超加工食品雖然好吃又方便，但卻會損害身體健康，提高患肥胖、心臟病、糖尿病的風險，而且新研究發現，如果每日攝入的超加工食品超過卡路里總量的20%，就會導致你的認知能力下降。科學家建議，為了大腦健康，還是多下廚做飯吧！
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Eating ultraprocessed foods for more than 20% of your daily calorie intake every day could set you on the road to cognitive decline, a new study revealed.
一項新研究發現，如果每日攝入的卡路里中超加工食品占比超過20%，就會導致你的認知能力下降。
We all know eating ultraprocessed foods that make our lives easier -- such as prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals -- isn't good for our health. Nor is gobbling up all the pleasure foods that we love so much: hot dogs, sausages, Burgers, french fries, sodas, cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts and ice cream, to name just a few.
我們都知道吃方便的超加工食品對身體沒好處，比如即食湯、調味醬、冷凍披薩和熟食。那些我們很愛吃的帶來快感的食品也不利於健康，比如熱狗、香腸、漢堡、炸薯條、汽水、曲奇餅、蛋糕、糖果、甜甜圈、冰淇淋，這裡就不一一列舉了。
Studies have found they can raise our risk of obesity, heart and circulation problems, diabetes and cancer. They may even shorten our lives.
研究發現，吃超加工食品會提高患肥胖、心臟和血液循環問題、糖尿病和癌症的風險，甚至可能縮短我們的壽命。
Now, a new study has revealed eating more ultraprocessed foods may contribute to overall cognitive decline, including the areas of the brain involved in executive functioning -- the ability to process information and make decisions.
如今，一項新研究揭示，吃更多超加工食品可能會導致認知能力全面下降，包括對負責執行功能（處理信息和做決定）的大腦區域造成負面影響。
In fact, men and women who ate the most ultraprocessed foods had a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline and a 25% faster rate of executive function decline compared with people who ate the least amount of overly processed food, the study found.
事實上，攝入最多超加工食品的男性和女性整體認知能力和執行功能的下降速度比攝入最少超加工食品的人分別快28%和25%。
"While in need of further study and replication, the new results are quite compelling and emphasize the critical role for proper nutrition in preserving and promoting brain health and reducing risk for brain diseases as we get older," said Rudy Tanzi, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the genetics and aging research unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was not involved in the study.
沒有參與該研究的哈佛醫學院神經學教授、位於波士頓的麻省總醫院遺傳學和衰老研究中心主任魯迪·坦齊稱：「儘管還需要進一步研究和再試驗，但是新研究結果相當有說服力，並且強調了適當的營養對於保持和增進大腦健康以及降低大腦老化疾病風險的關鍵作用。」
Tanzi, who has written about ultraprocessed foods in his book "The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life," said the key problem with ultraprocessed foods is that "they are usually very high in sugar, salt and fat, all of which promote systemic inflammation, perhaps the most major threat to healthy aging in the body and brain.
坦齊曾在他的著作《自我修復：快速增強免疫力和保持終身健康的革命性新計劃》中寫過超加工食品，並指出超加工食品的關鍵問題在於「它們通常糖、鹽和脂肪含量都很高，所有這些都會加劇全身炎症，也許對於身體和大腦的健康老化是最大的威脅。」
"Meanwhile, since they are convenient as a quick meal, they also replace eating food that is high in plant fiber that is important for maintaining the health and balance of the trillions of bacteria in your gut microbiome," he added, "which is particularly important for brain health and reducing risk of age-related brain diseases like Alzheimer's disease."
他補充道：「與此同時，因為超加工食品都是很方便的快餐，所以取代了富含植物纖維的食物，後者對於保持腸道菌群中數萬億細菌的健康和平衡很重要，而這對於保持大腦健康和降低患阿爾茨海默症等與年齡相關的腦部疾病的風險尤為重要。」
The study, presented on August 1 at the 2022 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in San Diego, followed over 10,000 Brazilians for up to 10 years. Just over half of the study participants were women, White or college educated, while the average age was 51.
