如果你想要番茄的健康益處，那就把你的肉丸子和意大利面分開

如果你想要番茄的健康益處，那就把你的肉丸子和意大利面分開

So, what's the forecast for dinner? Spaghetti with a chance of meatballs?

那么，晚餐的計劃是什么?意大利面加肉丸子?

Iron-rich foods take a bite out of lycopene levels in tomato sauce. (Photo: Olga Nayashkova/Shutterstock)

Here's the thing:

事情是這樣的:

As yummy as those meatballs — or lentil or what-have-you balls — are, they may actually steal the nutritional thunder of tomatoes.

就像那些肉丸子——或者小扁豆，或者其他什么東西——一樣美味，它們可能會搶去番茄的營養(yǎng)。

According to a recently published study from Ohio State University, that's a particular problem when it comes to a tomato's famed cancer-fighting properties.

俄亥俄州立大學(Ohio State University)最近發(fā)表的一項研究表明，在番茄著名的抗癌特性方面，這是一個特別的問題。

It all comes down to a compound found naturally in tomatoes called lycopene — the pigment that lends a tomato its scarlet flair. Red cabbage and the flesh of a watermelon are also chock-full of lycopene. Some foods, like asparagus, even get away with not being red and still contain it.

這一切都歸結(jié)于番茄中天然存在的一種叫做番茄紅素的化合物——這種色素賦予了番茄鮮紅的顏色。紅甘藍和西瓜的果肉也富含番茄紅素。有些食物，比如蘆筍，即使沒有變紅，仍然含有蘆筍。

But let's face it, asparagus needs every advantage it can get to persuade us to eat it.

但讓我們面對現(xiàn)實吧，蘆筍需要它所擁有的一切優(yōu)勢來說服我們吃它。

Tomatoes, not so much. We find every excuse to gorge on them — including mushing them into a savory marinara and plunking a few meatba-- err, not so fast.

番茄就不那么多了。我們找各種借口大吃特吃——包括把它們?nèi)M美味的咸菜醬里，再扔幾塊肉巴——呃，別吃得太快。

Scientists, in their ongoing efforts to ruin dinner, say those meatballs are high in iron — and iron neutralizes the benefits of lycopene.

科學家們正在努力破壞晚餐，他們說這些肉丸子富含鐵，而鐵會抵消番茄紅素的好處。

For their experiment, the Ohio State team gave a small group of medical students a tomato-based shake. Some of those shakes contained iron, while others did not.

在他們的實驗中，俄亥俄州立大學的研究小組給一小群醫(yī)科學生喝了一種番茄奶昔。其中一些奶昔含有鐵，而另一些則不含。

The researchers then noted that students who combined the iron with the tomato drink had significantly less lycopene in their blood and digestive fluids.

研究人員隨后注意到，將鐵和番茄飲料混合飲用的學生血液和消化液中的番茄紅素顯著減少。

"When people had iron with their meal, we saw almost a twofold drop in lycopene uptake over time," Rachel Kopec, the study's lead author and a professor at Ohio State, notes in a press release.

該研究的主要作者、俄亥俄州立大學教授雷切爾科佩克(Rachel Kopec)在一份新聞稿中指出:“隨著時間的推移，當人們在吃飯時攝入鐵元素時，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)番茄紅素的攝入量幾乎下降了兩倍。”

That's a lot less lycopene swirling around the body, protecting the heart and putting out fires on a cellular level. Of course, we need our iron. A body relies on it for everything from its energy stores to waste management. But it also has an unfortunate habit of stealing the spotlight and pushing other helpful compounds off the stage completely.

這大大減少了番茄紅素在身體周圍的循環(huán)，保護心臟，在細胞水平上撲滅大火。當然，我們需要鐵。從能量儲存到廢物管理，人體的一切活動都離不開它。但它也有一個不幸的習慣，那就是搶盡風頭，把其他有益的化合物完全推下舞臺。

"We know that if you mix iron with certain compounds it will destroy them, but we didn't know if it would impair potentially beneficial carotenoids, like lycopene, found in fruits and vegetables," Kopec adds.

科佩克補充說:“我們知道，如果你把鐵和某些化合物混合在一起，它們會被破壞，但我們不知道它是否會損害水果和蔬菜中發(fā)現(xiàn)的潛在有益的類胡蘿卜素，比如番茄紅素。”

Cooking tomatoes boosts the amount of the antioxidant lycopene. (Photo: Kiian Oksana/Shutterstock)

So how does that affect dinner?

那么這對晚餐有什么影響呢?

"This could have potential implications every time a person is consuming something rich in lycopene and iron — say a Bolognese sauce, or an iron-fortified cereal with a side of tomato juice. You're probably only getting half as much lycopene from this as you would without the iron."

“每當一個人攝入富含番茄紅素和鐵的食物時，比如一份博洛尼亞肉醬，或者一份加了番茄汁的鐵強化麥片，都會產(chǎn)生潛在的影響。”你從中得到的番茄紅素可能只有不含鐵的一半。”

Let's be real. No one is going to miss that glass of tomato juice to go along with their "iron-rich cereal."

讓我們成為真實的。沒有人會錯過一杯番茄汁和他們的“富含鐵的谷物”。

But spaghetti and meatballs? They're the cookies to a sauce's cream. The chill to its Netflix. The Cheech to its Chong. (You get the idea.)

但是意大利面和肉丸子呢?它們是醬汁奶油的小甜餅。Netflix的寒意。切赫對它的沖。(你懂的。)

Fortunately, there are other ways to get your cancer-fighting food fix.

幸運的是，還有其他方法可以解決你的抗癌食物。

Broccoli, for example, is a genius when it comes to stamping out free radicals — those dangerous atoms that undermine healthy cells and open the door for all sorts of disease.

例如，西蘭花在清除自由基方面就是個天才。自由基是一種危險的原子，會破壞健康細胞，為各種疾病打開大門。

And don't even get us started on the benefits of blueberries, including their knack for taming tumors.

不要讓我們開始了解藍莓的好處，包括它們馴服腫瘤的能力。

So dinner isn't ruined. Enjoy your spaghetti and meatballs. But, like a carbon offset for frequent fliers, just make sure you leave room for dessert. And make that dessert blueberries.

所以晚餐沒有被毀。享受你的意大利面和肉丸子。但是，就像對經(jīng)常乘坐飛機的人進行碳補償一樣，只要確保你留下吃甜點的空間就可以了。做甜點藍莓。