新奇事件簿 巧克力对心脏有益（在线收听）

A study carried out in Germany has found that chocolate may be good for your heart. This is fantastic news for all chocolate lovers. The extensive research was conducted over eight years. The research team followed the chocolate-eating habits and health of almost 20,000 people. They compared how much chocolate was in their diet to the number of heart attacks and strokes people had. Lead researcher Brian Buijsse said: "The good news is that chocolate is not as bad as we used to think, and may even lower the risk of heart disease and stroke." Mr Buijsse said his team found that dark chocolate was the healthiest kind to eat: "Dark chocolate exhibits the greatest effects, milk chocolate fewer, and white chocolate no effects," he said.

德国进行的一项研究发现，巧克力或许对心脏有益。对于喜爱巧克力的人来说，这是个非常好的消息。这项范围广阔的研究历时八年的时间。研究团队追踪了近2万人吃巧克力的习惯和他们的健康状况。他们对比了饮食中巧克力的分量和患心脏病、中风的数量。首席研究员Brian Buijsse表示：“好消息是，巧克力不像我们过去认为的那样不好，甚至可以降低心脏病和中风的风险。”Buijsse表示，他的研究小组发现，黑巧克力是最健康的：“黑巧克力的健康益处最大，其次是牛奶巧克力，白巧克力没有影响。”他说。

The German study showed that people who ate the most chocolate (at least one bar per week) reduced their risk of having a heart attack by 27 per cent. The risk of suffering a stroke was cut by as much as 48 per cent. Nutrition experts believe that natural compounds in chocolate called flavonols are good for our heart. Flavonols also help reduce blood pressure. They are found in cocoa beans so dark chocolate (which has more cocoa) contains more of them than milk chocolate (which has more fat). Buijsse warns people not to suddenly eat lots of chocolate: "Eating higher amounts will most likely result in weight gain. If people start eating small amounts of chocolate, it should replace something else, preferably other high-calorie sweets or snacks."

德国这项研究显示，吃巧克力最多的人（每周至少吃一条）患心脏病的几率可以降低27%。患中风的几率降低48%。营养专家相信，巧克力中一种名叫黄酮醇的天然化合物对心脏有益。黄酮醇还可以降低血压。可可豆中含有黄酮醇，所以可可含量最高的黑巧克力比脂肪含量更高的牛奶巧克力中的黄酮醇含量更高。Buijsse警告人们不要突然吃大量巧克力：“增加巧克力食用量最有可能的是造成体重增加。如果人们从食用少量巧克力开始，可以替代其他高卡路里的甜食或零食。”