素食會影響你的智力嗎?

素食會影響你的智力嗎?

The vegan diet is low in — or, in some cases, entirely devoid of — several important brain nutrients, argues the BBC. "Could these shortcomings be affecting vegans' abilities to think?"

英國廣播公司(BBC)認為:“純素飲食缺乏幾種重要的腦營養(yǎng)素——或者在某些情況下完全缺乏，會影響素食者的思考能力嗎?”

According to the latest statistics, there are around 375 million vegetarians on the planet. In the West, veganism has ditched the hippie stigma to become one of the fastest-growing millennial trends; in the United States, it grew by 600% between 2014 and 2017. Meanwhile in India, meat-free diets have been mainstream since the 6th Century BCE...

據(jù)最新統(tǒng)計，地球上大約有3.75億素食者。在西方，純素食主義已經擺脫了嬉皮的污名，成為增長最快的千禧潮流之一;在美國，這一數(shù)字在2014年至2017年間增長了600%。與此同時，在印度，自公元前6世紀以來，無肉飲食已成為主流。

I think we need a lot more research into vegan nutrition and health," says Heather Russell, a dietitian from The Vegan Society. "As far as we can tell, it's possible to lead a healthy life as a vegan — certainly there are people who thrive on a vegan diet." Though it's important to take supplements, she explains that a person's cardiovascular and brain health are inextricably linked, and vegans tend to have healthier hearts...

“我認為我們需要對純素營養(yǎng)和健康進行更多的研究，”來自純素協(xié)會的營養(yǎng)學家Heather Russell說。“就我所知，作為一個純素食者過健康的生活是有可能的——當然，有些人是靠純素食而茁壯成長的。”雖然補充營養(yǎng)很重要，但她解釋說，一個人的心血管和大腦健康是密不可分的，素食者往往有更健康的心臟……

Nathan Cofnas, a biologist from Oxford University, takes a harsher view. Though vegans can take supplements, he thinks it's unrealistic to expect that they all will. Consequently, he finds the recent shift towards plant-based diets troubling, though he's sympathetic to the arguments for doing so. "Without question, veganism can cause B12 and iron deficiencies, and without question they affect your intelligence," he says.

牛津大學(Oxford University)生物學家內森•科夫納斯(Nathan Cofnas)的觀點更為嚴厲。雖然素食者可以補充營養(yǎng)，但他認為期望他們都能補充營養(yǎng)是不現(xiàn)實的。因此，他發(fā)現(xiàn)最近向植物性飲食的轉變令人不安，盡管他贊同這樣做的理由。“毫無疑問，素食會導致B12和鐵的缺乏，毋庸置疑，它們一定會影響你的智力。”他說。

The BBC does cite various studies about specific nutrients, but ultimately drew an angry response from a microbiologist who describes themself as "a vegan with a Ph.D., who works alongside many sharp and bright vegans," and complains the BBC is using outdated data, starting with the theory that meat consumption allowed humans to evolve larger brains.

英國廣播公司確實引用了各種研究，但最終還是引起了一位微生物學家的憤怒回應。微生物學家稱自己為“擁有博士學位的素食主義者，與許多頭腦杰出的素食主義者共同工作”，并抱怨英國廣播公司使用的是過時的數(shù)據(jù)，尤其是肉食可以使人類進化出更大的大腦這一老舊理念。

This is now considered outdated thinking as recent research, published in the journal Nature, refutes this, arguing that a higher-quality diet, including some meat but also improved by cooking, coupled with the energy saved by walking upright, growing more slowly and reproducing later, fuelled the growth in brain size. Prehistoric humans ate some meat but that alone didn't make them smart...

最近發(fā)表在《自然》(Nature)雜志上的一項研究駁斥了這一觀點，認為高質量的飲食(包括一些肉類，但也通過烹飪得到改善)，加上直立行走、生長更慢、繁殖更晚所節(jié)省的能量，促進了腦容量的增長。史前人類吃肉，但這并不能使他們變得聰明……

Sure vegans need to ensure a good B12 intake but so should everyone, as low levels of B12 are common in the entire population, regardless of diet. Everyone over 50 in the U.S. is advised to take B12 supplements and meat and dairy only contain it because animals are fed or injected with supplements...

當然，嚴格的素食者需要確保良好的B12攝入，其實每個人都應該如此，因為低水平的B12在整個人群中很普遍，無論飲食如何。在美國，所有50歲以上的人都被建議服用B12補充劑，或直接食用肉類和奶制品，因為動物飼料中已經添加了B12補充劑…