Cognition nutrition
Food for thought Jul 17th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Eat your way to a better brain
标题可以简单的理解为，食物中的营养成份与智力的关系
CHILDREN have a lot to contend with these days, not least a tendency for their pushy parents to force-feed them omega-3 oils at every opportunity. These are supposed to make children brainier, so they are being added to everything from bread, milk and pasta to baby formula and vitamin tablets. But omega-3 is just the tip of the nutritional iceberg; many nutrients have proven cognitive effects, and do so throughout a person’s life, not merely when he is a child.
文章大概的意思是：
孩子们总会和他们周围的环境发生冲突。比如急迫的父母不放过任何一个可能的机会迫使他们年幼的子女摄取Ω-3（人体必需的一种脂肪酸，但人体自身无法合成，因而必须从食物中摄取。常见於含高脂肪鱼类和某些植物油中。），这是因为据说Ω-3能使孩子的大脑更加聪敏，也因此面包，牛奶，面条等孩子们的食物中往往添加有Ω-3，甚至在婴儿食品配方以及维生素片剂中也有Ω-3的存在。事实上相对于所有的营养成分而言，Ω-3只不过是浮在海面的冰山之一角。已经被证实的具有提升认知力的很多种营养成分在人的一生中都可以发挥作用，并不只是作用于婴幼儿期。
Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a fish-loving professor of neurosurgery and physiological science at the University of California, Los Angeles, believes that appropriate changes to a person’s diet can enhance his cognitive abilities, protect his brain from damage and counteract the effects of ageing. Dr Gómez-Pinilla has been studying the effects of food on the brain for years, and has now completed a review, just published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, that has analysed more than 160 studies of food’s effect on the brain. Some foods, he concludes, are like pharmaceutical compounds; their effects are so profound that the mental health of entire countries may be linked to them.
洛杉矶加州大学的神经外科和生理学教授Fernando Gómez-Pinilla对鱼类情有独钟。他认为饮食习惯适当的变化在提高认知力，使脑组织免受破坏的同时还可以抵消老化对脑功能的负面影响。Gómez-Pinilla博士研究食物对大脑的影响多年，他最近完成的论文发表在Nature Reviews Neuroscience杂志。该论文分析了多于160个实例。他认为某些类似药物成分的食物对人脑的影响机理非常复杂，以至于遍及全球的所有心理疾病都与之息息相关。
Last year, for example, the Lancet published research showing that folic-acid supplements—sometimes taken by pregnant women—can help those between 50 and 70 years old ward off the cognitive decline that accompanies ageing. In a study lasting three years, Jane Durga, of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and her colleagues found that people taking such supplements did better on measures of memory, information-processing speed and verbal fluency. That, plus evidence that folate deficiency is associated with clinical depression, suggests eating spinach, orange juice and Marmite, which are all rich in folic acid.
比如去年发表在《柳叶刀》（一份英国医学杂志）的一个研究报告指出，某些时候孕期妇女服用的含有叶酸的补充品有助于50到70年龄段的老人防止伴随有老化症状的认知力衰减。荷兰瓦赫宁根大学的Jane Durga和她的同事在持续了三年的研究中发现，服用含叶酸的补充品可以使大脑的记忆更为精确，同时处理信息的速度也得以加快，言辞也更为流利。更进一步的证据是，叶酸的缺乏和临床上的抑郁症相关联。有关的建议是，食用菠菜，橘子汁，马麦脱酸制酵母等富含叶酸的食物。
Another suggestion from Dr Gómez-Pinilla’s review is that people should eat more antioxidants. That idea is not new. Antioxidants are reckoned by many to protect against the general effects of ageing. Vitamin E, for example, which is found in vegetable oils, nuts and green leafy vegetables, has been linked (in mice) with the retention of memory into old age, and also with longer life.
