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How our bodies react to holiday food excess

你造暴飲暴食的傷害嗎

If you’re otherwise healthy, is it OK to over-indulge at the dinner table at this time of year? Here’s the truth.

即使你身體健康，但在節(jié)日里任性吃喝合適嗎?告訴你真相。

“Comfort food” is in greater demand at certain times of year more than others, be it due to short days and worsening weather, or simply the gastronomic indulgence of seasonal parties.

在一年中的某些日子里，比如情緒跌入低谷、天氣條件惡劣，或者僅僅就是季節(jié)性美食狂歡派對,你更加的需要“治愈系食品”。

If you’re reading this in the Northern Hemisphere, bear in mind that your evolutionary programming means you’re primed to seek out calorific food sources in winter. "As it gets less light, people’s moods will be affected by that,” says Emily Henderson, a medical anthropologist at the University of Durham, “and that in turn will lead to changes in eating.” This includes turning to sweet treats and extra roast potatoes.

如果是生活在北半球，請記住，你的進(jìn)化規(guī)則意味著冬天你得尋找有熱量的食物。杜倫大學(xué)的醫(yī)學(xué)人類學(xué)家Emily Henderson說，“因為冬天光照減少，人們的心情受到影響，相應(yīng)的就會導(dǎo)致飲食發(fā)生變化。”這可能包括偏向吃甜食，和吃更多的烤土豆。

The question is, if you live an otherwise healthy lifestyle, is it OK to let loose once in a while?

問題是，如果你一直保持健康的生活習(xí)慣，偶爾放開大吃一次是否合適?

The answer is both yes and no – it’s all a matter of “how much”, says Barry Campbell, a gastroenterologist at the University of Liverpool.

來自利物浦大學(xué)的胃腸病專家Barry Campbell說，答案是兩者兼有，關(guān)鍵是“度”的問題。

For starters, it’s not just weight gain or cholesterol that you have to consider. The bacteria in our digestive tract are impacted when we eat overly fatty foods, for instance. Studies have suggested that the proportions of beneficial and harmful bacteria can be adversely affected.

首先，你得顧慮的不只是體重增加或者高膽固醇。例如，當(dāng)我們吃了太多的高脂肪食物，消化道的菌群會受到影響。研究表明，體內(nèi)有益和有害的細(xì)菌的比例將打破平衡。

If such a pattern of eating continues, that could lead to long-term issues such as an inflamed gut, says Campbell. But there’s hope. Our microbiome has the capacity to rebound.

Campbell說，如果這種飲食模式持續(xù)下去，就會導(dǎo)致像腸道發(fā)炎這樣的長期問題。但是還有救，因為我們體內(nèi)微生物組有自愈功能。

A one-off day of moderate indulgence followed by a gastronomically frugal period of more careful eating could, then, be considered perfectly healthy.

從烹飪角度注意飲食的節(jié)儉，期間適度放縱一天被認(rèn)為是非常健康的。

There’s more bright news for Christmas eaters. Campbell adds that certain vegetables are particularly good for us – and high on that list is the Brussels sprout. They’re rich in antimutagens which might play a role in lowering the risk of bowel cancer. The antimutagens counter the effect of proteins known as lectins, which can be quite damaging. “They can change the cells or even cause cell death,” comments Campbell.

對圣誕節(jié)的吃貨們來說，有一些更讓人愉快的消息。Campbell補(bǔ)充說，某些蔬菜對身體特別有好處，排在首位的便是孢子甘藍(lán)。它富含抗誘變素，這種物質(zhì)在降低腸癌的風(fēng)險中扮演著重要角色。抗誘變素能抵抗一種被稱為植物血凝素的非常有害的蛋白質(zhì)。Campbell說，“它們可以改變細(xì)胞甚至致細(xì)胞死亡。”

He adds that vegetarians, despite cutting out lectin-rich meats, may still be at risk if they consume a lot of protein-filled legumes. Brussels all round, then.

他補(bǔ)充說，盡管不沾肉類(它們富含植物血凝素)，但如果素食者吃很多高蛋白的蔬菜，仍然存在風(fēng)險。但孢子甘藍(lán)卻沒有問題。

Jonathan Hoare, a gastroenterologist at The London Clinic, agrees that single bouts of overeating are nothing to worry about. “One day won’t do anything – it might give you indigestion that night though,” he says.

倫敦某診所的胃腸病專家Jonathan Hoare，也同意單次暴飲暴食沒什么好擔(dān)心的。他說，“一次沒什么影響，但那天晚上可能會消化不良。”

But he points out that what might really impact our health following seasonal periods is the fact that feasting is seldom confined to just one day. An illustration of this comes from the findings of a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Contrary to popular wisdom, weight gain among surveyed Americans was not as sharp during the holiday period as might be expected. However, people failed to shed the extra pounds after the holidays, making their weight accumulate year-on-year.

但他指出，可能真正影響我們的健康的是周期性的暴飲暴食，事實上所有的宴席不可能都局限在一天里。對此的闡述參考自新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)期刊上的一篇論文的研究結(jié)果。與大眾觀點相反，被調(diào)查的美國人在節(jié)日期間的體重的增加，并不如先前預(yù)測的那樣急劇上升。然而，人們在節(jié)日之后未能成功甩掉那多余的肉， 致使他們他們的體重逐年上升。

“The net 0.48kg weight gain in the fall and winter probably contributes to the increase in body weight that frequently occurs during adulthood,” noted the paper.

這篇論文指出，“每個秋冬季節(jié)增加的0.48KG凈重，極有可能給常見的中年發(fā)福做了貢獻(xiàn)。”

Another study, this time in the Journal of Physiology, found that a bit of physical activity over festive periods can be a good thing. Some daily exercise, even when calorie intakes were much higher than normal, could be extremely beneficial, the researchers found. It led to better blood sugar control and less undesirable genetic variation in fat cells.

另一項研究，是來自生理學(xué)雜志的，稱節(jié)日期間做一點健身運(yùn)動對身體非常有益。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，即使熱量攝入量遠(yuǎn)高于平日，一些日常的鍛煉也將會是非常有好處的。它將帶來更好的控制血糖，并防止脂肪細(xì)胞的不良基因變異。

As Hoare comments, “The advice I’d give people is enjoy yourself but pay it back – you’ve got to have some lean days afterwards and you’ve got to out for some walks.”

正如Hoare所講，“我給人們的建議是享受生活，但是記得復(fù)位。你必須得再過一些克勤克儉的日子，而且每天得外出散步。”