美国国家公共电台 NPR Eating Leafy Greens Each Day Tied to Sharper Memory, Slower Decline

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

To age well, it is said, we must eat well. But exactly what kinds of foods may be most beneficial for the aging brain? NPR's Allison Aubrey looks at the latest evidence coming from a study of healthy seniors who live in retirement¹ communities in suburban² Chicago.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE³: Candy Bishop⁴ is not one to let age get in her way. When I reached her the other morning at 8 a.m., she was already dressed for an exercise class. And when I asked her if she still feels mentally sharp...

CANDACE BISHOP: Oh, God, yes. Oh, absolutely. I'm still pretty damn bright, yes.

AUBREY: Bishop is one of about a thousand participants in Rush University's Memory and Aging Project. Their average age is 81. Each year, they take a battery of tests to analyze⁵ memory. Researchers also track their exercise and diets. Candy Bishop says, over her lifetime, she's not been a purist when it comes to eating well, but one habit she has been absolutely committed to is this.

BISHOP: My goal is, every day, to have a big salad. Instead of buying a lot of different lettuces⁶, I'll get those bags of darker, leafy salad mixes.

AUBREY: With greens such as spinach⁷ and kale. She also tosses in other stuff she likes.

BISHOP: Carrots I like a lot - raw carrots - and radishes are good.

AUBREY: Turns out, these daily salads may help explain Candy's healthy aging. The latest data from the Rush study published in the journal Neurology shows that the participants who eat the most leafy greens - about a serving and a half per day - have had a much slower rate of cognitive⁸ decline compared to those who eat little or no greens. Over about a five-year period, the heavy greens eaters declined at about half the rate. Here's study author Martha Clare Morris.

MARTHA CLARE MORRIS: Our study does suggest that leafy greens have a number of nutrients⁹ that play different protective roles in the brain.

AUBREY: For instance, leafy greens contain plenty of vitamin E, lutein and folate. Morris says more research is needed to understand how exactly they influence the brain, but scientists do know that too little of these nutrients can be problematic.

MORRIS: If you have insufficient¹⁰ levels of folate in your diet, you can have higher levels of homocysteine.

AUBREY: Which can set the stage for inflammation and a buildup of plaque¹¹ inside your arteries¹².

MORRIS: So when you eat leafy greens, you're eating a lot of different nutrients, and together, they can have a powerful impact.

AUBREY: Candy Bishop says it's good to know that greens and other food she likes, such as fish, seem to be good for her brain. But she says she thinks a lot of how you age is in your genes¹³.

BISHOP: I don't feel that I have any secrets. I just think I'm damn lucky, frankly¹⁴.

AUBREY: Of course, many factors influence the aging process, and this study does not prove that eating greens will fend¹⁵ off memory decline. What it does do is add to the evidence that diet matters. As for Candy Bishop, despite feeling sharp, she says she does notice little slips.

BISHOP: Who was that? What was this guy's name?

AUBREY: But she chalks that up to a normal part of aging.

BISHOP: As time goes by, you know, you're not a - (singing) you're not a kid anymore - if you remember that old song.

And the answer is, no, I'm not a kid anymore.

AUBREY: But she says she will keep eating her greens. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

5 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

6 lettuces   

n.莴苣，生菜（ lettuce的名词复数 ）；生菜叶

参考例句：

• My lettuces have gone to seed. 我种的莴苣已结子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Are these lettuces home-grown or did you buy them in the market? 这些生菜是自家种的呢，还是你在市场上买的？ 来自辞典例句

7 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

8 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

9 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 plaque   

n.饰板，匾，(医)血小板

参考例句：

• There is a commemorative plaque to the artist in the village hall.村公所里有一块纪念该艺术家的牌匾。
• Some Latin words were engraved on the plaque. 牌匾上刻着些拉丁文。

12 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

15 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。