Gómez-Pinilla博士在他的论文中还建议人们应该更多的服用抗氧化剂。实际上这个说法并不新鲜。抗氧化剂的消除老化引起的负面影响功效已经被证实。比如，维生素E-广泛存在于植物油，坚果以及绿叶蔬菜-的动物实验（老鼠）表明，它和老鼠维持记忆力以及有效地延长老鼠寿命存在某种关联。
Nut(坚果)：坚果，闭果的一个分类，果皮坚硬，内含1粒种子。如板栗等的果实。坚果是植物的精华部分，一般都营养丰富，含蛋白质、油脂、矿物质、维生素较高，对人体生长发育、增强体质、预防疾病有极好的功效。比如，榛子又称山板栗、尖栗、棰子等，属桦木科(corylaceae)榛属(corylus)植物。榛子在中国境内有8个种类2个变种，分布于东北、华北、西北及西南地区。榛子果形似栗子，外壳坚硬，果仁肥白而圆，有香气，含油脂量很大，吃起来特别香美，余味绵绵，因此有“坚果之王”的称呼，与扁桃、胡桃（核桃）、腰果并称为“四大坚果”。榛子营养丰富，果仁中出除含有蛋白质、脂肪、糖类外，胡萝卜素、维生素b1 、维生素b2、维生素e含量也很丰富；榛子中人体所需的8种氨基酸样样俱全，其含量远远高过核桃；榛子中各种微量元素如钙、磷、铁含量也高于其他坚果；松仁的脂肪成分是油酸和亚麻酸；板栗富含柔软的膳食纤维；杏仁富含蛋白质、脂肪、糖类、胡萝卜素、b族维生素、维生素c、维生素p以及钙、磷、铁等营养成分；开心果主要含单不饱和脂肪酸，这类脂肪很稳定，所以开心果不像其他坚果容易酸败。葵花子含有β－胡萝卜素，可防止人体皮肤下层的细胞坏死，可使头发变得柔软秀丽。近期医学专家研究认为，葵花子含有维生素B8，能治愈忧郁症、神经衰弱。
Antioxidants，抗氧化剂，是阻止氧气不良影响的物质。
它是一类能帮助捕获并中和自由基，从而祛除自由基对人体损害的一类物质。如维生素Ａ、Ｃ、Ｅ、硒、锌、铜和锰等。自由基”（细胞代谢的天然副产物）的不良作用来保护主要的细胞物质。氧气被代谢或被人体燃烧时形成自由基。它们通过细胞运输，破坏其他分子结构，导致细胞受损。这样的细胞损坏被认为是衰老和各种健康问题的原因。活跃于人体内的抗氧化剂是维生素 A 、 C 、 E 和多酚（植物化学物质，存在于茶和水果中）。
Dr Gómez-Pinilla, however, gives the antioxidant story a particular twist. The brain, he observes, is peculiarly susceptible to oxidative damage. It consumes a lot of energy, and the reactions that release this energy also generate oxidising chemicals. Moreover, brain tissue contains a great deal of oxidisable material, particularly in the fatty membranes surrounding nerve cells.
无论如何，Gómez-Pinilla博士把抗氧化剂的传奇推向一个新的节点。他观察到，脑对氧化异常敏感。脑内的化学反应在释放脑活动所必需的能量的同时，也生成氧化物。此外，脑组织包含大量的易氧化物，尤其是在包裹神经细胞的脂肪膜中。
That suggests, among other things, the value of a diet rich in berries. These have been shown to have strong antioxidant effects, though only a small number of their constituents have been evaluated in detail. One group that has been evaluated, the polyphenols, has been shown in rodents to reduce oxidative damage and to boost the ability to learn and retain memories. In particular, these chemicals affect changes in response to different types of stimulation in the hippocampus (a part of the brain that is crucial to the formation of long-term memories, and which is the region most affected by Alzheimer’s disease). Another polyphenol, curcumin, has also been shown to have protective effects. It reduces memory deficits in animals with brain damage. It may be no coincidence that in India, where a lot of curcumin is consumed (it is the substance that makes turmeric yellow), Alzheimer’s disease is rarer than elsewhere.
