誰說不健康不是吃肉惹的禍大綱

MANY people have been making the case that Americans have grown fat because they eat too much starch and sugar, and not enough meat, fat and eggs. Recently, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee lifted recommendations that consumption of dietary cholesterol should be restricted, citing research that dietary cholesterol does not have a major effect on blood cholesterol levels. The predictable headlines followed: “Back to Eggs and Bacon?”

很多人都說，美國人變得肥胖是因爲他們吃了太多澱粉和糖，而沒有攝入足夠的肉類、脂肪和雞蛋。近日，美國膳食指南諮詢委員會(Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee)取消了“膳食中的膽固醇消耗應該受到限制”的建議。它援引的一項研究認爲，飲食中的膽固醇不會對血液中的膽固醇水平產生重大影響。不出所料，一些媒體打出了這樣的大標題：“迴歸雞蛋和燻肉？”

But, alas, bacon and egg yolks are not health foods.

但是，唉，燻肉和蛋黃都不是健康食品。

Although people have been told for decades to eat less meat and fat, Americans actually consumed 67 percent more added fat, 39 percent more sugar, and 41 percent more meat in 2000 than they had in 1950 and 24.5 percent more calories than they had in 1970, according to the Agriculture Department. Not surprisingly, we are fatter and unhealthier.

雖然這幾十年來，人們都被告知要少吃肉類和脂肪，但與1950年相比，美國人在2000年實際消耗的添加脂肪增加了67%，糖分增加了39%，肉類增加了41%，而且比1970年多攝入了24.5%的卡路里。因此毫不奇怪，我們變得更胖了，健康水平也下滑了。

The debate is not as simple as low-fat versus low-carb. Research shows that animal protein may significantly increase the risk of premature mortality from all causes, among them cardiovascular disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. Heavy consumption of saturated fat and trans fats may double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

這場辯論不是簡單地比較低脂肪飲食與低碳水化合物飲食。研究表明，動物蛋白可能會大幅增加各種原因導致的過早死亡風險，這些原因包括心血管疾病、癌症和2型糖尿病。大量攝入飽和脂肪和反式脂肪，可能會讓阿爾茨海默氏症的患病風險增加一倍。

A study published last March found a 75 percent increase in premature deaths from all causes, and a 400 percent increase in deaths from cancer and Type 2 diabetes, among heavy consumers of animal protein under the age of 65 — those who got 20 percent or more of their calories from animal protein.

去年3月公佈的一項研究發現，在大量攝入動物蛋白的65歲以下人羣中，各種原因導致的過早死亡數量增加了75%，因癌症和2型糖尿病而死亡的人數增加了400%。這些人攝入的的卡路里中，超過20%都來自動物蛋白。

Low-carb, high-animal-protein diets promote heart disease via mechanisms other than just their effects on cholesterol levels. Arterial blockages may be caused by animal-protein-induced elevations in free fatty acids and insulin levels and decreased production of endothelial progenitor cells (which help keep arteries clean). Egg yolks and red meat appear to significantly increase the risk of coronary heart disease and cancer due to increased production of trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO, a metabolite of meat and egg yolks linked to the clogging of arteries. (Egg whites have neither cholesterol nor TMAO.)

低碳水化合物加高動物蛋白的飲食促發心臟疾病，其方式不僅僅是影響膽固醇水平那樣簡單。在動物蛋白誘導下，遊離脂肪酸和胰島素水平升高，內皮祖細胞（有助於保持動脈清潔）的生成減少，從而可能引起動脈堵塞。蛋黃和紅肉似乎明顯增加了冠狀動脈心臟疾病和癌症的患病風險，因爲它增進了三甲胺氧化物(TMAO)的生成。TMAO是肉和蛋黃的代謝物，與動脈堵塞有關。（蛋清既沒有膽固醇，也不含TMAO）。

Animal protein increases IGF-1, an insulin-like growth hormone, and chronic inflammation, an underlying factor in many chronic diseases. Also, red meat is high in Neu5Gc, a tumor-forming sugar that is linked to chronic inflammation and an increased risk of cancer. A plant-based diet may prolong life by blocking the mTOR protein, which is linked to aging. When fat calories were carefully controlled, patients lost 67 percent more body fat than when carbohydrates were controlled. An optimal diet for preventing disease is a whole-foods, plant-based diet that is naturally low in animal protein, harmful fats and refined carbohydrates. What that means in practice is little or no red meat; mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and soy products in their natural forms; very few simple and refined carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour; and sufficient “good fats” such as fish oil or flax oil, seeds and nuts. A healthful diet should be low in “bad fats,” meaning trans fats, saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. Finally, we need more quality and less quantity.

