纪录片《饮食变迁》 第36期:瘦蛋白能减肥

The news that leptin made fat mice

瘦蛋白让胖老鼠在几周内瘦下来的新闻

thin in a matter of weeks had a massive popular appeal.

在广大人群中引起了轰动

Researchers then looked at humans and discovered

研究人员随后对人类进行了研究并发现

that the hormone¹ leptin was a messenger molecule² for us, too.

瘦蛋白激素对于我们也是一种信使分子

It travels up to the appetite

它能够到达大脑中

control centre in the brain, the hypothalamus.

控制食欲的神经中枢 下丘脑

The hypothalamus acts like a thermostat³.

下丘脑像自动恒温器一样工作

So if body fat increases,

如果体内脂肪增加

the leptin increases and appetite goes down.

瘦蛋白增加 食欲下降

When we lose fat,

如果脂肪减少

leptin signals become weaker and we eat.

瘦蛋白信号减弱 我们摄取食物

It's very clear now that there are several biological mechanisms⁴

我们十分清楚 有数种生理机制

that determine how much

可以决定个体的体内

fat each individual maintains in their body,

需要保存多少脂肪

and any change, either by gaining

任何变化 无论是体重增加

weight or losing weight, is actively⁵ resisted.

或是体重减少 都可以得到有效地抑制

This is true for people who are

这对于略微超重

mildly overweight or people that are grossly obese⁶.

或者是严重肥胖的人都是成立的

Cathy looks just great in hand-dyed,

凯西穿着这件手工染制的

original button-down front

纽扣领口设计的

in a full circle dress.

服饰看起来很好看

Beautiful, Cathy.

凯西 你真漂亮

So the hormone leptin maintains fat

因此瘦蛋白激素将脂肪维持在

at a steady level and makes dieting very difficult.

一个稳定的水平 让节食变得十分困难

1 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

2 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

3 thermostat   

n.恒温器

参考例句：

• The thermostat is connected by a link to the carburetor.恒温控制器是由一根连杆与汽化器相连的。
• The temperature is controlled by electronic thermostat with high accuracy.电子恒温器，准确性高。

4 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。