评论
打印
Just because we need to eat doesn't mean food has to be boring. A few red pepper flakes on your pizza can really make it pop.
我们需要食物并不代表食物很是无趣。在披萨上撒些辣椒片的做法成为潮流。
And according to recent research, adding spice doesn't just improve flavor, it may also have health benefits.
近期研究显示，加辣椒不仅提升食物味道，或许还有利健康。
The science is far from settled, but a couple big diet studies in China and the US have suggested that eating hot peppers helps you live longer.
科学还未有定论，但是中美两国的两项大型饮食研究表明吃辣椒有助于延长寿命。
And a deeper dive into the physiological effects of spice could help explain why. The idea that spices can have beneficial effects isn't new.
对调味料生理效应的更深入钻研能够帮助解释其中原因。调味料有利健康的说法并不新鲜。
Research has demonstrated that many popular spices have antimicrobial properties, which could slow food spoilage.
已有研究表明许多流行调味料都抗菌属性，能够减缓食物的腐败。
But some say eating spicy food might actually extend your life. And there is some science behind such bold claims.
但是一些人说吃辛辣食物或许真的能够延长寿命。这种大胆说法的背后也有些科学依据。
There was 2015 study in the British Medical Journal, for example, that found a spicy diet increased life expectancy.
例如《英国医学杂志》2015年的一项研究发现辛辣饮食增加预期寿命。
The researchers used existing data from the China Kadoorie Biobank,
研究人员利用了中国慢性病前瞻性研究中的现有数据，
a four year data set of detailed questionnaires and physical measurements collected from over 500,000 Chinese citizens.
该数据来源于五十多万中国公民的四年详细问卷调查和物理测量数据集。
They found that patients who said they ate a lot of spicy food, like hot chili peppers or chili oil, had a 14% lower risk of death than those who didn't eat spicy foods.
他们发现那些声称自己食用很多辛辣食物，如红辣椒、辣椒油病人的死亡率比那些不吃辛辣食物的患者的死亡率低14%。
This was mostly from reductions to cancers, heart disease, and respiratory ailments, like asthma, not food poisoning, suggesting that spice isn't just killing microbes.
由高往低排列依次为癌症、心脏病以及呼吸系统疾病，如哮喘，不含食物中毒，这表明香辛料不仅能杀死细菌。
A similar study of over 16,000 American adults in 2017 came to the same conclusion.
2017年一项涉及一万六千多民美国成年人的类似研究也得出相同结论。
Using six years of info collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,
利用国家健康与营养调查研究收集的六年信息，
researchers found that total mortality was 12% lower in people who ate hot red chili peppers compared to those who didn't.
研究人员发现与不吃辣椒的人相比，吃辣椒的人的总死亡率要低12%。
Both of these studies use massive data sets and included participants from a variety of education levels, lifestyles, and ethnic backgrounds,
这些研究都利用了海量数据集，其中参与者的教育水平、生活方式以及种族背景各有不同
which adds to their credibility. But...just because there's a lot of data doesn't mean that a study is perfect.
这也增加了数据的可信度。但是仅仅是因为拥有这些大量数据并不代表这项研究就是完美的。
After all, these data sets weren't designed to study the effects of hot pepper consumption — they're just huge databases.
毕竟这些数据集的收集目的并不是研究辣椒的摄取效果—它们只是大型数据库而已。
This means that the researchers couldn't account for a lot of variables,
这意味着研究人员无法对各种变量作出解释，
like what kinds of food the peppers are being cooked in, or what other spices people might be using.
比如食物中所用何种辣椒或是人们可能使用了哪些其他调味料。
Even things known to influence life expectancy weren't discernable, like whether there were differences in how many calories the different groups ate.
即使是那些已知会影响预期寿命的事物也是不可辨别的，比如不同人群摄入卡路里量的不同。
Plus, all of the data on eating spicy food was self reported so it's unclear what kind of chilis were used, or how spicy the food actually was.
再加上，所有有关食用辛辣食物的数据都是自我报告，因此，他们使用何种辣椒以及辛辣程度都是不明确的。
So, even though scientists have found a trend in the data, it's not exactly case closed. Even the researchers involved weren't convinced.
所以，即使科学家们发现数据中的一种趋势，也不能准确得出定论。即便是有研究人员的参与也不足以信服。
Benjamin Littenberg, one of the co-authors of the 2017 study, told the New York Times that the evidence wasn't strong enough to make him change his diet.
2017年研究的共著者之一，本杰明.立顿伯格告诉《纽约时报》这项证据并不足以让他改变自己的饮食。
But the idea that spice improves your health does make some sense, given the physiological effects of capsaicin, the main chemical behind peppery heat.
但是由于辣椒制热背后的主要化学物质，辣椒素的生理效应香料改善健康的说法确实有些道理。
Capsaicin binds directly to vanilloid-receptors on sensory neurons in the tongue, triggering the neurons to spit off signals to your brain.
辣椒素直接与舌头上的辣椒素受体相连接，触发神经细胞向大脑发送信号。
These receptors are actually thermoreceptors, they detect literal heat, hence why spicy food feels hot. But the signals they send aren't limited to temperature.
这些受体其实是温度感受器，它们探测温度，因此，辛辣食物会让人们发热。但是它们所发送的信号不限于温度。
Some research in mice has found that when capsaicin binds to TRPV1 receptors, a type of vanilloid receptor, it can trigger an increase in levels of adiponectin.
