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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Partially1 'polished' rice provides nutritional2 and preventive benefits
Naomi Seck | Washington, DC 04 May 2010
Researchers say they've discovered a component3 in rice that can actually prevent heart attacks.
People worried about heart attacks get a lot of advice about what to eat: less fat; more fruits; more vegetables. New research suggests the most important thing they can do may be to simply eat more rice.
It's hard to imagine needing justification4 to eat rice — for much of the world, it's the major component of every meal. But Japanese researcher Satoru Eguchi says in Japan, rice has been losing popularity to other more Westernized staples5.
"Japanese people have more of a Western diet in past 50 years," he notes. "We ate 50 percent less rice compared to 50 years ago in Japan." And that trend had some Japanese doctors worried. They believed the traditional diet, based largely on fish and a lot of rice, was healthier than the high fat, high protein diet Japanese were beginning to adopt.
A surprising compound in a bowl of rice
Studies have shown the heart-healthy value of fish, but there is no equivalent research into the benefits of rice. It's known that rice has a lot of fiber6 and some vitamins, and Eguchi and his colleagues at Temple University in Philadelphia were convinced there was even more to it.
What they discovered is that there's a component in rice that can actually prevent heart attacks.
It works by inhibiting7 a hormone8 called angiotensin II. The hormone can cause blood vessels9 to narrow and excess sodium10 to accumulate in the blood. These are factors that lead to cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure and hardening of arteries11.
Researchers say rice inhibits12 a hormone that can cause blood vessels to narrow and excess sodium to accumulate in the blood, factors that lead to cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure and hardening of arteries.
There are a number of medications available that block angiotensin. Eguchi says his research shows you may be able to get the same benefits from eating rice.
But not just any rice. In fact, brown rice, often believed to be the grain's healthiest incarnation, turns out to be the worst option, when it comes to this angiotensin-blocking compound.
"Most of the nutritious13 part cannot really be digested, because the brown rice shell is so hard," he explains. "We actually cannot really absorb the nutrition. And to make the brown shells sufficiently14 soft to digest, you need to cook rice longer, need more heat, [so you are] not really keeping that protective ingredient."
Getting the most benefit from the grain
The heart-attack-stopping compound comes from the layer just under the fiber-rich but hard to digest outer shell of brown rice. By the time you boil brown rice for 45 minutes to make it soft enough to eat, you've basically boiled out the nutrition.
White rice cooks for less time, but most of that nutritious inner layer has been polished off to get that light and fluffy15 texture16.
But Eguchi says there is a third option. It's possible to "half polish" rice — or to polish away the hard outer shell, while leaving the nutritious inner layer intact. "By this way you can most effectively digest the nutritious part."
In Japan, that style of rice is called haigamai. Eguchi says among some Japanese, it is already a popular choice, because of perceived health benefits. Now, thanks to his research, those assumptions have scientific backing.
The process to make haigamai rice is not complicated; all it takes is to stop polishing rice before it fully17 becomes white rice. It is a technique that could be replicated18 by rice producers around the world.
For those who don't like rice — or don't want to switch from the standard brown or white options — Eguchi and colleagues are working to extract the compound to develop a new, natural medication.
Eguchi presented his research to scientists and doctors at the annual meeting of the American Association of Anatomists.
1 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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2 nutritional | |
adj.营养的,滋养的 | |
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3 component | |
n.组成部分,成分,元件;adj.组成的,合成的 | |
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4 justification | |
n.正当的理由;辩解的理由 | |
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5 staples | |
n.(某国的)主要产品( staple的名词复数 );钉书钉;U 形钉;主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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6 fiber | |
n.纤维,纤维质 | |
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7 inhibiting | |
抑制作用的,约束的 | |
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8 hormone | |
n.荷尔蒙,激素,内分泌 | |
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9 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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10 sodium | |
n.(化)钠 | |
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11 arteries | |
n.动脉( artery的名词复数 );干线,要道 | |
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12 inhibits | |
阻止,抑制( inhibit的第三人称单数 ); 使拘束,使尴尬 | |
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13 nutritious | |
adj.有营养的,营养价值高的 | |
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14 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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15 fluffy | |
adj.有绒毛的,空洞的 | |
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16 texture | |
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理 | |
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17 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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18 replicated | |
复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 ); 重复; 再造; 再生 | |
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