Processed food, in comparison, is everything kind of in between.
相比之下,加工食品介于两者之间。
So just washing a food can be a kind of processing. But so can chopping. And also things like canning, drying, and freezing.
清洗食物本身就是一种加工。切菜、罐装、干燥、冷冻都是一种加工。
How much of our diet is actually processed or ultra processed?
我们的饮食中有多少东西是经过加工、超加工的呢?
So by some estimates almost 60 percent of what we eat in the U.S. is ultra-processed.
据估计,我们在美国吃的几乎60%是超加工食品。
For kids, it's even worse — almost 70 percent of their diet is processed.
孩子的情况更糟,他们的饮食中,几乎有70%是加工食品。
Wow, that’s a lot. But does the amount and type of processing matter?
真的很多。不过,加工数量和加工类型有关系吗?
Yes. The differences in the intensity of processing are captured in something called the NOVA scale.
有关系。可以通过NOVA量表来体现加工强度的差异。
Does NOVA stand for something?
NOVA代表什么?
Nope, it’s actually just a name! “Nova” means “new” in Portuguese.
不代表什么,NOVA实际上只是一个名字! “Nova”在葡萄牙语中的意思是“新的”。
The system was developed in Brazil about a decade ago as a new way to categorize foods.
大约十年前,巴西开发了“Nova”系统,作为一种对食品进行分类的新方法。
Historically, scientists would look at foods in terms of the nutrients they contain, like protein, fat or carbohydrates.
过去,科学家们会根据食物所含的营养成分,如蛋白质、脂肪或碳水化合物,来看待食物。
NOVA sort of came about because scientists recognized that it’s not just nutrients that might affect the quality and health effects of food, but also the amount of processing they undergo.
Nova的出现在某种程度上是因为科学家们认识到,不仅营养物质可能影响食品的质量、对健康产生影响,而且食物所经过的加工量也会影响到这些。
So NOVA has four categories: there’s unprocessed or minimally processed food – which are things like eggs and vegetables.
NOVA系统分为四类。一类是未加工食品、或者说是经过最低限度加工的食品,比如鸡蛋、蔬菜。
Then there are foods you use to prepare meals but don’t necessarily eat on their own – like oil or butter.
一类是你用来准备饭菜的、但不会单独食用的食物,比如油、黄油。
Then there are processed foods, which you make using a combination of those categories – homemade bread, for example.
一类是加工食品,可以使用各类食品的组合来制作,比如,自制面包。
And the final category is ultra-processed foods, which involve industrial processing and additives.
最后一类是超加工食品,涉及工业加工和添加剂。
Almost everything we eat undergoes some amount of processing, right?
我们进嘴的几乎所有东西都要经过一定程度的加工,对吧?
Right, exactly. One example I’ve seen a lot is peanut butter.
是, 没错。我经常看到的一个例子是花生酱。
You could just crush up peanuts and get peanut butter—that’s minimally processed.
仅将花生碾碎,就做成了花生酱——这是最低限度的加工。
You could add salt, sugar, and oil, and get a processed version.
加入盐、糖和油,就可以得到一个加工版本的花生酱。
Or some of the peanut butter you find at the store could contain preservatives or emulsifiers, and that makes it ultra-processed.
你可以在商店里找到的一些花生酱可能含有防腐剂或乳化剂,这使得花生酱成为超加工食品。
So Lori, do we know if ultra-processed foods are bad for our health? What does the science say?
洛莉,超加工食品是否对我们的健康有害? 科学是怎么说的?
Some studies have found links between eating ultra-processed food and obesity, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer and even mental health issues.
一些研究发现,食用超加工食品与肥胖、2型糖尿病、某些类型的癌症甚至心理健康问题之间存在联系。
But only a few studies have tried to measure whether it’s these diets that are causing the poor health.
但只有少数研究试图衡量这些饮食是否会导致健康状况不佳。