超加工食品虽然好吃又方便，但却会损害身体健康，提高患肥胖、心脏病、糖尿病的风险，而且新研究发现，如果每日摄入的超加工食品超过卡路里总量的20%，就会导致你的认知能力下降。科学家建议，为了大脑健康，还是多下厨做饭吧！

 

Eating ultraprocessed foods for more than 20% of your daily calorie intake every day could set you on the road to cognitive decline, a new study revealed.

一项新研究发现，如果每日摄入的卡路里中超加工食品占比超过20%，就会导致你的认知能力下降。

 

We all know eating ultraprocessed foods that make our lives easier -- such as prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals -- isn't good for our health. Nor is gobbling up all the pleasure foods that we love so much: hot dogs, sausages, burgers, french fries, sodas, cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts and ice cream, to name just a few.

我们都知道吃方便的超加工食品对身体没好处，比如即食汤、调味酱、冷冻披萨和熟食。那些我们很爱吃的带来快感的食品也不利于健康，比如热狗、香肠、汉堡、炸薯条、汽水、曲奇饼、蛋糕、糖果、甜甜圈、冰淇淋，这里就不一一列举了。

 

Studies have found they can raise our risk of obesity, heart and circulation problems, diabetes and cancer. They may even shorten our lives.

研究发现，吃超加工食品会提高患肥胖、心脏和血液循环问题、糖尿病和癌症的风险，甚至可能缩短我们的寿命。

 

Now, a new study has revealed eating more ultraprocessed foods may contribute to overall cognitive decline, including the areas of the brain involved in executive functioning -- the ability to process information and make decisions.

如今，一项新研究揭示，吃更多超加工食品可能会导致认知能力全面下降，包括对负责执行功能（处理信息和做决定）的大脑区域造成负面影响。

 

In fact, men and women who ate the most ultraprocessed foods had a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline and a 25% faster rate of executive function decline compared with people who ate the least amount of overly processed food, the study found.

事实上，摄入最多超加工食品的男性和女性整体认知能力和执行功能的下降速度比摄入最少超加工食品的人分别快28%和25%。

 

"While in need of further study and replication, the new results are quite compelling and emphasize the critical role for proper nutrition in preserving and promoting brain health and reducing risk for brain diseases as we get older," said Rudy Tanzi, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the genetics and aging research unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was not involved in the study.

没有参与该研究的哈佛医学院神经学教授、位于波士顿的麻省总医院遗传学和衰老研究中心主任鲁迪·坦齐称：“尽管还需要进一步研究和再试验，但是新研究结果相当有说服力，并且强调了适当的营养对于保持和增进大脑健康以及降低大脑老化疾病风险的关键作用。”

 

Tanzi, who has written about ultraprocessed foods in his book "The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life," said the key problem with ultraprocessed foods is that "they are usually very high in sugar, salt and fat, all of which promote systemic inflammation, perhaps the most major threat to healthy aging in the body and brain.

坦齐曾在他的著作《自我修复：快速增强免疫力和保持终身健康的革命性新计划》中写过超加工食品，并指出超加工食品的关键问题在于“它们通常糖、盐和脂肪含量都很高，所有这些都会加剧全身炎症，也许对于身体和大脑的健康老化是最大的威胁。”

 

"Meanwhile, since they are convenient as a quick meal, they also replace eating food that is high in plant fiber that is important for maintaining the health and balance of the trillions of bacteria in your gut microbiome," he added, "which is particularly important for brain health and reducing risk of age-related brain diseases like Alzheimer's disease."

他补充道：“与此同时，因为超加工食品都是很方便的快餐，所以取代了富含植物纤维的食物，后者对于保持肠道菌群中数万亿细菌的健康和平衡很重要，而这对于保持大脑健康和降低患阿尔茨海默症等与年龄相关的脑部疾病的风险尤为重要。”

 

The study, presented on August 1 at the 2022 Alzheimer's Association International Conference in San Diego, followed over 10,000 Brazilians for up to 10 years. Just over half of the study participants were women, white or college educated, while the average age was 51.

