From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语的《健康与生活方式报道》。
More than one billion Muslims around the world observe Ramadan, Islam’s holy month. Fasting during Ramadan is a requirement for believers. This means they are barred from having sex, smoking, drinking and eating from sunrise to sunset.
全世界有超过10亿穆斯林遵守伊斯兰教的圣月——斋月。斋月期间禁食是信徒的一项要求。这意味着在日出到日落这段时间，他们禁止进行房事，吸烟，饮酒和进食。
Today, we talk about fasting involving only food. Apart from spiritual or religious reasons, what effects does not eating have on human health?
今天，我们谈论禁食这一项。除了精神或宗教方面的原因，禁食是否会影响人体健康?
A team of researchers in the United States says fasting is good for our brain.
美国一个研究小组称，禁食对我们的大脑有益。
Mark Mattson is a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He and others have studied how dietary restrictions might protect your brain from neurological diseases that get worse over time. Two examples of these diseases are Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
马克·马特森是马里兰州巴尔的摩约翰霍普金斯大学的神经科学家。他和其他人研究了饮食限制如何保护你的大脑免受长期恶化的神经系统疾病的影响，比如阿尔茨海默氏症和帕金森病。
His team found that controlling and restricting calories may improve a person’s memory, emotions and state of mind.
他的团队发现，控制和限制卡路里可能会改善一个人的记忆、情绪和精神状态。
Mattson says his studies are built upon years of research that have confirmed links between how many calories a person eats and mental ability. Calories are a measure of energy in food.
马特森说，基于多年的调查，他的研究证实了一个人摄入多少卡路里与心理能力之间的联系。卡路里是衡量食物能量的指标。
A report in the Johns Hopkins Health Review describes the links. It said that every time we eat, a sugar called glucose is stored in the liver as glycogen. It takes your body about 10 to 12 hours to use up all of the glycogen.
《约翰霍普金斯健康评论报告》详细介绍了这些联系。据说每次我们吃东西时，一种叫做葡萄糖的糖类就像糖原一样储存在肝脏里。我们的身体大约需要10到12小时来耗完所有的糖原。
The report said, “After the glycogen is used up, your body starts burning fats, which are converted into chemicals used by neurons as energy. These chemicals are important to learning, memory and overall brain health.”
该报告称，“糖原耗尽后，身体内的脂肪开始燃烧，神经元用作能量将其转化成化学物质。这些化学物质对学习，记忆力和整个大脑健康很重要。”
However, if you eat three meals a day, with snacks in between, your body does not have time to use up all of the glycogen in the liver. So, the learning and memory chemicals are not produced.
但是，如果你一天吃三餐，期间还吃零食，你的身体没有时间用完肝脏中的所有糖原。因此，就产生不了有助于学习和记忆的化学物质。
Mattson said that physical exercise can also use up the glycogens. He added that it was not surprising that “exercise has been shown to have the same positive effect on the brain as fasting.”
马特森说体育锻炼也可以消耗糖原。他补充说，“锻炼对大脑袋的积极影响与禁食具有异曲同工之妙”,有这样的结果并不意外。”
The researchers found that cutting down on food at least two days a week can improve neural connections in the hippocampus. This part of the brain controls emotions and plays a part in long-term memory.
研究人员发现，每周至少两天减少进食可以改善海马的神经连接。大脑的这部分控制着情绪，并在长期记忆中发挥着作用。
A calorie-controlled diet also protected neurons against the build-up of amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaque is a protein commonly found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
控制卡路里的饮食习惯也能保护神经元免受淀粉样蛋白斑的积聚的影响。淀粉样蛋白斑是阿尔茨海默氏症患者大脑中常见的一种蛋白质。
If you want to try fasting, Mattson has two suggestions.
如果你想尝试禁食，马特森有两条建议。
The first is a diet called 5:2. On this diet, you eat only 500 calories for two nonconsecutive days each week. Then the rest of the week, you eat a healthy diet with a normal amount of calories. A normal amount for women is about 2,000. For men, it is 2,500.
第一种是5:2的节食法。在这种饮食习惯中，每周任意不连续两天只进食500卡路里。然后本周的其余时间，你可以健康饮食，进食正常卡路里即可。女性正常卡路里约为2,000，男性为2,500。
The other suggestion is time restriction. In one day, you eat all of your meals in one eight-hour period. This should give your body the time it needs to use up all of the glycogen in the liver, start burning fat and produce those chemicals we talked about earlier.
另一个建议是时间限制。在其中的一天，在八小时吃完所有的食物。这应该让你的身体有足够的时间耗尽肝脏中的所有糖原，开始燃烧脂肪并产生我们之前谈过的化学物质。
However, Mattson warned that if you have never fasted before, do not begin fasting immediately.
