something unusual. But if chilies are harmful, why is it that human beings are the only animals to eat this vegetable? According to the website Huanqiu, about 600 million Chinese people – almost half of the national population – are chili eaters. So what makes people love chilies so much? The human body reacts to the burning sensation that comes from eating chilies by releasing endorphins, natural chemicals that “produce a sense of happiness”, noted BBC News.

事實上，因為吃辛辣食物而引起腹痛以及頭痛的報道并不稀奇。但要是辣椒有害，為什么唯有人類還在吃呢?據(jù)環(huán)球網(wǎng)報道，約有6億中國人 —— 將近我國的半數(shù)人口 —— 都吃辣椒。所以為什么人們這么愛吃辣椒?BBC新聞指出，人體會對吃辣椒而產(chǎn)生的燃燒感有反應，釋放出內(nèi)啡肽，這種天然的化學物質(zhì)會“產(chǎn)生一種幸福感”。

And the benefits go even further than just personal enjoyment. A survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, published in the British Medical Journal, found that the mortality rate of those who eat spicy food once or twice a week is 10 percent lower than those who eat it less than once a week. The number decreased to 14 percent for those who eat spicy food six to seven times a week. And another study done by the University of Vermont came to a similar conclusion. “The data encourages people to eat more spicy food to improve health and reduce mortality risk at an early age,” Liu Qi, a nutritionist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told BBC News.

而(吃辣椒)的好處不僅僅是自我愉悅。中國醫(yī)學科學院發(fā)布于《英國醫(yī)學雜志》上的一份調(diào)查顯示，與每周食用辛辣食品不足一次的人群相比，如果每周吃上一到兩次，死亡風險就會降低10%。如果每周食用6-7次辛辣食品，死亡風險則會降低14%。而美國佛蒙特大學的另一項研究也得出了相似的結(jié)論。“這些數(shù)據(jù)鼓勵人們在年輕時多吃辣來改善健康，降低死亡風險，”來自哈佛陳曾熙公共衛(wèi)生學院的營養(yǎng)學家劉琪(音譯)在接受BBC新聞采訪時表示。

Capsaicin has anti-cancer properties and the ability to increase our metabolism. So, don’t worry if you love spicy food. It seems that chilies are actually good for us – except for the Carolina Reaper, perhaps.

辣椒素具有抗癌功效，并且能夠加速我們的新陳代謝。所以，愛吃辣沒什么可令人擔心的。實際上，辣椒似乎對人體有益 —— 或許除了“卡羅來納死神”之外。