8月1日在圣地亚哥举行的2022老年痴呆症协会国际会议上展示的这一研究在十年间跟踪调查了1万多名巴西人。刚过半数的研究参与者为女性，这些女性是白人或接受过大学教育，平均年龄为51岁。

 

Cognitive testing, which included immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition and verbal fluency were performed at the beginning and end of the study, and participants were asked about their diet.

该研究在开头和结尾开展了认知测试，包括即时和延时词语回忆、词语识别和口头表达流利度，并询问了参与者的饮食习惯。

 

"In Brazil, ultraprocessed foods make up 25% to 30% of total calorie intake. We have McDonald's, Burger King and we eat a lot of chocolate and white bread. It's not very different, unfortunately, from many other Western countries," said coauthor Dr. Claudia Suemoto, an assistant professor in the division of geriatrics at the University of São Paulo Medical School.

该研究的合著者、圣保罗大学医学院老年病学系助理教授克劳迪娅·末元博士称：“超加工食品在巴西人摄入的卡路里总量中占了25%到30%。在巴西，人们吃麦当劳、汉堡王的快餐，还吃很多巧克力和白面包。不幸的是，许多其他西方国家的饮食也大同小异。”

 

"Fifty-eight percent of the calories consumed by United States citizens, 56.8% of the calories consumed by British citizens, and 48% of the calories consumed by Canadians come from ultraprocessed foods," Suemoto said.

末元教授指出：“超加工食品在美国人、英国人和加拿大人摄入的卡路里总量中分别占据了58%、56.8%和48%。”

 

Ultraprocessed foods are defined as "industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other chemical additives," according to the study.

该研究对超加工食品的定义是“食物成分（油、脂肪、糖、淀粉、分离蛋白）的工业配方，其中几乎不含全天然食物，通常包括调味料、色素、乳化剂和其他化学添加剂”。

 

"People who consumed more than 20% of daily calories from processed foods had a 28% faster decline in global cognition and a 25% faster decline in executive functioning compared to people who ate less than 20%," said study coauthor Natalia Gonçalves, a researcher in the department of pathology at the University of São Paulo Medical School.

研究的另一位合著者、圣保罗大学医学院病理学系研究员娜塔莉亚·贡萨尔维斯称：“和加工食品摄入量不到每日摄入卡路里总量20%的人相比，每日摄入加工食品超过卡路里总量20%的人整体认知能力和执行功能的衰退速度分别要加快28%和25%。”

 

For a person who eats 2,000 calories a day, 20% would equal 400 or more calories -- for comparison, a small order of fries and regular cheeseburger from McDonalds contains a total of 530 calories.

对于一个每日摄入2000卡路里的人而言，20%相当于至少400卡路里。作为对照，麦当劳的一小份薯条和中等大小的芝士汉堡总热量达530卡路里。

 

Those in the study who ate the most ultraprocessed foods were "more likely to be younger, women, White, had higher education and income, and were more likely to have never smoked, and less likely to be current alcohol consumers," the study found.

研究发现，摄入最多超加工食品的研究参与者“更多的是年轻人、女性、白人、受过高等教育者、高收入者、从不抽烟者，而且不太可能有饮酒的习惯”。

 

"People need to know they should cook more and prepare their own food from scratch. I know. We say we don't have time but it really doesn't take that much time," Suemoto said.

末元教授称：“人们要知道，自己应该多下厨做饭，从头开始烹饪。我知道，大家都说自己很忙，但是做饭其实没那么费时间。”

 

"And it's worth it because you're going to protect your heart and guard your brain from dementia or Alzheimer's disease," she added. "That's the take-home message: Stop buying things that are superprocessed."

她补充道：“而且这么做很值得，因为你是在保护你的心脏，防止大脑患痴呆症或阿尔茨海默症。这就是研究的终极结论：不要买超加工食品。”