動物蛋白增加了胰島素樣生長激素IGF-1和慢性炎症，後者是很多慢性疾病的潛在成因。另外，紅肉含有很高的Neu5Gc，這是一種導致腫瘤的糖分，可能會引起慢性炎症，增加患癌風險。以植物爲主的飲食則可以延年益壽，因爲它可以阻斷引起衰老的mTOR蛋白質。與控制碳水化合物時相比，當脂肪熱量受到嚴格控制時，患者減去了67%的額外身體脂肪。預防疾病的最佳飲食，是基於植物的全面膳食，其中動物蛋白、對人體有害脂肪，以及精製的碳水化合物含量天然就比較低。這意味着在日常生活中少吃或不吃紅肉；主要吃未經深加工的蔬菜、水果、全穀類，豆類和豆製品；像糖和白麪粉這種單純和精製碳水化合物，只消耗極少量；要攝入足夠的“好脂肪”，比如魚油或亞麻籽油，種子和堅果。少吃“壞脂肪”，即反式脂肪、飽和脂肪和氫化脂肪。最後，我們還需要提高質量，減少數量。

My colleagues and I at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, have conducted clinical research proving the many benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet on reversing chronic diseases, not just on reducing risk factors such as cholesterol. Our interventions also included stress management techniques, moderate exercise like walking and social support.

我和非營利機構預防醫學研究院(Preventive Medicine Research Institute)及加州大學舊金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)的同事們進行過臨牀研究，證明基於植物的全面膳食在逆轉慢性疾病方面有着衆多好處，而不只是降低膽固醇等風險因素。我們的干預措施還包括壓力管理技巧、散步這樣的適度運動，以及社交支持。

We showed in randomized, controlled trials that these diet and lifestyle changes can reverse the progression of even severe coronary heart disease. Episodes of chest pain decreased by 91 percent after only a few weeks. After five years there were 2.5 times fewer cardiac events. Blood flow to the heart improved by over 300 percent.

我們的隨機對照試驗研究顯示，在改變飲食習慣和生活方式之後，就連嚴重的冠狀動脈心臟疾病發展都可以逆轉。僅僅幾周後，患者胸痛發作次數就減少了91%。五年之後，心臟事件減少了2.5倍。流向心臟的血液改善了300%。

Other physicians, including Dr. Kim A. Williams, the president of the American College of Cardiology, are also finding that these diet and lifestyle changes can reduce the need for a lifetime of medications and transform people’s lives. These changes may also slow, stop or even reverse the progression of early-stage prostate cancer, judging from results in a randomized controlled trial.

美國心臟病學會(American College of Cardiology)會長金·A·威廉斯(Kim A. Williams)博士等其他醫生還發現，改變飲食習慣和生活方式可以減少終生用藥的需要，可以讓人們的生活煥然一新。從隨機對照試驗的結果來看，這些改變還有可能減緩、中止甚至逆轉早期前列腺癌症的發展。

These changes may also alter your genes, turning on genes that keep you healthy, and turning off genes that promote disease. They may even lengthen telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control aging.

這些改變也可能會轉變你的基因，啓動讓你健康的基因，關閉促發疾病的基因。它們甚至可能延長端粒；它是染色體的末端，作用是控制衰老。

The more people adhered to these recommendations (including reducing the amount of fat and cholesterol they consumed), the more improvement we measured — at any age. But for reversing disease, a whole-foods, plant-based diet seems to be necessary.

無論屬於哪個年齡階段，人們越是遵循這些建議（包括減少脂肪和膽固醇攝入），我們測量到的改善也就越大。但對於逆轉疾病而言，基於植物的全面膳食似乎是必不可少。

In addition, what’s good for you is good for our planet. Livestock production causes more disruption of the climate than all forms of transportation combined. And because it takes as much as 10 times more grain to produce the same amount of calories through livestock as through direct grain consumption, eating a plant-based diet could free up resources for the hungry.

此外，有利於你的東西對我們的星球也有好處。畜牧業對氣候變化的影響，超過了所有運輸工具的總和。而且，與直接消耗糧食相比，需要多達10倍以上的糧食，才能通過牲畜產生同樣多的卡路里，所以，以植物爲主的飲食習慣有助於騰出資源來救助饑民。

What you gain is so much more than what you give up.

與你放棄的東西相比，你的所得遠遠更大。