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Food is the body’s fuel. Now a study finds that the amount of energy in that fuel can depend not just on its calorie content—but on how it’s prepared. And the research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could explain an ancient leap in human evolution. [Rachel N. Carmody, Gil S. Weintraub and Richard W. Wrangham, "Energetic consequences of thermal and nonthermal food processing"]
食物是身體的燃料供應(yīng)者。現(xiàn)在有研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，食物中能量的多少不僅僅由食物本身的卡路里含量決定，還由食物的加工方式?jīng)Q定。這項(xiàng)發(fā)表在美國國家科學(xué)院院刊上的研究結(jié)果還進(jìn)一步說明了人類演化歷史中的一次遠(yuǎn)古的飛躍。（蕾切爾卡莫尼，吉爾溫特勞布和理查德沃爾漢姆提到，“食品熱加工和非熱加工產(chǎn)生的能量不同。”）
Food’s energy value is usually measured before consumption. But Harvard scientists fed two groups of mice either meat or sweet potatoes and prepared the items differently: either whole or pounded, raw or cooked—to create a variety of diets. The researchers then measured the mice. They found that pounded meat and potatoes caused more weight gain than raw food. And that cooking increased weight the most.
通常食物能量值的計算以消耗前為準(zhǔn)。但哈佛科學(xué)家為了創(chuàng)造使膳食多樣化，分別給兩組老鼠喂食沒切碎的肉和土豆及搗碎的肉和土豆。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，吃了搗碎的肉和土豆的老鼠體重增長較快。而且吃烹煮過的食物體重增長的最快。
The extra calories cooking makes available may have allowed the survival of humans with larger bodies and more complex brains, starting almost two million years ago. Those physical changes required more energy, and exposing food to fire may have provided that boost.
食物在烹煮過程中所產(chǎn)生的額外熱量可能是200萬年前至今，人的體格變的更強(qiáng)壯，頭腦變的更發(fā)達(dá)從而生存下來的原因。那些物理變化需要更多的能量，所以食物熱加工可能是這些變化的助推器。
Of course, a legacy of evolution is that modern humans often gain too much weight. Which might be called a raw deal.
當(dāng)然，人類演化遺傳至今，現(xiàn)代人體重往往超標(biāo)，這可能會被稱為不公平待遇。
【生詞注釋】 calorie n.卡路里
consumption n.消耗
boost n. 推進(jìn)
legacy n. 祖先傳下來之物
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