尽管浆果的有效成分只有少数已被定量分析，但是富含浆果（例如，樱桃，草莓，藍莓蔓越橘（小紅莓），黑莓、覆盆子）的食谱仍然被推荐。这是因为浆果强有力的抗氧化性已被试验所证实。the polyphenols（多酚类，一组植物中化学元素的统称，因具有多个酚基团而得名。多酚在一些植物中起到了呈现颜色的作用，如秋天的叶子。
多酚类物质具有很强的抗氧化作用。绿茶是多酚类物质的一个来源。）
关于多酚类的动物（鼠）实验证实，这种化学物质有效的减低氧化引起的脑组织破坏以及提升了动物的学习、保留记忆的功能。尤其是，多酚类物质的影响在于hippocampus（大脑海马体，脑的一部分，构成长时期记忆的关键区域，该区域最易受老年痴呆症的影响）内部对不同刺激的响应速度发生改变。另一类多酚-姜黄素也被证实有保护效果。它可以减少因脑组织破坏导致的记忆缺陷。在印度，姜黄素（一种使姜黄呈现黄色的化学物质）的消费相当可观，同时，那里的老年痴呆症的发病率要远低于其他地区，这也许不是偶然的现象。
hippocampus（大脑海马体，帮助人类处理长期学习与记忆声光、味觉等事件的秘密。也就是所谓的“叙述性记忆”.在医学上，「海马体」是大脑皮质的一个内褶区，在「侧脑室」底部绕「脉络膜裂」形成一弓形隆起，它由两个扇形部分所组成，有时将两者合称海马结构；海马体的机能是主管人类的近期主要记忆，有点像是计算机的内存，将几周内或几个月内的记忆鲜明暂留，以便快速存取。记忆其实就是神经细胞之间的连结形态。不过，要储存或抛掉某些信息，却不是出自有意识的判断，而是由人脑中一个细小的构造——海马体(hippocampus)来处理。海马体在记忆的过程中，充当转换站的功能。当大脑皮质中的神经元接收到各种感官或知觉讯息时，它们会把讯息传递给海马体。假如海马体有所反应，神经元就会开始形成持久的网络，但如果没有通过这种认可的模式，那么脑部接收到的经验就自动消逝无踪。）
姜黄素：姜黄（Curcuma longa L．）是常用中药，临床上用于活血、行气、通经、止痛。姜黄素（curcumin）是一种黄色色素，从姜黄中提取得到的主要有效成分。
Peas of mindThough the way antioxidants work in the brain is not well known, Dr Gómez-Pinilla says it is likely they protect the synaptic membranes. Synapses are the junctions between nerve cells, and their action is central to learning and memory. But they are also, he says, the most fragile parts of the brain. And many of the nutrients associated with brain function are known to affect transmission at the synapses.
由于对抗氧化剂在脑内的作用机理还缺乏全面的了解，Gómez-Pinilla博士推断它的功效可能在于保护突触的膜结构。突触是脑神经细胞之间的接点，也是学习和记忆的中心。同时突触还是脑组织中最脆弱的结构。多数与脑功能相关联的营养物质的功能在于影响突触之间的信号传递。
An omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), for example, provides membranes at synaptic regions with “fluidity”—the capacity to transport signals. It also provides “plasticity”—a synapse’s capacity to change. Such changes are the basis of memory. Since 30% of the fatty constituents of nerve-cell membranes are DHA molecules, keeping your DHA levels topped up is part of having a healthy brain. Indeed, according to the studies reviewed by Dr Gómez-Pinilla, the benefits of omega-3s include improved learning and memory, and resistance to depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, attention-deficit disorder and dyslexia.
omega-3的学名是二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）。比如说，它使得突触-synaptic-区域的膜结构具有流动性-有赖此于突触获得传递信号的能力。它还使得突触具有可塑性-这使突触的形态得以改变，这种改变是（脑）记忆的基础。由于神经细胞膜的脂肪组织中，30%的成分是DHA分子，因此，使DHA在体内的保有量保持在最大值是拥有一个健康的大脑所必需的重要前提。事实上，Gómez-Pinilla博士的研究还表明，omega-3s在提升学习和记忆功能的同时，还对下列症状具有明显抵抗力：depression（忧郁症），bipolar disorder（躁郁症，双极性疾患），schizophrenia（精神分裂症），dementia（痴呆），attention-deficit disorder（注意力不集中或注意力紊乱）dyslexia（阅读障碍）.
