每天兩杯橙汁可減少心臟病風險大綱
Two glasses of orange juice a day can lower blood pressure and cut the risk of heart disease, scientists have found.
科學家們發現，一天兩杯橙汁能夠降低血壓和減少患心臟病的風險。
They have discovered that middle-aged men who drank half-a-litre of juice every day for a month, equivalent to about two glasses, saw a significant decline in their blood pressure readings.
他們發現中年男子每天喝半升果汁（相當於兩杯），堅持一個月，可以看到他們血壓呈明顯的下降趨勢。
Findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition confirms the presence of a natural plant chemical called hesperidin - part of a class of disease-fighting compounds found in plant foods like tea, fruit, soya and cocoa.
在美國臨牀營養學雜誌公佈的研究結果證實了被稱爲橘皮苷的天然植物化學成分的存在。橘皮苷是一種在植物食品中，如茶，水果，大豆和可可，發現的抗病化合物。
Although previous studies have hinted orange juice may be good for the heart, scientists have been uncertain exactly what gives it its protective powers.
儘管之前的研究已經暗示橙汁可能對心臟有好處，科學家們還是不確定究竟是什麼起到了這樣積極的作用。
Heart disease is Britain's biggest killer with around 270,000 people suffering a heart attack every year and nearly one in three die before they even reach hospital.
心臟病是英國目前最大的殺手，每年有大約27萬人忍受着心臟病發作的痛苦，有接近1/3的人在他們到達醫院前死亡。
High blood pressure, which puts our arteries under greater pressure when the heart beats, affects one in five people and is one of the major risk factors contributing to a cardiac arrest.
高血壓是造成心搏停止的主要風險之一。當心髒跳動時，影響1/5人的高血壓會令我們的動脈承擔更大的壓力。
The World Health Organisation estimates that 50 percent of all heart attacks and strokes are due to raised blood pressure.
世界衛生組織估算50%的心臟病發作是由於血壓的升高。
Guidelines state that the ideal limit for blood pressure is a systolic reading - the pressure inside the arteries when blood is forced through them - of 140mmHg.
準則指出理想的血壓範圍是140mmHg的收縮壓的指數—當血液流經動脈時的壓力。
When the heart relaxes - diastolic - the reading should be 90mmHg in a healthy heart.
當心髒放鬆到舒張時，一個健康的心臟的指數應該是90mmHg。To test their theory that it is hesperidin that gives orange juice its cardiovascular benefits, scientists at the University of Auvergne in France recruited 24 overweight but otherwise healthy middle-aged men.
究竟是橘皮苷在橙汁中起到了對心血管的好處嗎？爲了檢驗他們的理論，法國奧弗涅大學的科學家們招募了24位體重偏重但其他方面健康的中年男子。
Each one spent four weeks drinking half-a-litre of orange juice every day, followed by four weeks where they drank sweetened water and took a capsule containing hesperidin.
每個人在四個星期中每天喝半升的橙汁，之後的四周他們喝甜的水並且服用包含橘皮苷的膠囊。
In the final four weeks of the experiment, they drank the same water and took a dummy capsule that had no hesperidin in it.
在實驗最後的四周，他們飲用同樣的水並且服用不含橘皮苷的仿製膠囊。
The results showed that at the end of the orange juice experiment and the one where they took a hesperidin capsule, there was a significant decline in their diastolic blood pressure.
結果顯示，在實驗的最後，服用含有橘皮苷的膠囊的人的心臟舒張壓呈現明顯的下降趨勢。
Average readings were between 3.2 and 5.5mmHg lower than after they took the dummy capsule with water.
平均的數字是在3.2-5.5mmHg之間，比他們服用仿製的膠囊和水之後低。
In a report on their findings, the researchers said: 'The main result was that four weeks of consuming orange juice, or purified hesperidin, significantly decreased diastolic blood pressure in healthy men.
在一份關於調查結果的報告中，研究人員說：“主要的結果是飲用四周的橙汁，或是純化的橘皮苷，明顯地降低了健康男性的心臟舒張壓。”
'A three to four point reduction in diastolic blood pressure would reduce the incidence of coronary artery disease by 20 per cent.
“心臟舒張壓3到4個點的降低將減少20%冠狀動脈疾病的發病率。”
'Hesperidin could be responsible for the observed effects.'
“橘皮苷對可觀察的效果是有責任的。”
However, patients taking blood pressure pills are advised to seek medical advice before drinking more as previous studies suggest certain fruit juices - including orange, grapefruit and apple - can reduce the effectiveness of some drugs.
但是，建議服用血壓藥的患者在服用比前面研究建議的特定果汁（包括橙汁，葡萄汁和蘋果汁）多時還是要遵循醫囑，因爲這些可能會降低藥效。
