Potatoes get a bad rap. Between potatoes' high carbohydrate count and how most of us prepare them (fried, buttered or highly salted in a chip), it's to be expected. But when prepared in a healthy way, spuds can be a super nutritious food. In fact, new research presented at the 242nd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society has found that just a couple servings of potatoes a day reduces blood pressure without causing weight gain.

土豆惡名在外。鑒于土豆的高熱量和我們大多數人的烹飪方式（炸，抹黃油或者往薯條中加入大量的鹽），這并不冤枉。但是如果用健康的方式處理的話，馬鈴薯會是一種營養豐富的食品。事實上，一項在第242屆美國化學學會全國展覽會上發表的新研究顯示用土豆烹飪而成的食物有降低血壓的功效，而且不會增加你的體重。

Researchers took 18 overweight and obese patients and had them eat six to eight small purple potatoes twice a day for a month. By the end of the study, the average diastolic blood pressure dropped by 4.3 percent and the systolic pressure decreased by 3.5 percent. Not one subject gained weight during the study. While the researchers studied just purple potatoes, they believe that red and white skin potatoes would do the same. Like other vegetables, potatoes contain phytochemicals, along with other vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to the body.

研究員讓18個超重或肥胖的病人在持續一個月的時間內每天吃8個小紫薯。在實驗結束后，實驗人員的平均舒張壓降低了4.3%，同時心臟的收縮壓下降了3.5%。實驗中沒有一個人的體重增加了。雖然研究人員只對紫薯進行了研究，但是他們相信紅色皮和白色皮的土豆會擁有相同的效果。同時土豆也含有其他蔬菜所含有的對人體有益的化學物質，如維他命和礦物質等。

So how can you put this new info to good use in your healthy diet? Start eating potatoes! According to the researchers, the key is to microwave them. Frying and cooking them at high temperatures seems to destroy the healthy benefits.

那么，你怎么把這個好消息充分應用在你的健康食譜上呢？答案是：開始吃土豆吧！根據研究者的結論，發揮土豆額功效的關鍵在于用微波爐去加熱土豆。在高溫下炸或者煮土豆似乎會破壞土豆的健康價值。

課后題目：
"Small potato"的漢語意思是什么？

來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/read/201109/154400.shtml