MANY people have been making the case that Americans have grown fat because they eat too much starch¹ and sugar, and not enough meat, fat and eggs. Recently, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory² Committee lifted recommendations that consumption of dietary cholesterol³ should be restricted, citing research that dietary cholesterol does not have a major effect on blood cholesterol levels. The predictable headlines followed: “Back to Eggs and Bacon?”

很多人都说，美国人变得肥胖是因为他们吃了太多淀粉和糖，而没有摄入足够的肉类、脂肪和鸡蛋。近日，美国膳食指南咨询委员会(Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee)取消了“膳食中的胆固醇消耗应该受到限制”的建议。它援引的一项研究认为，饮食中的胆固醇不会对血液中的胆固醇水平产生重大影响。不出所料，一些媒体打出了这样的大标题：“回归鸡蛋和熏肉？”

But, alas⁴, bacon and egg yolks are not health foods.

但是，唉，熏肉和蛋黄都不是健康食品。

Although people have been told for decades to eat less meat and fat, Americans actually consumed 67 percent more added fat, 39 percent more sugar, and 41 percent more meat in 2000 than they had in 1950 and 24.5 percent more calories than they had in 1970, according to the Agriculture Department. Not surprisingly, we are fatter and unhealthier.

虽然这几十年来，人们都被告知要少吃肉类和脂肪，但与1950年相比，美国人在2000年实际消耗的添加脂肪增加了67%，糖分增加了39%，肉类增加了41%，而且比1970年多摄入了24.5%的卡路里。因此毫不奇怪，我们变得更胖了，健康水平也下滑了。

The debate is not as simple as low-fat versus⁵ low-carb. Research shows that animal protein may significantly increase the risk of premature⁶ mortality from all causes, among them cardiovascular disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes⁷. Heavy consumption of saturated⁸ fat and trans fats may double the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

这场辩论不是简单地比较低脂肪饮食与低碳水化合物饮食。研究表明，动物蛋白可能会大幅增加各种原因导致的过早死亡风险，这些原因包括心血管疾病、癌症和2型糖尿病。大量摄入饱和脂肪和反式脂肪，可能会让阿尔茨海默氏症的患病风险增加一倍。

A study published last March found a 75 percent increase in premature deaths from all causes, and a 400 percent increase in deaths from cancer and Type 2 diabetes, among heavy consumers of animal protein under the age of 65 — those who got 20 percent or more of their calories from animal protein.

去年3月公布的一项研究发现，在大量摄入动物蛋白的65岁以下人群中，各种原因导致的过早死亡数量增加了75%，因癌症和2型糖尿病而死亡的人数增加了400%。这些人摄入的的卡路里中，超过20%都来自动物蛋白。

Low-carb, high-animal-protein diets promote heart disease via mechanisms⁹ other than just their effects on cholesterol levels. Arterial blockages¹⁰ may be caused by animal-protein-induced elevations¹¹ in free fatty acids and insulin levels and decreased production of endothelial progenitor¹² cells (which help keep arteries¹³ clean). Egg yolks and red meat appear to significantly increase the risk of coronary heart disease and cancer due to increased production of trimethylamine N-oxide, or TMAO, a metabolite of meat and egg yolks linked to the clogging¹⁴ of arteries. (Egg whites have neither cholesterol nor TMAO.)

低碳水化合物加高动物蛋白的饮食促发心脏疾病，其方式不仅仅是影响胆固醇水平那样简单。在动物蛋白诱导下，游离脂肪酸和胰岛素水平升高，内皮祖细胞（有助于保持动脉清洁）的生成减少，从而可能引起动脉堵塞。蛋黄和红肉似乎明显增加了冠状动脉心脏疾病和癌症的患病风险，因为它增进了三甲胺氧化物(TMAO)的生成。TMAO是肉和蛋黄的代谢物，与动脉堵塞有关。（蛋清既没有胆固醇，也不含TMAO）。

Animal protein increases IGF-1, an insulin-like growth hormone¹⁵, and chronic¹⁶ inflammation, an underlying¹⁷ factor in many chronic diseases. Also, red meat is high in Neu5Gc, a tumor-forming sugar that is linked to chronic inflammation and an increased risk of cancer. A plant-based diet may prolong life by blocking the mTOR protein, which is linked to aging. When fat calories were carefully controlled, patients lost 67 percent more body fat than when carbohydrates¹⁸ were controlled. An optimal¹⁹ diet for preventing disease is a whole-foods, plant-based diet that is naturally low in animal protein, harmful fats and refined carbohydrates. What that means in practice is little or no red meat; mostly vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and soy products in their natural forms; very few simple and refined carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour; and sufficient “good fats” such as fish oil or flax oil, seeds and nuts. A healthful diet should be low in “bad fats,” meaning trans fats, saturated fats and hydrogenated fats. Finally, we need more quality and less quantity.

