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Glucose can block brain cell secretion of orexin, which keeps us alert. But amino acids can stop that block. Christie Nicholson reports.
葡萄糖能抑制大腦細胞分泌使我們清醒的促食素，但氨基酸可以解除這種抑制。克里斯蒂·尼科爾森報告中說。
The other afternoon I hit a classic mid-afternoon slump. Sleepy and sluggish, I grabbed for a bit of chocolate. But I probably should have had egg whites or maybe a piece of steak. Because a recent study in mice has found that it's protein, not sugar, that provides the perk.
那天午后我又倒了。又困又乏，我抓了塊巧克力。但或許我應該吃些蛋白或來塊牛排。因為近來有小白鼠研究顯示，能提神的是蛋白質，而不是糖。
Brain cells called orexin cells secrete a stimulant that makes us energetic and tells the body to burn calories. If the cells’ activity decreases, narcolepsy or sudden sleepiness, is the result. The work is published in the journal Neuron. [Mahesh M. Karnani et al, Activation of Central Orexin/Hypocretin Neurons by Dietary Amino Acids]
一種叫促食素的大腦細胞分泌讓我們精神抖擻的興奮劑，并且使機體開始燃燒卡路里。如果細胞活性降低，就會導致嗜睡或突然困乏。這篇作品發表在《神經元》雜志上。
Scientists marked orexin cells in mice brains so they would fluoresce. Then they tracked the cells’ activity after feeding the mice different kinds of food.
科學家們在小白鼠大腦中標記出促食素細胞，使它們發光。然后在喂食小白鼠不同食物后，追蹤這些細胞的活動。
Turns out that glucose blocks the function of the orexin cells. This effect might be the main reason for the desired post-lunch siesta. But the researchers also found that amino acids stop the glucose action, keeping the cells active and the mice alert. So next time I get that 3 p.m. slow down, I’ll have an egg. If I’m alert enough to remember.
結果發現，葡萄糖抑制了促食素細胞的作用，或許這就是人們午餐后需要小睡的主要原因。但研究人員同時發現氨基酸阻止了葡萄糖的活動，使細胞保持活力，讓小白鼠保持清醒。所以下次再到下午三點鐘效率低下的時候，如果能撐住想起來這個研究，我會吃個雞蛋。
—Christie Nicholson 克里斯蒂·尼科爾森
