经济学人espresso 26 | 巧克力如何对抗肥胖

Chocoholics need little encouragement to indulge in their favorite treat. Studies indicating that chocolate contains antioxidants or lowers blood pressure are often taken as invitations to binge. But there is a growing recognition that chocolate has some real health benefits, strengthened by new research in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. Obese mice saw their fatty-liver disease improve when they began receiving a cocoa supplement with every high-fat meal. After ten weeks, cocoa-fed mice exhibited 28% less liver fat and 75% less DNA damage than their control counterparts. They also gained weight 22% more slowly. For humans, the amount of cocoa the mice consumed is equivalent to ten tablespoons of powder or five cups of hot cocoa daily. The authors warn that obese people—or anyone else—should not simply begin guzzling the stuff. They do say, though, that substituting cocoa for other dietary vices could be beneficial. Hot cocoa just got a little sweeter.

蓝色 表示写作中常用到的词汇； 灰色 表示只需要了解。

Chocoholics need little encouragement to indulge in their favorite treat. Studies indicating that chocolate contains antioxidants or lowers blood pressure are often taken as invitations to binge . But there is a growing recognition that chocolate has some real health benefits, strengthened by new research in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. Obese mice saw their fatty-liver disease improve when they began receiving a cocoa supplement with every high-fat meal. After ten weeks, cocoa-fed mice exhibited 28% less liver fat and 75% less DNA damage than their control counterparts. They also gained weight 22% more slowly. For humans, the amount of cocoa the mice consumed is equivalent to ten tablespoons of powder or five cups of hot cocoa daily. The authors warn that obese people—or anyone else—should not simply begin guzzling the stuff. They do say, though, that substituting cocoa for other dietary vices could be beneficial. Hot cocoa just got a little sweeter.

【重点词汇及表达】

• chocoholic n. (someone who likes chocolate very much and eats a lot of it) 嗜吃巧克力的人

• encouragement n. (the act of encouraging sb to do sth; something that encourages sb) 鼓舞，鼓励，起激励作用的事物

• indulge v. (to allow yourself to have or do sth that you like, especially sth that is considered bad for you) 沉溺于，沉迷；常常与 in 搭配

• contain v. (if sth contains sth else, it has that thing inside it or as part of it) 包含，容纳

  这个词汇的另外两层含义也需要掌握：「 克制，控制，抑制 」以及「 防止…蔓延，恶化 」，我们来看两个例句：

  She was unable to contain her excitement. 她无法抑制内心的激动。

  to contain an epidemic 防止流行病的蔓延

• antioxidant n. (a substance that helps prevent oxidization , especially one used to help prevent stored food products from going bad) 抗氧化剂

• invitation n. (to sth something that encourages sb to do sth, usually sth bad) 鼓励，怂恿，招致

• binge v. (to eat or drink too much, especially without being able to control yourself) 大吃大喝，狂欢作乐

  When she’s depressed she binges on chocolate. 当它心情不好时就会大嚼巧克力。

• obese adj. ((of people 人) very fat, in a way that is not healthy) 虚胖的，臃肿的，病态肥胖的

  名词为： obesity

  Obesity can increase the risk of heart disease. 肥胖会增加患心脏病的危险。

• fatty-liver 脂肪肝

• guzzle v. (to eat or drink a lot of something, eagerly and quickly – usually showing disapproval ) 暴饮暴食

• substitute v. (use something new or different instead of something else) 代替；常见搭配为 substitute for

  The recipe says you can substitute yoghurt for the sour cream.

  食谱说可以用酸奶替代酸味奶油

【重点长难句解析】

Studies indicating that chocolate contains antioxidants or lowers blood pressure are often taken as invitations to binge.

【参考译文】

嗜吃巧克力的人几乎不需要鼓励就可以沉迷于自己喜欢的美食中。研究表明，巧克力含有抗氧化剂或降低血压，通常被视为暴饮暴食的诱因。但是，人们越来越认识到，通过在《营养生物化学杂志》上进行的新研究，巧克力具有一些真正的健康益处。肥胖小鼠在每顿高脂饮食中开始接受可可补充剂时，其脂肪肝疾病得到改善。十周后，与对照组相比，可可喂养的小鼠肝脏脂肪减少了28％，DNA损伤减少了75％。他们的体重增长也慢了22％。对于人类来说，老鼠消耗的可可量相当于每天10汤匙粉末或5杯热可可。作者警告说，肥胖的人（或其他任何人）不要简单的开始大吃可可。他们确实说过，用可可粉代替其他饮食上的弊端可能是有益的。热可可稍微甜了一点。

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