动物蛋白增加了胰岛素样生长激素IGF-1和慢性炎症，后者是很多慢性疾病的潜在成因。另外，红肉含有很高的Neu5Gc，这是一种导致肿瘤的糖分，可能会引起慢性炎症，增加患癌风险。以植物为主的饮食则可以延年益寿，因为它可以阻断引起衰老的mTOR蛋白质。与控制碳水化合物时相比，当脂肪热量受到严格控制时，患者减去了67%的额外身体脂肪。预防疾病的最佳饮食，是基于植物的全面膳食，其中动物蛋白、对人体有害脂肪，以及精制的碳水化合物含量天然就比较低。这意味着在日常生活中少吃或不吃红肉；主要吃未经深加工的蔬菜、水果、全谷类，豆类和豆制品；像糖和白面粉这种单纯和精制碳水化合物，只消耗极少量；要摄入足够的“好脂肪”，比如鱼油或亚麻籽油，种子和坚果。少吃“坏脂肪”，即反式脂肪、饱和脂肪和氢化脂肪。最后，我们还需要提高质量，减少数量。

My colleagues and I at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, have conducted clinical research proving the many benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet on reversing chronic diseases, not just on reducing risk factors such as cholesterol. Our interventions²⁰ also included stress management techniques, moderate exercise like walking and social support.

我和非营利机构预防医学研究院(Preventive Medicine Research Institute)及加州大学旧金山分校(University of California, San Francisco)的同事们进行过临床研究，证明基于植物的全面膳食在逆转慢性疾病方面有着众多好处，而不只是降低胆固醇等风险因素。我们的干预措施还包括压力管理技巧、散步这样的适度运动，以及社交支持。

We showed in randomized, controlled trials that these diet and lifestyle changes can reverse the progression of even severe coronary heart disease. Episodes of chest pain decreased by 91 percent after only a few weeks. After five years there were 2.5 times fewer cardiac events. Blood flow to the heart improved by over 300 percent.

我们的随机对照试验研究显示，在改变饮食习惯和生活方式之后，就连严重的冠状动脉心脏疾病发展都可以逆转。仅仅几周后，患者胸痛发作次数就减少了91%。五年之后，心脏事件减少了2.5倍。流向心脏的血液改善了300%。

Other physicians, including Dr. Kim A. Williams, the president of the American College of Cardiology, are also finding that these diet and lifestyle changes can reduce the need for a lifetime of medications and transform people’s lives. These changes may also slow, stop or even reverse the progression of early-stage prostate cancer, judging from results in a randomized controlled trial.

美国心脏病学会(American College of Cardiology)会长金·A·威廉斯(Kim A. Williams)博士等其他医生还发现，改变饮食习惯和生活方式可以减少终生用药的需要，可以让人们的生活焕然一新。从随机对照试验的结果来看，这些改变还有可能减缓、中止甚至逆转早期前列腺癌症的发展。

These changes may also alter your genes²¹, turning on genes that keep you healthy, and turning off genes that promote disease. They may even lengthen²² telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes²³ that control aging.

这些改变也可能会转变你的基因，启动让你健康的基因，关闭促发疾病的基因。它们甚至可能延长端粒；它是染色体的末端，作用是控制衰老。

The more people adhered to these recommendations (including reducing the amount of fat and cholesterol they consumed), the more improvement we measured — at any age. But for reversing disease, a whole-foods, plant-based diet seems to be necessary.

无论属于哪个年龄阶段，人们越是遵循这些建议（包括减少脂肪和胆固醇摄入），我们测量到的改善也就越大。但对于逆转疾病而言，基于植物的全面膳食似乎是必不可少。

In addition, what’s good for you is good for our planet. Livestock²⁴ production causes more disruption of the climate than all forms of transportation combined. And because it takes as much as 10 times more grain to produce the same amount of calories through livestock as through direct grain consumption, eating a plant-based diet could free up resources for the hungry.

此外，有利于你的东西对我们的星球也有好处。畜牧业对气候变化的影响，超过了所有运输工具的总和。而且，与直接消耗粮食相比，需要多达10倍以上的粮食，才能通过牲畜产生同样多的卡路里，所以，以植物为主的饮食习惯有助于腾出资源来救助饥民。

What you gain is so much more than what you give up.

与你放弃的东西相比，你的所得远远更大。