然而，马特森提醒道，如果你以前从未禁食过，不要立即开始禁食。
The researchers say our bodies need to get used to calorie restrictions. They compare it to a person who is not physically active and then decides to run a long distance race without any training. They may not like fasting and give up easily.
研究人员说我们的身体需要习惯卡路里限制。他们把它比作一个不爱运动的人,突然决定在没有任何训练的情况下进行一次长跑。结果是他们可能不喜欢进食并且会轻易放弃。
Mattson said, “It’s the same thing as if you’ve been eating three meals a day plus snacks, and then you’re not eating anything at all for two days. You’re not going to like it.”
马特森说：“这和你一天三餐外加零食一样，突然让你两天不吃任何东西，你不会喜欢那种感觉的。”
He suggested starting with one day of limited food intake every week, and build up to two days. Mattson warned that a person new to fasting might experience headaches, lightheadedness and moodiness. But his experiments show that these problems should pass quickly and a person’s mood will improve.
他建议开始每周一天控制食物摄入量，然后增至两天。马特森提醒道，一个刚开始禁食的人可能会遇到头痛，头晕和情绪低落的情况。但实验表明，这些症状应该很快过去，一个人的情绪会有所改善。
If you have any questions or health concerns, talk with your doctor before taking any action.
如果您有任何问题或健康问题，在开始节食前征求医生的意见。
And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report.
这里是《健康与生活方式报道》。
I’m Anna Matteo.
安娜·马泰奥报道。
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
More than one billion Muslims around the world observe Ramadan, Islam's holy month. Fasting during Ramadan is a requirement for believers. This means they are barred from having sex, smoking, drinking and eating from sunrise to sunset.
Today, we talk about fasting involving only food. Apart from spiritual or religious reasons, what effects does not eating have on human health?
A team of researchers in the United States says fasting is good for our brain.
Mark Mattson is a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He and others have studied how dietary restrictions might protect your brain from neurological diseases that get worse over time. Two examples of these diseases are Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
His team found that controlling and restricting calories may improve a person's memory, emotions and state of mind.
Mattson says his studies are built upon years of research that have confirmed links between how many calories a person eats and mental ability. Calories are a measure of energy in food.
A report in the Johns Hopkins Health Review describes the links. It said that every time we eat, a sugar called glucose is stored in the liver as glycogen. It takes your body about 10 to 12 hours to use up all of the glycogen.
The report said, "After the glycogen is used up, your body starts burning fats, which are converted into chemicals used by neurons as energy. These chemicals are important to learning, memory and overall brain health."
However, if you eat three meals a day, with snacks in between, your body does not have time to use up all of the glycogen in the liver. So, the learning and memory chemicals are not produced.
Mattson said that physical exercise can also use up the glycogens. He added that it was not surprising that "exercise has been shown to have the same positive effect on the brain as fasting."
The researchers found that cutting down on food at least two days a week can improve neural connections in the hippocampus. This part of the brain controls emotions and plays a part in long-term memory.
A calorie-controlled diet also protected neurons against the build-up of amyloid plaques. Amyloid plaque is a protein commonly found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.
Ways to fast safely
If you want to try fasting, Mattson has two suggestions.
The first is a diet called 5:2. On this diet, you eat only 500 calories for two nonconsecutive days each week. Then the rest of the week, you eat a healthy diet with a normal amount of calories. A normal amount for women is about 2,000. For men, it is 2,500.
The other suggestion is time restriction. In one day, you eat all of your meals in one eight-hour period. This should give your body the time it needs to use up all the glycogen in the liver, start burning fat and produce those chemicals we talked about earlier.
However, Mattson warned that if you have never fasted before, do not begin fasting immediately.
The researchers say our bodies need to get used to calorie restrictions. They compare it to a person who is not physically active and then decides to run a long distance race without any training. They may not like fasting and give up easily.
Mattson said, "It's the same thing as if you've been eating three meals a day plus snacks, and then you're not eating anything at all for two days. You're not going to like it."
He suggested starting with one day of limited food intake every week. Then build up to two days. Mattson warned that a person new to fasting might experience headaches, lightheadedness and moodiness. But his experiments show that these problems should pass quickly and a person's mood will improve.
If you have any questions or health concerns, talk with your doctor before taking any action.
And that's the Health & Lifestyle report. I'm Anna Matteo.
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Words in This Story
fast - v. to eat no food for a period of time
convert - v. to change (something) into a different form or so that it can be used in a different way - usually + to or into : The cells absorb light and convert it to energy.
neurons - n. a cell that carries messages between the brain and other parts of the body and that is the basic unit of the nervous system
snack - n. a small amount of food eaten between meals
positive - adj. good or useful
nonconsecutive - adj. not being in a sequence : not consecutive : Exercise three times a week on nonconsecutive days.
mood - n. the way someone feels : a person's emotional state : moody - adj. having moods that change often moodiness - n.
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