Coffee as a Health Drink？ Studies Find Some Benefits
咖啡是否是一種健康飲料？

　　Coffee is not usually thought of as health food， but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments， including diabetes， heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver.

　　咖啡通常都不被看作一種健康飲料，但是近來(lái)一些研究表明咖啡可能是一種十分有益的飲料。研究人員已經(jīng)在找到可靠的證據(jù)證實(shí)，咖啡可以降低許多嚴(yán)重疾病的患病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，其中包括了糖尿病、心臟病和肝硬化。

　　Among them is a systematic review of studies published last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association， which concluded that habitual coffee consumption was consistently associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Exactly why is not known， but the authors offered several explanations.

　　在所有的報(bào)告中有一篇去年刊登在美國(guó)醫(yī)學(xué)會(huì)期刊上系統(tǒng)的研究報(bào)告。報(bào)告推斷，習(xí)慣性的飲用咖啡可以一直降低Ⅱ型糖尿病的患病機(jī)率。具體的原因還沒(méi)有找到，但報(bào)告還是給出了一些解釋。

　　Coffee contains antioxidants that help control the cell damage that can contribute to the development of the disease. It is also a source of chlorogenic acid， which has been shown in animal experiments to reduce glucose concentrations.

　　咖啡含有抗氧化劑，能夠幫助控制導(dǎo)致疾病的細(xì)胞損害。咖啡還能提供綠原酸，綠原酸在動(dòng)物實(shí)驗(yàn)中能夠降低血糖濃度。

　　Caffeine， perhaps coffee‘s most famous component， seems to have little to do with it； studies that looked at decaffeinated coffee alone found the same degree of risk reduction.

　　咖啡因可能是咖啡含有的最知名的成分，但看起來(lái)卻沒(méi)什么作用。一項(xiàng)使用脫去咖啡因的咖啡所作的實(shí)驗(yàn)顯示其也能達(dá)到同樣的降低血糖濃度的效果。

　　Larger quantities of coffee seem to be especially helpful in diabetes prevention. In a report that combined statistical data from many studies， researchers found that people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day had a 28 percent reduced risk compared with people who drank two or fewer. Those who drank more than six had a 35 percent risk reduction.

　　大量飲用咖啡對(duì)預(yù)防糖尿病特別有效。在一項(xiàng)結(jié)合了許多統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)的報(bào)告中，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)每天飲用4-6杯咖啡的人群比每天飲用2杯或更少咖啡的人群患病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)降低了28%。飲用超過(guò)6杯的人群患病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)更是降低了35%。

　　Some studies show that cardiovascular risk also decreases with coffee consumption. Using data on more than 27，000 women ages 55 to 69 in the Iowa Women‘s Health Study who were followed for 15 years， Norwegian researchers found that women who drank one to three cups a day reduced their risk of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent compared with those drinking no coffee at all.

　　一些研究表明咖啡也能減少患心血管疾病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。根據(jù)愛(ài)達(dá)荷婦女健康研究中心15年跟蹤調(diào)查的27000多位55到69歲的婦女的數(shù)據(jù)，挪威的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)每天飲用1到3杯咖啡的婦女比完全不飲用咖啡的婦女患心血管疾病的比例下降了24%。

　　But as the quantity increased， the benefit decreased. At more than six cups a day， the risk was not significantly reduced. Still， after controlling for age， smoking and alcohol consumption， women who drank one to five cups a day - caffeinated or decaffeinated - reduced their risk of death from all causes during the study by 15 to 19 percent compared with those who drank none.

　　但是，飲用咖啡數(shù)量越多，好處越少。對(duì)于每天飲用6杯以上的人群，患病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)沒(méi)有明顯的下降。同時(shí)，在研究中，加上控制吸煙和飲酒，與完全不飲用咖啡的婦女相比，每天飲用1到5杯咖啡的婦女，無(wú)論是含咖啡因的還是脫去咖啡因的，她們因?yàn)楦鞣N原因?qū)е碌乃劳鲲L(fēng)險(xiǎn)可以降低15%到19%。

　　The findings， which appeared in May in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition， suggest that antioxidants in coffee may dampen inflammation， reducing the risk of disorders related to it， like cardiovascular disease. Several compounds in coffee may contribute to its antioxidant capacity， including phenols， volatile aroma compounds and oxazoles that are efficiently absorbed.

