红葡萄酒一直以来都被推崇为一种健康饮品。如今，葡萄酒中据说有益健康的成分──白藜芦醇──在日常营养补充品、饮料、甚至一种新的营养食品（销售商宣称这种营养棒可以帮助你延年益寿，有助于预防癌症和其他疾病）中也可以获得了。直到最近之前，白藜芦醇有益健康的证据都只限于动物试验数据，不过现在初步的人体试验已经得出了让人感兴趣的结果。
Red wine has long been touted as a health elixir. Now wine’s purported health-giving ingredient, resveratrol, is available in daily supplements, beverages and even a new nutritional bar claimed by sellers to help you live longer and help prevent cancer and other diseases. Until recently, the evidence for resveratrol has been animal data, but preliminary human testing has yielded intriguing results.
白藜芦醇是葡萄和其他植物中的一种成分。市场上的很多营养补充品都是从日本结草中提取白藜芦醇，而结草是一种既丰富又便宜的白藜芦醇来源。瑞士Royal DSM NV公司销售一种人工合成的“resVida”。营养补充品、一种非酒精水果口味饮料和新推出的Winetime巧克力水果棒中都含有这种成分。
Resveratrol is a substance found in grapes and other plants. Many of the supplements on the market extract it from the Japanese knotweed plant, which is a plentiful and inexpensive source. Switzerland’s Royal DSM NV sells a synthetic version called resVida, which is found in supplements, a nonalcoholic fruit-flavored beverage and the new Winetime chocolate-fruit bar.
研究人员在动物试验中发现，白藜芦醇可以防止或放缓从癌症到心血管疾病等一系列疾病的发展，甚至能延长一些生物体的寿命。自2008年以来，在科学会议上至少展示了五项人体试验，表明白藜芦醇有益人体，包括改善心脏血液流动、更好地控制糖尿病等。
Resveratrol has found been found in animal studies to prevent or slow progression of illnesses from cancer to cardiovascular disease -- and even to extend the life span of some organisms. Since 2008, at least five human studies have been presented at scientific meetings showing human benefits, ranging from improved blood flow to the heart to better control of diabetes.
最新的结果令人振奋，不过一些科学家说，公众开始服用营养补充品还为时尚早。取决于剂量的不同，一片营养补充剂中白藜芦醇的含量相当于数十甚至数百瓶葡萄酒的含量。目前还不知道对人体适宜的剂量，而且并不是说越多越好。
The newest results are exciting, but some scientists say it is too early for the public to begin taking supplements, which contain as much resveratrol in one pill as dozens or hundreds of bottles of wine, depending on the dose. The proper dose for humans isn’t yet known -- and more isn’t necessarily better.
康涅狄格大学医学院的研究人员发现，小剂量白藜芦醇可以保护小鼠的心脏免遭人为引发的心脏病突发，而大剂量实际上会加重心脏病突发。
Researchers at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in Farmington found that lower doses of resveratrol protected rats’ hearts from artificially induced heart attacks while high doses actually made the attacks worse.
伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校流行病学教授奥士安斯基(S. Jay Olshansky)说，尽管在人体上已经进行了一些安全性研究，大剂量是否会产生长期副作用，这一点还不清楚；我再怎么强调都不为过：不要在自己身上做试验。
While some safety studies have been conducted on humans, it is too early to know if there are long-term side effects of high doses, says S. Jay Olshansky, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. ’I cannot emphasize enough: Do not experiment on your own body,’ he says.
没有人知道白藜芦醇确切的作用机理，不过科学家们认为，它可以激活一系列的基因，对人体的各项功能造成连锁反应。人体研究数据包括从Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc.的一项研究得出的结果。这项研究包括由100人组成的对照组。研究发现，服用了葛兰素史克生产的自主配方补充品SRT501的糖尿病患者体内血糖水平降低，不过这种营养补充品尚未上市。
No one knows exactly how resveratrol works, but scientists believe it activates a wide range of genes, creating a cascade-like effect on a variety of body functions. Human data include a 100-person placebo-controlled study by Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. that found lowered blood-glucose levels in diabetics who took the GlaxoSmithKline unit’s proprietary formulation, SRT501, not yet on the market. |
大学英语---