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We've all experienced it. We invite a friend to dinner, only to learn that she is the dreaded "V-word." We have a vague sense of what it means, but we're left with so many questions. Is it healthier? Will you sit on my leather couch? Can we still go to Taco Bell?
我们都曾有过经验。我们邀请一位朋友来晚餐，结果却发现她是可怕的「素开头」那种人。我们大概知道那是什么意思，但心中又有很多疑问。那样比较健康吗？你会坐在我的皮制沙发上吗？我们还能去塔可钟快餐店吗？
In a world of health magazines and Planet Fitness commercials, many people wanna learn more about nutrition and which diets are the healthiest. Wherever you go, no one can escape the growing vegan phenomenon, so we thought it would be fun to explore it further in this episode of The Infographic Show:Vegans vs. Meat Eaters.
在一个健康杂志和健身广告充斥的世界，许多人都想知道更多营养信息，还有哪种饮食方式是最健康的。无论你去到哪里，没有人能够躲过日益增长的纯素风潮，因此我们觉得在这集《信息图表报你知》中更深入了解这主题会很有趣：纯素主义者和肉食主义者大对抗。
A vegan is someone who follows a diet that contains no animal meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, or any other food that comes from animals. They differ from vegetarians, who generally still eat dairy and eggs as part of their diets. Vegans also typically abstain from using any other products that come from animals, such as honey and leather jackets.
纯素主义者遵循的饮食方式不含动物的肉、鱼、蛋、乳制品，或其它任何源自动物的食物。他们和素食主义者不同，素食主义者还是会吃乳制品和蛋作为部份食物。纯素主义者通常还会避免使用其它任何来自动物的产品，例如蜂蜜和皮夹克。
Back in 2008, vegans only accounted for around 0.5 percent of the U.S. population, or about one million people. As of polls taken in 2014, vegans now make up roughly 2.5 percent of the population. At least in the United States, women seem to be far bigger fans of veganism, making up around 79 percent of vegans.The number of meat eaters obviously far outweighs the number of vegans throughout the world, with the highest concentration of vegans being in Israel at only around five percent of their population.
2008 年时，纯素主义者只占美国人口约百分之零点五的比例，也就是约一百万人。2014 年进行的民调显示，纯素主义者现在构成人口数的约百分之二点五。至少在美国的情况，女性似乎是纯素主义的较大拥护者，组成纯素人口比例的百分之七十九。肉食主义者的数量在全世界显然远超过纯素主义者，密度最高的以色列，纯素主义者只占他们人口数约百分之五而已。
By not consuming any animal products, vegans follow a dietary path similar to an herbivore. Herbivores are animals that feed exclusively on plants, such as cows, giraffes, and adorable deer. Meat eaters are typically omnivores, which means that they eat both plants and animals. The term comes from the Latin words "omni," meaning "all or everything," and the word "vorare," which means "to devour." So, basically, omnivores are down to eat whatever. Most meat eaters don't solely eat just meat, like a carnivore would do—that is, unless you're Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec; then it's beautiful bacon and seasoning steaks all day.
藉由不吃任何动物产品，纯素主义者采用一种近似草食动物的饮食方式。草食动物是单靠植物为食的动物，例如牛、长颈鹿还有可爱的鹿们。肉食主义者通常是杂食动物，表示他们吃植物也吃动物。这个名称源于拉丁字 omni，代表「所有或一切事物」，以及 vorare 这个字，代表「吃」。所以，基本上杂食性动物是什么都愿意吃的。大部分的肉食主义者不会只吃肉，像肉食性动物会做的那样－－也就是说，除非你是《公园与游憩》影集里的 Ron Swanson；那样的话就能整天吃超棒的培根和调味牛排了。
So humans are widely thought of as natural omnivores,but some believe that humans are at their optimal health when following the dietary habits of an herbivore. People often cite potential health benefits and ethical dilemmas as the main reasons to go on a vegan diet. We won't get into the ethics today, but we are curious about the health differences between vegans and their meat-eating friends.
所以人类普遍被视为天生的杂食动物，但有些人相信当人类遵照草食动物的饮食习惯，我们会处在最理想的健康状态。人们常常举出可能的健康益处和道德困境来当吃纯素的主要理由。我们今天不会探讨道德层面，不过我们对纯素主义者和他们的吃肉好朋友间的健康差异很感兴趣。
People on a vegan diet tend to be leaner. In a cross-sectional study of nearly 40,000 adults, meat eaters had the highest mean body mass index, or BMI.Vegetarians were in the middle, and vegans had the lowest. Based on several studies from Finland, some scientists have suggested that vegan diets may be helpful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Vegans also appear to have lower rates of hypertension than both meat eaters and vegetarians. Vegans also typically have lower cardiometabolic risks for conditions like heart disease or strokes. The problem, however, doesn't seem to be with meat itself, but rather with the quality of meat.
