评论
打印
字号:
Food is the body’s fuel. Now a study finds that the amount of energy in that fuel can depend not just on its calorie content—but on how it’s prepared. And the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could explain an ancient leap in human evolution. [Rachel N. Carmody, Gil S. Weintraub and Richard W. Wrangham, "Energetic consequences of thermal and nonthermal food processing"]
食物是身体的燃料供应者。现在有研究发现，食物中能量的多少不仅仅由食物本身的卡路里含量决定，还由食物的加工方式决定。这项发表在美国国家科学院院刊上的研究结果还进一步说明了人类演化历史中的一次远古的飞跃。（蕾切尔卡莫尼，吉尔温特劳布和理查德沃尔汉姆提到，“食品热加工和非热加工产生的能量不同。”）
Food’s energy value is usually measured before consumption. But Harvard scientists fed two groups of mice either meat or sweet potatoes and prepared the items differently: either whole or pounded, raw or cooked—to create a variety of diets. The researchers then measured the mice. They found that pounded meat and potatoes caused more weight gain than raw food. And that cooking increased weight the most.
通常食物能量值的计算以消耗前为准。但哈佛科学家为了创造使膳食多样化，分别给两组老鼠喂食没切碎的肉和土豆及捣碎的肉和土豆。研究发现，吃了捣碎的肉和土豆的老鼠体重增长较快。而且吃烹煮过的食物体重增长的最快。
The extra calories cooking makes available may have allowed the survival of humans with larger bodies and more complex brains, starting almost two million years ago. Those physical changes required more energy, and exposing food to fire may have provided that boost.
食物在烹煮过程中所产生的额外热量可能是200万年前至今，人的体格变的更强壮，头脑变的更发达从而生存下来的原因。那些物理变化需要更多的能量，所以食物热加工可能是这些变化的助推器。
Of course, a legacy of evolution is that modern humans often gain too much weight. Which might be called a raw deal.
当然，人类演化遗传至今，现代人体重往往超标，这可能会被称为不公平待遇。
【生词注释】 calorie n.卡路里
consumption n.消耗
boost n. 推进
legacy n. 祖先传下来之物
收藏
