健康指南:西蘭花 蔬菜可以創造奇蹟

Next time your child asks why they have to eat broccoli, you can give them the reason – thanks to scientists who made people eat it every day for three months.

下次，你的孩子問爲什麼他們要吃花椰菜，你就可以給他們解釋理由了。多虧科學家們做的這項研究讓志願者每天都吃西蘭花，堅持吃三個月的時間，得出了研究結論，給出了問題的答案。

They discovered that a chemical found solely in the vegetable helps maintain the health of the tiny "batteries" which power the body’s cells.

他們僅在西蘭花這種蔬菜中發現一種類似小“電池”功能的化學物質，它有助於保持細胞的健康。

This, it is thought, helps ward off health problems including cancer and heart disease.

他們認爲這種蔬菜有助於抵禦包括癌症和心臟病這類健康問題。

Scientists from the Institute of Food Research in Norwich ran detailed blood tests on men and women before and after they ate the vegetable.

諾維奇食品研究所的科學家對吃了西蘭花這種蔬菜前後的男性和女性做了詳細的血液測試。

Nineteen volunteers ate 400g of broccoli a week – three florets a day – alongside their normal food for three months.

第一組的19名志願者一週吃了400克西蘭花。除了正常飯菜外，每天都吃三小朵西蘭花。這樣堅持吃了三個月，

Another 19 ate a "super-broccoli" called Beneforte, which is bred to be extra-rich in glucoraphanin, a plant chemical.

另一組的19名志願者吃了一種稱爲Beneforte的“超級花椰菜”，對這種花椰菜另外進行培育使其富含硫代葡萄糖苷這種植物中含的化學物質。

The final group ate peas.

最後一組志願者吃豌豆。

Eating the glucoraphanin-rich broccoli led to improvements in the various chemical reactions that go on inside mitochondria, the "batteries" in cells.

吃富含硫代葡萄糖苷的西蘭花可改進線粒體——細胞中的“電池”——中的各種化學反應。

They also have several other vital functions, which all need to be in balance for good health.

花椰菜這類蔬菜也有一些其他的重要功能，都是健康平衡飲食所需的。

While researchers believe the same benefits could be obtained by eating normal broccoli, there’s some bad news if you’re not a fan of it – they think you’d need to eat three times as much.

雖然研究人員認爲平時常吃花椰菜對健康同樣有益，但是如果你不喜歡吃西蘭花的話，他們認爲你需要吃三倍的西蘭花，可能這是個噩耗。

Researcher Professor Richard Mithen said: "Mitochondria are really, really important and when they start to go wrong it leads onto many of the diseases of aging."

這項研究的研究員理查德教授說：“線粒體真的、真的很重要，當線粒體開始出現問題，則會引起許多與年老有關的疾病。”

"We think this provides some evidence as to why people who eat diets rich in broccoli may keep in good health."

“關於爲什麼那些節食減肥的人吃西蘭花可以維持身體健康，我們認爲這項研究結果爲其提供了一些證據。”

He added: "The message is to eat a balanced diet and get some exercise and if you want to eat Beneforte broccoli, that’s all well and good and it may give you a little extra benefit. "

他補充說：“發佈這個消息就是爲了讓人們均衡飲食並鍛鍊身體，如果你想要吃Beneforte西蘭花，完全可以。這種蔬菜對身體健康有益，並且它可能會對你的身體健康有額外的好處。”