Omega-3s are found in oily fish such as salmon, as well as in walnuts and kiwi fruit, and there is a strong negative correlation between the extent to which a country consumes fish and its levels of clinical depression. On the Japanese island of Okinawa, for example, people have a strikingly low rate of mental disorder—and Okinawans are notable fish eaters, even by the standards of a piscivorous country like Japan. In contrast, many studies suggest that diets which are rich in trans- and saturated fatty acids, such as those containing a lot of deep-fried foods and butter, have bad effects on cognition. Rodents put on such diets show declines in cognitive performance within weeks.
Omega-3s是在油脂含量丰富的鱼类，比如三文鱼体内发现的。此外，核桃以及猕猴桃也含有oilyOmega-3s。在一个国家鱼类的消费量和该国临床上忧郁症的发病率之间存在负相关的态势（类似数学意义上的反比关系）。例如在日本的冲绳-Okinawan。即使是在偏好食用鱼的日本，冲绳人也以吃鱼而著名，同时和其他地区相比当地精神障碍的发病率要明显低的多。与之相反，更多的研究表明，食用富含反式和饱和脂肪酸的食物-比如油炸食物以及奶油-对认知力有着负面的影响。把这类食物添加到啮齿类（比如老鼠）的菜单后，这些动物表现出的认知力衰减的症状持续数周。
In the past few years, several studies have looked at the effect of adding omega-3s to people’s diets—particularly those of children. One such, carried out in the British city of Durham, was controversial in that it was funded by a maker of children’s omega-3 supplements and did not include a control group being given a placebo. Despite the publicity this study has received, Ben Goldacre, author of a book called “Bad Science” that includes an investigation of it, says the results will not be released.
在过去的几年里，有数个研究注意到在人们的食谱中添加omega-3s，尤其是添加在儿童的食谱后所导致的变化。比如在英国的Durham大学，由omega-3s补充品的制造商赞助的一项未包含服用安慰剂的对照组的实验，引起了一些争议。尽管如此，这项实验的结果依然向公众公布。Ben Goldacre，“Bad Science”一书的作者，在这本书中收录了关于这项实验的调查，并且认为实验结果不应该向公众公布。
Durham，Durham University is a world-class university in two locations: in the city of Durham and at our Queen's Campus in Stockton.
Placebo（安慰剂），由既无药效，又无毒副作用的中性物质构成的、外形似药的制剂。安慰剂多由葡萄糖、淀粉等无药理作用的惰性物质构成。
Work by other researchers, however, has suggested such supplements do improve the performance and behaviour of school-age children with specific diagnoses such as dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder and developmental co-ordination disorder. Moreover, although more work is needed to elucidate the effects of omega-3s on healthy school-age children, Dr Gómez-Pinilla says that younger children whose mothers took fish-oil supplements (which contain omega-3s) when they were pregnant and while they were breast-feeding do show better cognitive performance than their unsupplemented contemporaries.
其他研究人员建议患有以下症状- dyslexia（阅读障碍），attention-deficit disorder（注意力不集中或注意力紊乱）或developmental co-ordination disorder（（身体）发育时的动作协调性失调或紊乱）的学龄儿童服用这类可以改善患者的运动功能和行为的补充品。此外，尽管还需要更多的研究来阐明omega-3s给服用这类补充品的健康的学龄儿童带来的影响，DrGómez-Pinilla博士在他的论文中写到，那些儿童，他们的母亲在孕期以及哺乳期（母乳喂养期）食用了包含omega-3s的鱼油补充品，这使得他们在认知力上要明显的优于他们的同龄人。
Eating well, then, is one key to a healthy brain. But a word of warning—do not overeat. This puts oxidative stress on the brain and risks undoing all the good work those antioxidants have been up to. For those who would like a little practical guidance, The Economist has some suggestions for dinner (see menu). So why not put the Nintendo brain trainer away tonight, and eat your way to intelligence instead?