　　調(diào)查結(jié)果刊登在5月份的美國(guó)臨床營(yíng)養(yǎng)學(xué)雜志上。報(bào)告表示，咖啡中的抗氧化劑可以抑制發(fā)炎，減少因發(fā)炎引起的其他疾病，比如心血管疾病?？Х戎械囊恍┏煞钟兄诳Х鹊目寡趸芰?，包括可以被有效吸收的苯酚、可揮發(fā)的芳香族化合物、唑。

　　In another analysis， published in July in the same journal， researchers found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice， blueberries， raspberries and oranges.

　　在該雜志7月出版的期刊上，研究人員的另一項(xiàng)研究中發(fā)現(xiàn)一份咖啡還有的抗氧化劑比一份葡萄汁、一份藍(lán)莓汁、一份覆盆子汁和一份橙汁還要多。

　　"We were surprised to learn that coffee quantitatively is the major contributor of antioxidants in the diet both in Norway and in the U.S.A.，" said Rune Blomhoff， the senior author of both studies and a professor of nutrition at the University of Oslo.

　　“我們都覺(jué)得很驚奇，在數(shù)量上，咖啡在美國(guó)和挪威的飲食中居然是主要的抗氧化劑的提供者”兩篇報(bào)道的高級(jí)作者奧斯陸大學(xué)的營(yíng)養(yǎng)學(xué)教授茹·布洛莫說(shuō)。

　　These same anti-inflammatory properties may explain why coffee appears to decrease the risk of alcohol-related cirrhosis and liver cancer. This effect was first observed in 1992. Recent studies，published in June in The Archives of Internal Medicine， confirmed the finding.

　　這些同樣可以抑制發(fā)炎的物質(zhì)可以解釋為什么咖啡可以減少與酒精相關(guān)的硬化和肝癌了。這一效果實(shí)在1992年首先發(fā)現(xiàn)的。近來(lái)刊登在《內(nèi)科學(xué)文獻(xiàn)》期刊上的的研究結(jié)果證實(shí)了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)。

　　Still， some experts believe that coffee drinking， and particularly caffeine consumption， can have negative health consequences. A study published in January in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology， for example， suggests that the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee significantly decreases blood flow to the heart， particularly during exercise at high altitude.

　　一些專家仍然相信喝咖啡，尤其是含有咖啡因的咖啡會(huì)造成不良的健康影響。比如說(shuō)，刊登在1月份美國(guó)心臟病學(xué)會(huì)志上的一項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果認(rèn)為，兩杯咖啡中含有的咖啡因可以顯著的減少流向心臟的血液，特別是在高緯度地區(qū)鍛煉時(shí)。

　　Rob van Dam， a Harvard scientist and the lead author of The Journal of the American Medical Association review， acknowledged that caffeine could increase blood pressure and slightly increase levels of the amino acid homocysteine， possibly raising the risk for heart disease.

　　《美國(guó)醫(yī)學(xué)會(huì)雜志》評(píng)論的主要作者哈佛大學(xué)科學(xué)家羅布·范·達(dá)姆承認(rèn)，開(kāi)咖啡因可能會(huì)增加血壓并能輕微增加高半胱胺酸的水平，這可能會(huì)增加心臟病的發(fā)病風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

　　"I wouldn‘t advise people to increase their consumption of coffee in order to lower their risk of disease，" Dr. van Dam said， "but the evidence is that for most people without specific conditions， coffee is not detrimental to health. If people enjoy drinking it， it’s comforting to know that they don‘t have to be afraid of negative health effects."

　　“我不會(huì)建議人們?yōu)榱私档图膊★L(fēng)險(xiǎn)而多喝咖啡”，羅布·范·達(dá)姆博士說(shuō)，“但是證據(jù)顯示對(duì)于絕大多數(shù)沒(méi)有特例的人來(lái)說(shuō)，咖啡是無(wú)害的。如果大家喜歡喝咖啡，大家不用擔(dān)心會(huì)帶來(lái)負(fù)面的健康影響，這無(wú)疑是令人鼓舞的。”