What makes ultra-processed foods so bad for your health?

是什么讓超加工食品對您的健康如此有害？

ultra-processed foods 超加工食品（圖源：網絡）

They are calorie-rich, nutrient-poor and hard to stop eating

它們熱量豐富，營養貧乏，難以停止進食

[1] FOOD SHOPPING has become a dangerous pursuit. Nutritional horrors lurk on every shelf. Ready-meals are packed with salt and preservatives, breakfast cereals are sweeter than chocolate bars, and processed meats are packed with nitrite-preservatives, which can form harmful compounds when cooked. A new term is catching on to describe these nutritional bad guys: ultra-processed foods (UPFs). In his new book, “Ultra-Processed People”, Chris van Tulleken, a doctor and television presenter, argues that UPFs dominate the food supply in rich countries, and are also creeping into diets in low- and middle-income countries. As they proliferate, so do concerns about their effects on human health. Just how bad are UPFs, and what do they do to us?

[1] 食品購物已成為一種危險的追求。營養恐怖潛伏在每個架子上。即食食品含有鹽和防腐劑，早餐麥片比巧克力棒更甜，加工肉類富含亞硝酸鹽防腐劑，煮熟后會形成有害化合物。一個新術語正在流行來描述這些營養壞人：超加工食品（UPF）。醫生兼電視節目主持人克里斯·范·圖勒肯（Chris van Tulleken）在他的新書《超加工人》（Ultra-Processed People）中認為，UPF主導著發達國家的食品供應，并且也正在滲透到低收入和中等收入國家的飲食中。隨著它們的擴散，人們對它們對人類健康的影響的擔憂也在增加。UPF到底有多糟糕，它們對我們做了什幺？

? 詞匯：

超加工食品（Ultraprocessed Foods, UPFs）是指經過一系列復雜的工業加工而制成的食品或飲料，通常添加了多種調味劑、著色劑、乳化劑及其他食品添加劑。 不經意之間，人類早已被超加工食品所“攻陷”。 環顧四周，薯條、披薩、餅干、糖果、冰淇淋、速凍食品、含糖飲料等等，均屬于UPFs范疇。

lurk on 隱藏在; 潛伏上;

ready-meals 即食食品

preservative n. 防腐劑

nitrite n. 亞硝酸鹽

catch on 理解, 變得流行

Ultra-processed foods 超加工食物

food supply食物供應

food supply chain 食品供應鏈; 供應鏈;

creep into 悄悄蔓延，悄悄滲透

proliferate vi. 激增；(迅速)繁殖；增生，擴散

[2] The concept of UPFs was devised by Carlos Monteiro, a Brazilian scientist, in 2009. His team of nutritionists observed that although people in Brazil were buying less sugar and oil, rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes were rising. That was because they were instead eating more sugar, fats and additives in packaged snacks and pre-made meals. In response, Mr Monteiro proposed a food classification system to take into account the degree of processing involved in the food supply.

（圖源：網絡）

[2] UPF的概念是由巴西科學家卡洛斯·蒙泰羅（Carlos Monteiro）于2009年提出的。他的營養學家團隊觀察到，盡管巴西人購買的糖和油較少，但肥胖和2型糖尿病的發病率正在上升。這是因為他們在包裝零食和預制食品中吃了更多的糖、脂肪和添加劑。鑒于此，蒙泰羅先生提出了一個食品分類系統，以考慮食品供應所涉及的加工程度。

? 詞匯：

devise vt. 想出；計劃；設計；發明

obesity 肥胖，肥胖率

type-2 diabetes 2型糖尿病

additives 添加劑

pre-made meals 預制菜

In response 鑒于此

take into account 重視；考慮；體諒

account for 對…負有責任；對…做出解釋；說明……的原因;占比例

[3] Processing can make healthy foods unhealthy: fruit, for instance, goes from healthy to unhealthy as it is desiccated, squeezed or sweetened. Mr Monteiro’s system, called Nova, puts foods into four “buckets”: unprocessed and minimally processed foods; processed culinary ingredients; processed foods; and ultra-processed foods. This allows more fine-grained distinction between different degrees of processing. Thus staples such as rice, oil or flour, which all require minimal processing for consumption, do not belong in the same category as a Twinkie.

[3] 加工會使健康食品不健康：例如，水果在干燥、擠壓或加糖時會從健康變成不健康。蒙泰羅先生的系統稱為Nova，將食物放入四個“桶”中：未加工和最低限度加工的食品;加工的烹飪原料;加工食品;和超加工食品。這允許對不同程度的處理進行更細粒度的區分。因此，大米、油或面粉等主食都需要最少的加工才能食用，與 Twinkie 不屬于同一類別。

? 詞匯：

desiccate vt. 弄干,使脫水

squeeze vt. & vi. 擠, 榨, 捏

culinary adj. 廚房的, 烹飪的

staple n. 主要產品；釘書釘；主題；主食 vt. 用釘書釘釘住；把……分級 adj.主要的，大宗生產的；常用的；紡織纖維的

Twinkie :一種美國小吃蛋糕，在美國很受歡迎的休閑食品。（如圖）

Twinkie （圖源：網絡）

[4] UPFs often go through many sophisticated industrial processes. That does not make them all unhealthy by default—a soya-based meat substitute can be part of a balanced meal—but the frequent consumption of UPFs causes a constellation of issues. Most contain a blend of artificial ingredients, plenty of salt and sugar, and few nutrients. Arguably, some UPFs are more akin to industrial products than food.

[4]UPF通常要經歷許多復雜的工業過程。默認情況下，這并不會使它們都變得不健康 - 基于大豆的肉類替代品可以成為均衡膳食的一部分 - 但頻繁食用UPF會導致一系列問題。大多數含有人造成分的混合物，大量的鹽和糖，以及很少的營養。可以說，一些UPF更類似于工業產品而不是食品。

? 詞匯：

Sophisticated 復雜的，老練的

Substitute 替代品

Constellation 星系，一系列相關事物

A constellation of issues 一系列問題

be akin to 近似; 類似于; 相似的;

[5] By dialling up their flavours and palatability, UPFs are engineered to be easier to eat in large amounts than whole foods (try leaving crisps at the bottom of the packet). The extent of the problem was revealed in 2019 by researchers at the National Institutes of Health in America who sequestered volunteers and offered two groups as much food as they wanted. Over a fortnight those on an ultra-processed diet ate some 500 more calories each day, roughly equivalent to a McDonald’s Big Mac, leading them to gain weight; those on the unprocessed diet ate less and slimmed down.

[5] 通過增加它們的味道和適口性，UPF 被設計成比全食更容易大量食用（嘗試將薯片留在包裝底部）。美國國立衛生研究院的研究人員在 2019 年揭示了問題的嚴重程度，他們隔離了志愿者，并為兩組提供了他們想要的食物。在兩周的時間里，那些超加工飲食的人每天多吃大約 500 卡路里，大致相當于麥當勞的巨無霸，導致他們體重增加;那些未加工飲食的人吃得更少，變得更瘦。

? 詞匯：

Dial 撥(電話號碼)；用礦用羅盤測量；調；用標度測量

Dial up 增加

Whole foods ： “全食”，是歐美最新的健康理念，顧名思義，就是完整的食品，指天然的食物，未加工處理，或以最少程度經過處理與精制過的食物。 也就意味著這些食物的營養素是完整的，強調食物的干凈、自然和避免不必要的加工處理，不含人工添加物。

Sequester vt. 使隔絕；使隔離,<律>扣押

Equivalent adj. 等同的，等效的

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