腸道對我們的健康至關(guān)重要

腸道對我們的健康至關(guān)重要

They are terms previously not part of polite conversation -- let alone TV commercials: Intestinal distress. Irregularity. Irritable bowel syndrome.

它們以前都不是禮貌用語的一部分——更別提電視廣告了:腸道疾病。不規(guī)律。腸易激綜合癥。

Where food goes after it's eaten, however, has become a hot topic. Indeed, emerging research is linking the health of the gut -- the entire digestive system, particularly the stomach, intestines and colon -- to general wellness.

然而，食物吃完后到哪里去卻成了一個熱門話題。事實上，新興的研究正在將腸道健康——整個消化系統(tǒng)，尤其是胃、腸和結(jié)腸——與總體健康聯(lián)系起來。

"New data shows that the gut is critical to our well-being," says Dr. Mark Liponis, medical director of the Canyon Ranch health resorts.

“新的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，腸道對我們的健康至關(guān)重要，”馬克·利龐尼斯博士說，他是峽谷牧場健康度假村的醫(yī)療主任。

Essentially, the gut is your body's gatekeeper, letting in helpful compounds and evicting harmful ones. It's home to 70 to 80% of our immune cells. When the gut is in good shape, our systems run efficiently, but when it's not, we may experience upset stomach, be at risk for weight gain or digestive problems like heartburn and constipation, or just feel vaguely out of sorts.

從本質(zhì)上說，腸道是你身體的看門人，讓有益化合物進入，趕走有害化合物。它是我們70%到80%的免疫細胞的家園。當(dāng)腸道處于良好狀態(tài)時，我們的系統(tǒng)有效運行，但如果不是，我們可能會感到胃部不適，有體重增加的風(fēng)險，或消化問題，如胃灼熱和便秘，或只是隱約感到不適。

For many people, that run-down feeling has lasted so long that it's mistaken for the norm, says New York cardiologist Alejandro Junger, author of "Clean Gut."

《清潔腸道》一書的作者、紐約心臟病學(xué)家亞歷杭德羅·榮格爾說，對很多人來說，這種疲憊感持續(xù)的時間太長了，以至于被誤認為常態(tài)。

"We could feel so much better -- we just don't know it."

“我們可以感覺好很多——只是我們不知道。”

The bacteria that rule your body

控制你身體的細菌

The gut is swarming with about 100 trillion bacteria, or flora, which outnumber human cells in our body 10 to 1.

腸道里擠滿了大約100萬億個細菌或菌群，它們的數(shù)量是人體細胞的10倍。

"These bacteria and the compounds they excrete can have positive and negative effects on a person's health," says Dr. Stanley Hazen, chair of cellular and molecular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "To have a healthy gut, one must avoid eating foods that foster the growth of bacteria that create unhealthy metabolites."

克利夫蘭診所細胞和分子醫(yī)學(xué)主席斯坦利·黑曾博士說:“這些細菌及其排出的化合物對人體健康既有積極的影響，也有消極的影響。”“要有一個健康的腸道，就必須避免吃那些促進細菌生長的食物，這些細菌會產(chǎn)生不健康的代謝物。”

Friendly bacteria aid the metabolism of nutrients and help certain compounds get into the bloodstream. A diverse population of health-promoting flora protects the gut from the less helpful strains.

友好的細菌有助于營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)的新陳代謝，并幫助某些化合物進入血液。不同的促進健康的菌群可以保護腸道不受有害菌群的傷害。

In contrast, an outsize number of less-beneficial flora -- which proliferate with a diet high in sugar, fat, and processed food -- can cause gas, discomfort, bloating and inflammation. The flora can also emit chemicals that compromise the intestinal lining, says Lita Proctor, of the Human Microbiome Project at the National Institutes of Health.

相比之下，過多的不太有益的植物群——在高糖、高脂肪和高加工食品的飲食中大量繁殖——會導(dǎo)致氣體、不適、腹脹和炎癥。美國國立衛(wèi)生研究院人類微生物組項目的利塔·普羅克特說，這種菌群還會釋放出損害腸道內(nèi)壁的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。

"This so-called 'leaky gut' allows nonnutritive materials to slip into our bodies and affect how we feel."

“這種所謂的‘腸漏’會讓非營養(yǎng)物質(zhì)溜進我們的身體，影響我們的感覺。”

Incredibly, some bacteria might even make you fat: A recent study of twins, published in "Nature," found that when bacteria from an obese human twin were introduced into the digestive systems of lean mice, the mice turned fat; when bacteria from the thin sibling were introduced into lean mice, the mice stayed lean.

令人難以置信的是，一些細菌甚至可能會讓你變胖：最近發(fā)表在《自然》上的一項雙胞胎研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)來自一個肥胖的人類雙胞胎的細菌被引入瘦老鼠的消化系統(tǒng)時，老鼠就會變胖;當(dāng)從瘦削的雙胞胎身上提取的細菌被引入瘦削的老鼠體內(nèi)時，老鼠保持了瘦削的狀態(tài)。

Studies also suggest that diabetic and obese patients tend to lack a diversity of bacteria, and the Cleveland Clinic found that some bacteria metabolize components of egg and meat to produce a compound that aids in the clogging of arteries.

研究還表明，糖尿病和肥胖患者往往缺乏多樣性的細菌，克利夫蘭診所發(fā)現(xiàn)，雞蛋和肉的一些細菌代謝成分產(chǎn)生一種化合物，會導(dǎo)致動脈堵塞。

"This might explain why some unhealthy eaters get heart disease while others don't," says Hazen.

“這也許可以解釋為什么一些不健康的飲食者會得心臟病，而另一些不會，”黑曾說。

The good news is that you can reset your gut bacteria, swapping bad flora for good.

好消息是，你可以重置你的腸道細菌，將壞的菌群轉(zhuǎn)換成好的。

To cultivate healthful microflora, you want to nourish the desirable species while killing off the bad. Beware of antibiotics, however, which decimate the flora keeping our bodies healthy along with those causing illness and infection.

要培育健康的微生物群，你需要在殺死壞的菌群的同時滋養(yǎng)好的菌群。但是要小心抗生素，因為抗生素會破壞保持我們身體健康的菌群，同時也會導(dǎo)致疾病和感染。