VOA慢速英语2014 巧克力可以提高记忆力和心脏健康

 

Chocolate Improves Memory and Heart Health 巧克力可以提高记忆力和心脏健康

From VOA Learning¹ English, this is the Health Report.

Can eating a chocolate bar every day really prevent age-related memory loss?

No.

Can eating chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner be good for your heart?

Again, the answer is no.

That would be too good to be true.

But new research shows that large amounts of flavanols, substances found in cocoa, tea and some vegetables, may reverse² age-related memory failure. Another study is looking to see if high levels of cocoa flavanols can help prevent heart attacks and strokes³.

Flavanols found in dark chocolate are known to increase blood flow in the part of the brain that controls memory. They also help prevent heart disease⁴ by lowering blood pressure and “bad” cholesterol⁵.

A new study published online in Nature Neuroscience found that cocoa flavanols reverse minor⁶ memory loss in older adults. A company that makes chocolate helped to pay for the study.

Can chocolate improve memory?

Brain processes decrease as we age. By the time we reach our 50s and 60s we may have trouble remembering simple things such as the names of new people we meet or where we put our car keys.

Dr. Scott Small is a professor of neurology at Columbia University in New York City. He is the lead writer of a research paper describing the effects of cocoa flavanols on brain activity.

The study involved 37 volunteers aged⁷ between 50 and 69. Researchers gave them a high-level flavanol drink made from cocoa beans or a low-level flavanol drink. For a period of three months, some subjects got 900 milligrams of flavanol a day. The others got 10 milligrams of flavanol each day.

Brain imaging and memory tests were given to each study subject before and after the study. Dr. Small says that the subjects who had the high-level flavanol drink showed much improvement⁸ on memory tests.

Four-year study to dig deeper into healing⁹ powers of flavanol

The researchers warn that more work is needed because this study was performed on a small group. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts recently announced plans to do just that.

Dr. JoAnn Manson is the lead researcher of a four-year study involving 18,000 adults. This study will use flavanol capsules.

“This capsule of cocoa flavanols will avoid having the calories and the sugar and the saturated¹⁰ fat found in chocolate.”

The study subjects will be divided into two groups and will take two pills a day. The capsules will all look the same. But, one group’s capsules will contain flavanols. The other group will take capsules made of an inactive substance, or placebo¹¹.

Dr. Manson says that a person would have to eat ten times a normal amount to get the flavanols in just one flavanol pill.

“The amount of chocolate that it would take in order to have this amount of cocoa flavanols would be more than ten times the amount that people would ordinarily eat.”

But Dr. Small says people should not necessarily¹² start eating more chocolate. He says a person would have to eat a huge amount of chocolate to get the level of flavanol given to the test subjects. He also says many manufacturers¹³ remove the flavanols from their chocolate products.

Dr. Small says a cocoa-based flavanol extract¹⁴ may be developed in the future. He says that more studies are needed to see how much flavanol is good for human health.  

Words in This Story

reverse – v. to cause (something, such as a process) to stop or return to an earlier state

cholesterol – n. a substance that is found in the bodies of people and animals

neurology – n. the scientific study of the nervous system especially in respect to its structure, functions, and abnormalities

capsule – n. a very small container that is filled with medicine and swallowed whole

placebo – n. a pill or substance that is given to a patient like a drug but that has no physical effect on the patient

extract – n. a substance that you get from something by using a machine or chemicals

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 reverse   

v.推翻，颠倒，反向；n.反面，逆境；adj.反向的

参考例句：

• His answer was just the reverse of what I expected.他的回答正好与我期望的相反。
• Please reverse the positions of two pictures.请把两张图片的位置倒转过来。

3 strokes   

中风； a sudden loss of consciousness resulting when the rupture or occlusion of a blood vessel leads to oxygen lack in the brain.； （游泳或划船的）划( stroke的名词复数 )； 中风； （打、击等的）一下； （成功的）举动

参考例句：

• Apply the paint thickly in even strokes. 涂颜料要厚，笔画要匀。
• To improve your tennis strokes you try using a different grip. 为了提高你网球的击球法，你试试用另一种握拍方法。

4 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

5 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。

6 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

8 improvement   

n.改进，增进；改进之处，改善的地方

参考例句：

• The doctor noticed a gradual improvement in his patient.医生注意到病人在逐渐恢复健康。
• I can detect signs of improvement in your thinking.我可以察觉出你思考问题方面的进步。

9 healing   

n.康复，复原adj.有治疗功用的v.（使）愈合( heal的现在分词 )；治愈；（使）结束；较容易忍受

参考例句：

• miraculous powers of healing 神奇的治病能力
• She seems to have a vocation for healing. 看来她具备治病救人的才能。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 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

11 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

12 necessarily   

adv.必要地，必需地；必定地，必然地

参考例句：

• More work does not necessarily call for more men.增加工作量不一定就要增添人员。
• A voter must necessarily be no younger than eighteen.选民必须在18岁以上。

13 manufacturers   

制造商，制造厂( manufacturer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The manufacturers in some countries dumped their surplus commodities abroad. 一些国家的制造商向国外倾销过剩产品。
• Colour TV has been more aggressively promoted as more manufacturers have joined the competition. 由于更多的厂商参与竞争，推销彩色电视机的宣传更为激烈了。

14 extract   

vt.取出，提取，获得，摘录；n.摘录，提出物

参考例句：

• The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
• We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。