8月1日在聖地亞哥舉行的2022老年痴呆症協會國際會議上展示的這一研究在十年間跟蹤調查了1萬多名巴西人。剛過半數的研究參與者為女性，這些女性是白人或接受過大學教育，平均年齡為51歲。
Cognitive testing, which included immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition and verbal fluency were performed at the beginning and end of the study, and participants were asked about their diet.
該研究在開頭和結尾開展了認知測試，包括即時和延時詞語回憶、詞語識別和口頭表達流利度，並詢問了參與者的飲食習慣。
"In Brazil, ultraprocessed foods make up 25% to 30% of total calorie intake. We have McDonald's, Burger King and we eat a lot of chocolate and white bread. It's not very different, unfortunately, from many other Western countries," said coauthor Dr. Claudia Suemoto, an assistant professor in the division of geriatrics at the University of São Paulo Medical School.
該研究的合著者、聖保羅大學醫學院老年病學系助理教授克勞迪婭·末元博士稱：「超加工食品在巴西人攝入的卡路里總量中占了25%到30%。在巴西，人們吃麥當勞、漢堡王的快餐，還吃很多巧克力和白麵包。不幸的是，許多其他西方國家的飲食也大同小異。」
"Fifty-eight percent of the calories consumed by United States citizens, 56.8% of the calories consumed by British citizens, and 48% of the calories consumed by Canadians come from ultraprocessed foods," Suemoto said.
末元教授指出：「超加工食品在美國人、英國人和加拿大人攝入的卡路里總量中分別占據了58%、56.8%和48%。」
Ultraprocessed foods are defined as "industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other chemical additives," according to the study.
該研究對超加工食品的定義是「食物成分（油、脂肪、糖、澱粉、分離蛋白）的工業配方，其中幾乎不含全天然食物，通常包括調味料、色素、乳化劑和其他化學添加劑」。
"People who consumed more than 20% of daily calories from processed foods had a 28% faster decline in global cognition and a 25% faster decline in executive functioning compared to people who ate less than 20%," said study coauthor Natalia Gonçalves, a researcher in the department of pathology at the University of São Paulo Medical School.
研究的另一位合著者、聖保羅大學醫學院病理學系研究員娜塔莉亞·貢薩爾維斯稱：「和加工食品攝入量不到每日攝入卡路里總量20%的人相比，每日攝入加工食品超過卡路里總量20%的人整體認知能力和執行功能的衰退速度分別要加快28%和25%。」
For a person who eats 2,000 calories a day, 20% would equal 400 or more calories -- for comparison, a small order of fries and regular cheeseburger from McDonalds contains a total of 530 calories.
對於一個每日攝入2000卡路里的人而言，20%相當於至少400卡路里。作為對照，麥當勞的一小份薯條和中等大小的芝士漢堡總熱量達530卡路里。
Those in the study who ate the most ultraprocessed foods were "more likely to be younger, women, White, had higher education and income, and were more likely to have never smoked, and less likely to be current alcohol consumers," the study found.
研究發現，攝入最多超加工食品的研究參與者「更多的是年輕人、女性、白人、受過高等教育者、高收入者、從不抽菸者，而且不太可能有飲酒的習慣」。
"People need to know they should cook more and prepare their own food from scratch. I know. We say we don't have time but it really doesn't take that much time," Suemoto said.
末元教授稱：「人們要知道，自己應該多下廚做飯，從頭開始烹飪。我知道，大家都說自己很忙，但是做飯其實沒那麼費時間。」
"And it's worth it because you're going to protect your heart and guard your brain from dementia or Alzheimer's disease," she added. "That's the take-home message: Stop buying things that are superprocessed."
她補充道：「而且這麼做很值得，因為你是在保護你的心臟，防止大腦患痴呆症或阿爾茨海默症。這就是研究的終極結論：不要買超加工食品。」
英文來源：美國有線電視新聞網
翻譯&編輯：丹妮
來源：中國日報網