VOA慢速英語：蔬果可以降低血壓

Fruits, Vegetables Can Lower Blood Pressure

蔬果可以降低血壓

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康和生活方式報道。

We may not need another study telling us that fruits and vegetables are good for our bodies. But research and studies can help us to understand how foods affect our bodies in good ways and bad.

我們可能無需另一項研究來告訴我們水果和蔬菜對我們的身體有益。但是調(diào)查研究可以幫助我們了解食物如何在正反兩方面影響我們的身體。

Researchers at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine have found another great reason to eat more fruits and vegetables. They say that potassium-rich foods like sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach and bananas could help to lower your blood pressure.

南加州大學凱克醫(yī)學院的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了人們需要食用更多水果和蔬菜的另一個重要原因。他們表示，富含鉀的食物，如紅薯、鱷梨、菠菜和香蕉可以幫助降低血壓。

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is an international problem. Experts at the World Health Organization say more than one billion people suffer from high blood pressure. The condition causes 51 percent of deaths from stroke and 45 percent of deaths due to heart disease.

高血壓是一項國際難題。世界衛(wèi)生組織的專家們表示，有超過十億人患有高血壓。這種疾病導致了51%的中風死亡和45%的心臟病死亡。

Health officials in the U.S. say heart disease and stroke together kill more Americans each year than any other cause. Years of research have linked sodium, or salt, intake to increased blood pressure. So, officials advise people to use salt in moderation.

美國衛(wèi)生官員表示，心臟病和中風每年導致死亡的美國人數(shù)量超過了其它任何原因。多年的研究已經(jīng)將納或食鹽的攝入與血壓升高聯(lián)系了起來。所以衛(wèi)生官員建議人們適度攝入食鹽。

Experts at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say Americans get most of their sodium -- about 75 % -- from processed foods and eating at restaurants.

美國疾病控制和預防中心的專家表示，美國人攝入的大部分食鹽來自于加工食品和在外就餐，這占到了大約75%。

This is a good reason to eat fresh food prepared at home.

這是食用在家里做的新鮮食物的一個充分理由。

Alicia McDonough is a professor of cell and neurobiology at the Keck School of Medicine. She led this recent study.

艾麗西婭·麥克多諾(Alicia McDonough)是凱克醫(yī)學院的細胞和神經(jīng)學教授。她主導了這項研究。

McDonough says that eating less sodium is a well-known way to lower blood pressure. But she also says evidence suggests that eating more potassium may have an equally important effect on hypertension.

麥克多諾表示，大家都知道減少納的攝入量能降低血壓。但她也表示，證據(jù)表明攝入更多鉀可能會對高血壓產(chǎn)生同等重要的效果。

For her research, she examined studies that looked at the link between potassium and sodium.

在她的研究中，她調(diào)查了那些關(guān)注鉀和納之間聯(lián)系的研究。

McDonough found that people who ate more potassium generally had lower blood pressure unconnected to how much sodium they ate. Her research suggests that the body does creates a balance, using sodium to control potassium levels in the blood.

麥克多諾發(fā)現(xiàn)，攝入更多鉀的人通常血壓更低，這跟他們攝入了多少納無關(guān)。她的研究表明，身體確實會通過利用納來控制血液中的鉀含量從而達成平衡。

"When dietary potassium is high," she says, "kidneys excrete more salt and water, which increases potassium excretion." This process cleans the kidneys.

她說：“當我們飲食中的鉀含量過高時，腎臟會分泌出更多的鹽和水，從而增加鉀的排泄量。”這一過程清潔了腎臟。

She explains that as humans evolved, they ate a diet rich in potassium, but low in sodium. This has lead us to crave sodium, not potassium.

她解釋說，隨著人類進化，他們食用了富含鉀但是鈉含量低的飲食。這導致我們渴望攝入納而不是鉀。”

"If you eat a typical Western diet," she says, "your sodium intake is high and your potassium intake is low." She adds that this greatly "increases your chances of developing high blood pressure."

她說：“如果你吃的是典型的西方飲食，那么就意味著你的鈉攝入量很高，鉀攝入量卻很低。”她補充說，這就大大“增加了你患上高血壓的幾率。”

McDonough published her study in the April 2017 issue of the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism.

麥克多諾于2017年4月在《美國生理學會雜志：內(nèi)分泌學與新陳代謝》上發(fā)表了她的研究。

Health experts at the CDC agree that "eating enough potassium each day can help balance out some of the harmful effects that high sodium intake can have on blood pressure." However, they also say that eating less sodium is important as well.

美國疾病控制和預防中心的健康專家認同“每天攝入足量鉀可以幫助平衡高納攝入對血壓的一些不利影響。”不過他們也說，減少納的攝入量也很重要。

On its website, the CDC lists these fruits and vegetables -- and other foods -- as being good sources of potassium.

美國疾病控制和預防中心在其網(wǎng)站上列出了富含鉀的水果、蔬菜以及其它食物。

· potato, baked with skin

連皮烤的土豆

· leafy greens such as cooked beet greens, spinach and Swiss chard

綠葉蔬菜，例如熟的甜菜、菠菜和牛皮菜

· bananas

香蕉

· sweet potato, baked in skin

連皮烤的紅薯

· fruit and vegetable juices such as prune, carrot, pomegranate, tomato and orange

水果和蔬菜汁，例如梅子、胡蘿卜、石榴、西紅柿和橙子

· acorn squash

橡果南瓜

· plain nonfat yogurt

原味脫脂酸奶

· beans and lentils

豆角和扁豆

· soybeans

大豆

· and some types of fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and halibut

以及一些魚類，例如鮭魚，鯖魚，金槍魚和比目魚。

But how much potassium should we eat each day?

但是我們每天應(yīng)該攝入多少鉀呢?

A 2004 study by the Institute of Medicine shows adults should eat about 4.7 grams of potassium a day to lower blood pressure. McDonough says eating about 60 grams of beans would provide 50 percent of that.

美國醫(yī)學研究所2014年發(fā)表的一項研究表明，成年人每天應(yīng)該攝入大概4.7克鉀以降低血壓。麥克多諾表示，食用大約60克豆角就能提供其中50%的鉀攝入量。

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report.

以上就是本期健康和生活方式報道的全部內(nèi)容。

I'm Anna Matteo.

我是安娜·馬特奧。