VOA慢速英语2013 Losing Weight Proves To Be Big Busines

 

Losing Weight Proves To Be Big Busines

This is Science in the News in VOA Special English.  I'm Shirley Griffith.  And I'm Bob Doughty¹.  Today we will talk about diet and weight loss.  Exercise is important if you want to get in good shape.  But experts say exercise alone is not enough if your goal is to lose weight.

It is that time of year again! Warm weather has returned to Earth’s northern hemisphere². Summer is a time when people of all ages feel like getting their swimwear and going to the nearest swimming pool or seashore. But first, there is that troublesome little thing called winter weight gain.

Many of us gain weight because of inactivity during the winter. Some people go to extremes to lose that extra weight before going to the beach. In the weight loss industry, there is never a lack of ideas about how to lose weight.

Consider the sleeping beauty diet, where you sleep your way to weight loss. You cannot eat if you are sleeping, or so the theory goes. Then there is the tapeworm diet. The tapeworm is said to help people lose weight by eating the food that is stored in their stomach. But first you have to be willing to swallow the little creature. This may be more trouble than many people want.

Strange new diets, treatments and exercise programs arrive on the market every day. Each one promises to help people lose weight and get a beach beautiful body. The weight loss industry takes in billions of dollars each year, and it is growing. One research company estimates the weight loss business will be worth about $670 billion worldwide by the year 2015.

Markets and Markets says the business is made up of three major parts. They are weight loss services; physical fitness³ and surgical⁴ equipment; and diets, including foods and drinks. There is a seemingly⁵ endless supply of ideas about how to lose weight. There are low-carbohydrate⁶ diets and low-fat diets, diets that limit calories and ones that let you eat as much as you want. And, there are thousands of different kinds of diet pills and programs.

So where does one begin? Which one is best? Experts say there is no single diet plan that works best for everyone. Many experts agree on one thing: that to lose weight, you must use or burn off more calories than you take in. When you eat more calories than your body needs, it stores that extra energy as fat.

Calories are a measure of energy in food. A pound of fat is equal to 453 grams or about 3,500 calories. To lose that fat in a week, you have to burn off at least that amount in calories or eat that much less. The best thing to do is to combine both ideas. Eat fewer calories and increase physical activity so that you burn off more.

America’s National Institutes of Health says eating plans that contain 1,000 to 1,200 calories each day will help most women lose weight safely. It says eating plans that contain 1,200 to 1,600 calories each day are right for men seeking to lose weight. Those calorie levels may also be right for women who weigh 75 kilograms or more or who often exercise.

For years, eating a diet low in fat was said to be the best way to lose weight. A low-fat diet is one in which less than 30 percent of a person’s daily calorie intake⁷ comes from fat. Dean⁸ Ornish developed one of the most popular low fat diets after years of research on ways to control heart disease. His dietary ideas were first published in the medical journal The Lancet in 1990.

The Ornish diet plan became more popular in 1993 with the release of his book “Eat More, Weigh Less.” Dr. Ornish studied the effects of carbohydrates⁹ – one of the most important sources of energy for the body. He found that carbohydrates were not to blame for making people fat. Instead, he said, fat makes people fat. He noted¹⁰ that a baked potato is not high in fat, but it becomes fatty when people add sour cream and butter to it. His diet plan limits daily calories from fat to less than 10 percent, with little to no saturated¹¹ fat or cholesterol¹². He also suggested that people get 70 to 75 percent of their calories from complex carbohydrates, and 15 to 20 percent from proteins.

Like other low-fat diets, the Ornish plan suggests that people eat diets high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and other legumes. The plan advises people to avoid all meat and meat products, and to stay away from oils, nuts and seeds. It does not limit the number of calories people eat. But, eating the foods suggested by the diet plan would reduce the number of calories. The Ornish diet has proved to be effective for many people.

However, critics say it lets dieters eat too many carbohydrates while setting restrictions¹³ on calories from fat. They also say the changes required in eating habits may be too extreme for many people to follow. Unlike the Ornish diet, low carbohydrate diets limit foods that are high in carbohydrates. These diets advise people to avoid things like white flour, pasta, rice, potatoes and foods high in sugar. Instead they suggest that people eat foods that are high in proteins and fats.

These include foods like meat, fish, chicken, eggs, cheese and nuts. The Atkins diet is one of the most popular of these diets. It suggests that people eat fewer than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. This amount is slowly increased to between 40 and 100 grams of carbohydrates a day to keep the weight off. 

Both weight loss plans have been carefully studied over the years. But, no one plan has come out as a clear winner. In 2008, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found low-carb diets to be the best at providing the most weight loss. The study was led by researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Ben Gurion University in Israel.

The researchers studied more than 300 obese¹⁴ patients who followed one of three diet plans. These included a low-fat diet, a low-carb diet and a Mediterranean¹⁵ diet, which is made up of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, olive¹⁶ oil and nuts. A similar study published a year later looked at more than 800 dieters.

The study found that low fat diets and high fat diets were equally successful at providing and maintaining weight loss over a two year period. The researchers concluded that the most important thing for any diet is that people stick with it. And you must burn more calories than you take in no matter what you eat.

Some people are unable to lose weight through diet and exercise, no matter how hard they try. Others are just not willing to put in the effort. Many of these people choose to have surgical operations to reach their weight loss goals. One kind of weight loss surgery reduces the size of the stomach. This is done by separating the stomach into two parts, including a very small section at the top. People who have had this operation are forced to eat smaller amounts of food because their top stomach fills up much faster.

Research suggests that most people lose about half of their overweight pounds in the first year after surgery. However, a large number of people regain¹⁷ the weight in three to five years. Another report suggests similar results for a different popular weight loss surgery.

Liposuction has been widely used since the 1970s to improve the body’s appearance. It improves body shape by removing fat from some parts of the body. The most common areas are the stomach, waist, hips¹⁸, thighs¹⁹, neck and arms. The International Society of Aesthetic²⁰ Plastic Surgery says liposuction is the most popular form of cosmetic²¹ surgery worldwide.

Recently, researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that the effects of the surgery may not be long-lasting. They said people who have liposuction usually experience weight gain within one year after the surgery. And the fat that comes back reappears in a new area of the body, most noticeably the shoulders, arms and upper abdomen²². The researchers say this is one more reason to try to prevent obesity²³ before it happens.

This Science in the News was written and produced by June Simms.  I'm Shirley Griffith.  And I'm Bob Doughty.  Join us next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

3 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。

4 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

5 seemingly   

adv.从表面上看起来，似乎是

参考例句：

• Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
• For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话，这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。

6 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。

7 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。

8 Dean   

n.(大学)院长，系主任，教务长

参考例句：

• The students much like the new dean.学生们很喜欢这位新系主任。
• Who is the dean of the Foreign Languages Department?外语系主任是谁？

9 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

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

12 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

13 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

14 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。

15 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

16 olive   

n.橄榄，橄榄树，橄榄色；adj.黄绿色的，黄褐色的，橄榄色的

参考例句：

• Have you eaten a kind of fruit called olive?你吃过橄榄这种水果吗？
• She likes olive because It'symbolizes peace.她喜欢橄榄色因为它象征着和平。

17 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

18 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

21 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

22 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

23 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。