英语杂谈：32 Food and the mood

Food And Mood When we think about a pill that helps an overweight person take off the pounds, we usually think of an appetite suppressant. But suppressing your appetite will only help you lose weight if the reason you eat is because you are hungry. Some people eat because they are depressed¹ rather than because they’re hungry. When these people want to lose weight, doctors may prescribe, not traditional diet pills, but antidepressants. These antidepressants have helped many overweight people stop craving² high-calorie carbohydrates⁴. Depressed people often crave⁵ carbohydrates because eating carbohydrate³-rich food lifts their mood. As a side effect, they gain weight. Though scientists are not exactly sure how carbohydrate intake⁶ influences mood, they do know that it has to do with the chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, that allow two areas of the brain to communicate: the area responsible for appetite and the area responsible for mood. More specifically, an intake of carbohydrates increases the levels of the neurotransmitter responsible for mood, called serotonin. Though only a small percentage of the brain’s neurotransmitters are made up of serotonin, if this small amount is even minutely tinkered with, a patient can experience fairly drastic mood shifts. A patient taking antidepressants may stop craving carbohydrates because these drugs function like carbohydrates. They alter the serotonin that communicates messages between the mood and appetite centers of the brain. Once an antidepressant drug begins to work, the abnormal craving for carbohydrates is interrupted and the patient can start losing weight.

 

1 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

2 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

3 carbohydrate   

n.碳水化合物；糖类；(plural)淀粉质或糖类

参考例句：

• You should not have too much carbohydrate in your diet.你日常饮食中不该有过多碳水化合物。
• Cashew nuts are rich in carbohydrate.腰果含丰富碳水化合物。

4 carbohydrates   

n.碳水化合物，糖类( carbohydrate的名词复数 )；淀粉质或糖类食物

参考例句：

• The plant uses the carbohydrates to make cellulose. 植物用碳水化合物制造纤维素。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All carbohydrates originate from plants. 所有的碳水化合物均来自植物。 来自辞典例句

5 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

6 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。