一些在老鼠上的研究发现当辣椒素和TRPV1受体相捆绑时（TRPV1受体是一种辣椒素受体）就会触发脂联素含量的上升。
That's a hormone involved in regulating the sugars in your blood, and it's linked to both obesity and diabetes.
这是一种控制血液中糖分的激素，并且和肥胖以及糖尿病相关联。
Adiponectin is thought to be important for preventing insulin resistance, a condition where your body doesn't respond as well to insulin, which can lead to type 2 diabetes.
脂联素被认为是预防胰岛素耐受性的重要物质，胰岛素耐受性是指你的身体不对胰岛素产生反应的情况，从而导致Ⅱ型糖尿病。
And levels of adiponectin are lower than normal in patients with obesity.
肥胖症患者体内的脂联素含量比正常人的要低。
Other research suggests capsaicin might also encourage the generation of brown fat sometimes called the "good" kind of fat
其他研究表明辣椒素或许还能促进褐色脂肪的产生，这是一种又被称为“有利”脂肪的物质
which helps burn energy to keep you leaner overall.
能够帮助燃烧能量维维持整体苗条。
When researchers fed mice a high-fat, obesity-inducing diet, those that were also fed capsaicin didn't become obese.
当研究人员给老鼠喂食高脂肪、会引发肥胖的饮食时，那些同时被喂食辣椒素的老鼠并没有过度肥胖。
They also had increased expression of genes linked to the conversion of white fat into brown fat.
他们还将提高的基因表达和白色转褐色脂肪相连。
All of this might help explain the mortality patterns, because obesity and diabetes also increase your risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer.
或许这些能够帮助解释死亡模式，因为肥胖症和糖尿病也增加了你患上慢性病，如心脏病和癌症的风险。
But on top of that, there's some evidence that capsaicin could have more direct cancer-fighting effects.
但除此以外，还有些证据表明辣椒素有更多直接的抗击癌症效果。
Treating cancer cells with capsaicin seems to inhibit their growth and promote programmed cell death.
利用辣椒素治疗癌症细胞似乎抑制了它们的生长并促进程序性细胞死亡。
And studies in mice suggest it might even help prevent angiogenesis, that's the growth of new blood vessels.
在老鼠上的研究表明这或许能帮助预防血管新生，即新生血管的生长。
Since cancer cells need blood to provide nutrients so they can grow, blocking angiogenesis can help shrink or even kill tumors.
由于癌症细胞需要血液提供营养才能生长，阻止血管新生能够帮助降低甚至杀死肿瘤。
That said, we don't know if this happens in people that eat hot peppers.
即便如此，我们也不知道在吃辣椒的人身上是否会发生。
And it might not even be the capsaicin on its own, it could be that eating spicy foods encourages other dietary changes that have beneficial effects.
或许不单单只是辣椒素在起作用，或许是食用辛辣食物促进其他有益效果的饮食的改变。
A study from 2017 surveyed over 600 people in China and found that those who loved spicy food likely ate about 3 fewer grams of salt per day than those with little tolerance for spice.
2017年一项研究调查了中国六百多个人，研究发现那些喜欢辛辣食物的人每天食盐摄入量比那些不太吃辣的人要少三克。
In taste tests, capsaicin made controlled solutions taste saltier, so that could explain the difference.
在品尝试验中，辣椒素让对照溶液剂尝起来更咸，所以这就解释了其中区别。
The spice lovers also had lower blood pressure, which makes sense, because eating too much salt has been linked to high blood pressure
嗜辣者的血压也更低，这也说得通，因为食盐过量和高血压以及其他健康问题相关
and other health problems, although the connection isn't simple, and not all researchers agree.
虽然其中关联并不简单，而且并不是所有研究人员都同意这种说法。
So people who love spicy things might unconsciously be eating less salt because they think their food is saltier than it is and living longer because of that.
所以爱吃辣的人可能在无意识中所食用的盐更少，因为他们认为他们的食物已经很咸了，也因此也活得更长。
Or, the big data studies might be clueing in on something else entirely, it's really tough to tell. Diet studies are complicated, and "spicy food" is really vague.
或许大数据研究为其他一些整体情况提供了线索，很难说。饮食研究很复杂，“辛辣食物”定义也真的很模糊。
While consuming capsaicin might have health benefits, there's a lot more to be done to confirm them,
虽然摄入辣椒素或许有利身体健康，但还还有待确认，
especially since studies in a dish or a mouse don't necessarily translate to the human body.
特别是由于对一道菜或一只老鼠的研究并不能转化为人类身体。
So even though there's evidence that people who say they eat a lot of spicy food live longer, it's not totally clear if that's because of the spicy food.
即使有证据表明爱吃辣的人活得更长，但是否真的归功于辛辣食物还不完全明确。
That said...eating that sizzling Szechuan probably won't hurt…except maybe the day after!
即便如此...吃些辣滋滋的四川菜也不错...要不明天再吃吧~
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow! If you want to better understand how chilis feel warm,
感谢收看本期科学秀！如果你想更好的了解辣椒如何让人发热，
you can check out our episode on why spiciness feels hot and mint feels cool.
你可以观看关于为什么辛辣生热，薄荷生寒的视频。
