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Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Georgie. Do you know the five tastes which give food its flavour, Neil? There's sweet…
大家好。这是BBC六分钟英语。我是尼尔。我是乔基。你知道赋予食物风味的五种味道吗，尼尔？有甜味……
Yes… and er, sour, bitter… And salty! Everyone knows that salt makes food taste better by enhancing the flavours of the ingredients. There's even a phrase you'll see in many recipes – 'add a pinch of salt'.
是的……还有酸味、苦味……还有咸味！每个人都知道盐可以增强食材的味道，让食物味道更好。在许多食谱中你甚至会看到一个短语——“add a pinch of salt”。
But exactly how much salt makes a 'pinch' of salt? The World Health Organisation, or WHO, recommends a daily salt intake of less than 5g, about the same as a teaspoon.
但究竟多少盐才算a 'pinch' of salt？世界卫生组织(WHO)建议每日盐摄入量少于5克，大约相当于一茶匙。
In fact, the human body needs salt - at least 1g a day to survive. But most of us eat far too much, increasing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
事实上，人体需要盐——每天至少1克才能生存。但我们大多数人吃得太多了，增加了患高血压和心脏病的风险。
In this programme, we'll be asking: how much salt is too much? And, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
在这个节目中，我们会问：多少盐才算太多？而且，像往常一样，我们也会学习一些有用的新词汇。
Great! But first I have a question for you, Neil. The reason it's difficult to know how much salt you consume is that it's hidden in food, especially processed food.
太棒了！但首先我要问你一个问题，尼尔。很难知道你吃了多少盐，因为盐隐藏在食物中，尤其是加工食品中。
So, which of the following everyday foods do you think contains most salt? Is it: a) meat? b) bread? or, c) pasta? Well, I'm going to guess that meat is the saltiest of those foods.
那么，你认为以下哪种日常食物含盐量最高？是肉？面包？还是意大利面？好吧，我猜肉是这些食物中最咸的。
OK Neil, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme. Marian Sumbiva lives in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, a country where people eat, on average, 17g of salt a day.
好的尼尔，我将在节目后期揭晓答案。玛丽安·苏比瓦（Marian Sumbiva）住在哈萨克斯坦首都阿斯塔纳，这个国家的人们平均每天吃17克盐。
That's more than three times the amount recommended by the WHO. Here, Marian explains some of the reasons behind this to BBC World Service programme, 'The Food Chain':
这是世界卫生组织建议的三倍多。玛丽安向BBC国际服务节目《食物链》解释了其中的一些原因：
We consume lots of salt, which is due to historical heritage, because when we were nomads, for centuries and centuries we travelled and wandered across the steppes, and here, we had to carry lots of meat which could be preserved only adding salt.
我们食用大量的盐，这是历史遗产，因为当我们是游牧民族时，几个世纪以来，我们一直在草原上旅行和流浪，在这里，我们必须携带大量的肉，只有加盐才能保存。
And even the milk products, the dairy products, are also very much salty for the same reasons.
甚至奶制品，乳制品，也因为同样的原因而非常咸。
Besides improving its flavour, salt can be used to preserve food, to stop it from going bad.
除了改善其风味外，盐还可用于保存食物，防止其变质。
Traditionally, people in Kazakhstan were nomads, they travelled from place to place with their animals, rather than living in one place all the time.
传统上，哈萨克斯坦人是游牧民族，他们带着牲畜从一个地方到另一个地方旅行，而不是一直住在一个地方。
Treating food with salt gave them enough to eat during the long winter months. They even did it with dairy products, foods which are made from milk, such as cheese and butter.
在漫长的冬季，用盐处理食物可以让他们有足够的食物。他们甚至用盐处理乳制品，即用牛奶制成的食物，如奶酪和黄油。
So, salt has a long, and useful, history. But there's a big difference between traditional Kazakh nomads and the health problems associated with modern processed food.
所以，盐有着悠久而有用的历史。但传统的哈萨克游牧民族与现代加工食品带来的健康问题有着很大的不同。
When we eat too much salt, the body dilutes it by retaining water. And as a result, the heart works harder to pump liquid around the body. This causes high blood pressure which, over time, can lead to heart disease.