吃纯素的人通常会比较精瘦。在一项对近四万名成人进行的横断面研究中，肉食主义者的平均身体质量指数最高，身体质量指数又称 BMI。素食者居中，纯素者最低。根据芬兰的几项研究，一些科学家提出纯素饮食可能对类风湿性关节炎的治疗有帮助。纯素者得到高血压的比例似乎也比肉食主义者和素食者低。纯素者一般得到像心脏病或中风那些疾病的心血管代谢风险也比较低。然而，问题似乎和肉类本身无关，而是牵涉到肉类的质量。
Recent findings have found that coronary heart disease problems do not seem to be linked with red meat and saturated fats like previously thought, but rather with processed meats. Based on a study of nearly 1.25 million people, consumption of processed meats, not simply red meat, was associated with higher rates of coronary heart disease.
近期的研究结果发现冠状动脉心脏病的问题似乎不像从前认为那样和红肉及饱和脂肪有关，而是和加工肉品有关才对。根据一项对将近一百二十五万人进行的研究，加工肉品的食用，不单是红肉，和较高的冠状动脉心脏病比例有关。
From an evolutionary standpoint, meat-eating omnivores also seem to be the reason behind the growth of our larger, more intelligent brains. This is the result of the higher protein content associated with meat consumption. The American Dietetic Association, or ADA, states that the protein from plants can easily meet and exceed protein requirements, and that being an omnivore merely increases the amount of protein sources a person can have by including animal meat.Obviously, protein is important to both bone health and muscle mass. One study even found that women who ate meat had higher amounts of muscle mass than their vegetarian counterparts, even if their protein intake was the same.
从演化的角度来看，吃肉的杂食动物似乎也是我们发展出更大、更聪明的脑袋背后的原因。这是食用肉类得到较高蛋白质含量的结果。美国饮食协会，又称 ADA，声明来自植物的蛋白质可以轻易满足和超出蛋白质需求，变杂食动物纯粹只是增加人的蛋白质来源量，藉由将肉类纳入饮食中。很显然，蛋白质对骨骼健康和肌肉质量来说都很重要。一项研究甚至发现，吃肉的女性的肌肉质量比吃素的女性来得高，即使她们摄取的蛋白质量是相同的。
While there certainly may be some health advantages in going vegan, there seems to be some common deficiencies in the diet. One of these deficiencies is with the vitamin B-12. The ADA states that there are no natural plant foods that contain any significant amount of the vitamin. Vegans can still get it, but they need to take a vitamin or consume fortified foods like soy milk and certain breakfast cereals. Omega-3 fatty acids are also very difficult to come by on a vegan diet, but this can be overcome through the consumption of algae supplements. With vegans requiring supplementation to meet their nutritional needs, it supports the claim that veganism is unnatural, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's unhealthy.
尽管吃纯素一定可能有一些健康优势，纯素饮食似乎有一些常见的营养缺乏。其中一项不足的营养是维他命 B-12。美国饮食协会表示没有任何天然植物食物含有大量的维他命 B-12。纯素者还是能获得这种营养，但他们需要吃维他命或强化食品，像豆浆和特定的早餐谷片。纯素饮食也很难获得 Omega-3 脂肪酸，但这可以透过吃藻类补给品来克服。由于纯素者需要补给才能满足营养需求，这支持了声称纯素主义不自然的主张，但那不一定代表吃纯素不健康。
At this point, some of you may be wondering which diet leads to longer life spans. For that information, we turn to Okinawa. The traditional Okinawan diet is typically regarded as the best for health and longevity, with the Okinawan islands having the greatest concentration of centenarians in the world. An archipelago hundreds of miles off the coast of Japan, Okinawa has about 740 centenarians out of its population of 1.3 million people.While their diets have been changing recently due to globalization and factors like fast food chains, the traditional Okinawan diet is made up of large amounts of plant-based carbohydrates. Although they are primarily vegans, traditional Okinawans still eat meat on special occasions, usually pork, as well as small amounts of fish on a weekly basis.
现在，你们有些人可能会好奇到底哪种饮食能让人活比较久。要了解那信息，我们来看看冲绳。传统冲绳饮食通常被视为对健康和长寿最棒的一种，因为冲绳岛屿的人瑞全世界最密集。距离日本海岸数百英里远的群岛，冲绳岛一百三十万的人口就有约七百四十名人瑞。尽管他们的饮食近来因全球化和像快餐连锁店之类的因素而有改变，传统的冲绳饮食却是由大量以植物为主的碳水化合物所组成。虽然他们主要是纯素者，传统的冲绳人在特殊场合还是会吃肉，通常是吃猪肉，还有每周吃少量的鱼。
This doesn't prove that small amounts of animal products are vital to good health, but it does hint that the optimal human diet can be achieved without going completely vegan. That said, many health organizations, including the ADA, state that well-planned vegan diets are healthy and nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. It seems like no matter what your dietary preferences are, a healthy lifestyle can be achieved on or off a vegan diet.
这并不能证实食用少量动物产品是健康的关键，但这确实暗示人类最理想的饮食可以不用透过吃纯素来达成。话又说回来，许多健康机构，包含美国饮食协会，表示规划完善的纯素饮食既健康又能满足营养，且或许能提供预防和治疗特定疾病的健康益处。看来似乎不管你的饮食偏好是哪种，健康的生活方式都能透过吃纯素或不吃纯素来达到。
Are you or would you ever consider becoming a vegan? Why or why not? Let us know down in the comments below.
你吃纯素，或者你会考虑变成一个纯素主义者吗？会或不会的原因是什么？在下方留言区让我们知道。