由此而言，适宜的饮食，是拥有健康的大脑的至关重要的前提。不过请别忘记，千万不要过量食用。这将加剧大脑内的氧化反应，并且抵消抗氧化剂所发挥的功效。《经济学家》为喜好得到一些实用的饮食指南的读者准备了一份大餐，那就是下面图片中给出的健脑菜单。那么，为什么不在今晚抛开类似任天堂一类的PC益智游戏，而只是享受能给你健康大脑的美味大餐呢？
Attached(上图中给出的菜单）:
Brain food
健脑菜单
Starter:
餐前沙拉
Avocado-鳄梨, spinach & lettuce salad, with a scattering of pine nuts and toasted crumbled anchovies, and dressed with olive oil & balsamic vinegar
鳄梨（樟科鳄梨属的1种。原产中美洲,全世界热带和亚热带地区均有种植，但以美国南部、危地马拉、墨西哥及古巴栽培最多。中国的广东、福建、台湾、云南及四川等地均有少量栽培。
常绿乔木,高约10米。核果大，肉质，通常梨形、卵形或近球形，黄绿色或红棕色。果实是一种营养价值很高的水果，果肉柔软似乳酪，色黄，风味独特，含多种维生素、丰富的脂肪和蛋白质,钠、钾、镁、钙等含量也高。），菠菜和莴苣做成的沙拉，上面散布松果仁以及烤凤尾鱼碎片。然后撒上橄榄油和意大利黑醋。
Main course
主菜
Salmon curry with turmeric potatoes and cauliflower, served with lentil daal
咖喱三文鱼，姜黄土豆，花椰菜，扁豆（也叫四季豆，北方人称为豆角）
Dessert
甜食
Dark chocolate clusters of walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds, candied fruit and peel, with red and bule berries and kiwi compote
添加核桃的黑巧克力簇，巴西坚果，杏仁，果脯，红蓝系浆果，猕猴桃果盘。
Drink options
饮料选项：
Californian Cabernet Sauvignon, green tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, glass of milk
Cabernet Sauvignon- superior Bordeaux type of red wine-（中文名，加州赤霞珠红葡萄酒），绿茶，鲜榨橙子汁，牛奶。
Brain-related nutrients included in the meal： omega-3(salmon, kiwi, walnuts); curcumin (turmeric); flavonoids (cocoa, green tea, citrus fruits, red wine, dark chocolate); vitamins B,D and E (lentils, cauliflower, asparagus, avocado, almonds, walnuts, spinach, olive oil); choline (lentils, lettuce ); vitamin C &carotene (citrus and berry fruits); calcium, zinc & selenium ( milk, nuts, fish); copper(Brazil nuts, cocoa, black-pepper ); iron (fish, lentils ).
富含有益大脑的营养物质的食物包括：
omega-3（三文鱼，猕猴桃，核桃）；姜黄素（姜黄）；类黄酮（ Flavonoid
，植物次生代谢产物，是以 2- 苯基色酮核为基础的一类物质，由 A 、 B 两个苯环和一个 C 环构成）（可可果或可可粉，柑桔属水果，红酒，黑巧克力）；B，D，E族维生素（扁豆-四季豆，花椰菜-菜花，芦笋，鳄梨，杏仁，菠菜，橄榄油）胆碱-复合维生素B族（扁豆，莴苣）维生素C，维生素A –胡萝卜素-（柑桔属水果，浆果（樱桃，草莓，藍莓蔓越橘（小紅莓），黑莓、覆盆子等都属于浆果））钙，锌，砷（牛奶，坚果，鱼）；铜（巴西坚果，可可粉，黑胡椒）；铁（鱼，扁豆-四季豆）
We minimize the use of saturated fats found in foods such as butter, ghee, suet, lard, coconut oil and dairy products.
比如黄油，奶油，牛羊脂，猪脂，椰子油，乳制品等含有饱和脂肪的食物应尽可能减少使用量。
http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=11745528
[ 本帖最后由 易枫 于 2008-8-19 10:50 编辑 ] |
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