当我们吃太多盐时，身体会通过保留水分来稀释盐。结果，心脏需要更加努力地将液体泵送到全身。这会导致高血压，久而久之，会导致心脏病。
Globally, governments are fighting this health risk in different ways.
全球各国政府都在以不同的方式应对这一健康风险。
The Australian government reduced its recommended salt intake to 6g a day, while the British government has passed laws forcing food companies to reduce the amount of salt they use, and now recommends just 5g of salt per day.
澳大利亚政府将建议的盐摄入量降低到每天6克，而英国政府则通过法律迫使食品公司减少盐的使用量，现在建议每天只摄入5克盐。
Clare Collins is professor of nutrition at the University of Newcastle in Australia. Here, she explains more about these salt recommendations to BBC World Service programme, 'The Food Chain':
克莱尔·柯林斯（Clare Collins）是澳大利亚纽卡斯尔大学的营养学教授。在这里，她向BBC国际服务节目《食物链》进一步解释了这些盐摄入量建议：
I think you just gotta take a step back, and look at the bigger picture, like arguing whether it should be 5g or 6g…
我认为你只需要退一步，从大局着眼，比如争论应该是5克还是6克……
The issue is that around the world, salt intakes are very high, contributing to high blood pressure, contributing to premature strokes, premature mortality, and we need to address it in a way that's culturally appropriate for each country.
问题是，世界各地的盐摄入量都很高，导致高血压、过早中风、过早死亡，我们需要以适合每个国家文化的方式来解决这个问题。
Instead of arguing over grams of salt, Professor Collins thinks we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
柯林斯教授认为，我们不应该争论盐的克数，而应该退一步，从大局着眼。
She uses two idioms: take a step back,which means to temporarily withdraw from a situation in order to think about it more calmly, and look at the bigger picture - to consider the overall meaning of something, not just the details.
她使用了两个习语：take a step back，意思是暂时退出某种情况，以便更冷静地思考，look at the bigger picture——考虑某件事的整体意义，而不仅仅是细节。
Yes, the problem remains that overconsumption of salt is causing premature health problems, problems which are happening sooner than they should.
是的，问题仍然存在，盐的过度消费导致过早出现健康问题，而这些问题出现得比应有的要早。
By limiting salt and processed food, most people can enjoy long, healthy lives. And if you don't like your food unsalted, try adding herbs and spices instead.
通过限制盐和加工食品的摄入，大多数人都能享受长寿、健康的生活。如果你不喜欢不加盐的食物，可以尝试添加香草和香料。
Well, speaking of salty foods, I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question, Neil. If you remember, I asked you which everyday food contains most salt.
说到咸味食物，我想是时候揭晓我的问题的答案了，尼尔。如果你还记得的话，我问过你哪种日常食物含盐量最高。
And I guessed it was meat… Which was… the correct answer! Meat contains the highest amount of salt - around 19% - followed by bread with 14%, and pasta with 7%.
我猜是肉……这是……正确答案！肉类含盐量最高，约19%，其次是面包14%，意大利面7%。
OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme starting with the verb 'to preserve food', meaning to do something to stop it rotting so it can be eaten later.
好的，让我们回顾一下我们在本节目中学到的词汇，从动词“to preserve food”开始，意思是做点什么防止食物腐烂，以便以后可以食用。
Nomads are people who travel from one place to another, often with animal livestock, rather than living in one place all the time.
Nomads是从一个地方到另一个地方旅行的人，他们经常带着牲畜，而不是一直住在一个地方。
Dairy products are foods such as cheese and butter, which are made from milk. If you take a step back, you temporarily remove yourself from a situation in order to reevaluate it.
Dairy products是指奶酪和黄油等由牛奶制成的食品。如果你take a step back，你就会暂时脱离某种情况，重新评估它。
The idiom 'to look at the bigger picture' means to consider the overall meaning of something rather than the specific details.
成语“to look at the bigger picture”的意思是考虑某事的整体意义，而不是具体的细节。
And finally, the adjective premature describes something which happens too soon or before the proper time. Once again, our six minutes are up. Goodbye for now! Bye!
最后，形容词premature描述某事发生得太早或提前。我们的六分钟又到了。暂时再见了！再见！
