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Humans are not rats, and animal studies can only tell us so much about the effect of sweeteners on humans.
人类不是老鼠，动物研究也只能说明甜味剂对人类有影响。
But such studies are designed to be read in conjunction with the big population studies involving humans, many of which formed the basis of the new WHO draft guidelines.
但这类研究旨在与人类大规模人口研究结合阅读，这其中的许多研究构成了世卫组织新指南草案的基础。
In September, the BMJ published another study of this kind – involving more than 100,000 French adults – which found that artificial sweeteners may be linked with increased risk of heart disease.
今年9月，《英国医学杂志》又发表了一项此类研究（10万多名法国成年人为实验参与者），研究发现人造甜味剂可能与心脏病风险增加有关。
The results suggest that sweeteners “should not be considered a healthy and safe alternative to sugar”, said the researchers.
研究人员表示，这项结果表明，甜味剂“不应被视为一种健康安全的糖替代品”。
Like studies on animals, large-scale observational studies are not in themselves conclusive.
与动物研究相似，大规模人口的观察性研究本身并不是决定性的。
By their nature, such studies can only show a correlation between sweeteners and adverse outcomes, rather than proving that sweeteners cause these outcomes.
就其本质而言，这些研究只能表明甜味剂与不良后果之间存在相关性，而不能证明甜味剂导致了这些后果。
Given that many people turn to sweeteners precisely in order to lose weight, there’s a suspicion that the correlation between high weight and sweeteners may be “reverse causation”: it might look as if sweeteners cause weight gain when really it’s that overweight people are more likely to consume them.
考虑到许多人是为了减重才诉诸甜味剂，人们怀疑大体重与甜味剂之间的关系可能是“倒果为因”: 貌似甜味剂导致增重，实则超重的人更有可能摄入甜味剂。
But when it comes to establishing health risks, correlation plus animal studies is often the best we have to go on.
但当谈到证实健康风险时，相关性与动物研究往往是我们还得继续的最佳研究。
In the mid-20th century, the link between tobacco and lung cancer was almost entirely built on these kind of studies.
在20世纪中期，烟草和肺癌之间的联系几乎完全建立在这类研究之上。
When it came to non-sugar sweeteners, the WHO focused on population studies whose authors had made robust attempts to adjust for confounding factors such as a person’s alcohol intake and levels of physical activity.
在无糖甜味剂方面，世界卫生组织将重点放在了人口研究上，这些研究的作者已经做出了很多坚定的尝试，对诸如个人酒精摄入量与身体活动水平等干扰因素进行调整。
In the diabetes studies, the authors adjusted for body mass index (BMI) but, overall, people who consumed a lot of sweeteners were found to have an increased risk of diabetes, regardless of their weight.
在糖尿病研究中，作者会根据身体质量指数进行调整，不过，总体而言，摄入大量甜味剂的人患糖尿病的风险更高，无论他们的体重如何。
Why have we been so slow to pick up on the signs that sweeteners are not necessarily as beneficial to health as has been claimed?
为什么我们迟迟没有发现甜味剂并不一定像人们所宣称的那样有益于健康呢？
Prof Alison Sylvetsky, an associate professor in the department of exercise and nutrition sciences at George Washington University, recently told the New Scientist that when it comes to weight management and chronic diseases such as diabetes, there is more and more evidence “that these low-calorie sweeteners may not be helpful and may actually be counterproductive”.
乔治华盛顿大学运动与营养科学系副教授艾莉森·西尔维茨基最近向《新科学家》透露，当谈到体重管理与糖尿病等慢性疾病时，越来越多的证据表明，“这些低热量甜味剂可能没有帮助，实际上还可能会适得其反。”。
But for most of their history, the question of whether artificially sweetened low-calorie drinks really helped with weight loss and blood sugar management was hardly examined.
但在过去的大部分研究中，人们几乎没有调查过低卡人工甜味剂饮料是否真的有助于减轻体重与管理血糖。
There was a more pressing issue to clear up: did they cause cancer?
还有一个更紧迫的问题需要解决: 它们致癌吗?
