The benefits of a vegetarian diet have greatly been underestimated, American physician and nutrition researcher Walter Willett told the audience at a recent conference. Giving up meat while still maintaining eggs and dairy in your diet does wonders for your health and could prevent up to one-third of all early deaths, Willett concludes.

最近，哈佛教授Walter Willett在第四届“联合治疗梵蒂冈国际会议”上表示，素食的好处被严重低估了。素食饮食具有神奇的健康益处，能够预防三分之一的早逝.

“We have just been doing some calculations looking at the question of how much could we reduce mortality shifting towards a healthy, more plant-based diet, not necessarily totally vegan, and our estimates are about one third of early deaths could be prevented,” he said.

而且你不需要完全素食，只要放弃肉类就行，鸡蛋和乳制品可以照吃不误。

“That’s not even talking about physical activity or not smoking, and that’s all deaths, not just cancer deaths. That’s probably an underestimate as well as that doesn’t take into account the fact that obesity is important and we control for obesity,” he added.

他说，这可能还是低估值，因为他们控制了肥胖因素，也排除了锻炼身体和不抽烟带来的好处。另外，他们探究的是所有早逝类型，而不仅仅是癌症死亡。

Recent research has consistently shown that vegetarian diets, while far from being a panacea, are effective at reducing weight and maintaining health. However, Willett’s study suggests that figures from previous studies gravely underestimate the benefits of such diets. For instance, the Office for National Statistics suggested that 141,000 deaths a year in Britain were preventable by renouncing meat, while the new research reports that about 200,000 lives could be saved each year in the UK if individuals removed meat from their diets.

最近，不断有研究表明，素食虽不是灵丹妙药，但能够有效地降低体重、保持健康。然而，Willett的最新研究显示，以往研究大大低估了素食的益处。举例而言：英国国家统计局称，在英国，每年有14.1万例死亡能够靠不吃肉避免;但新研究表明，这个数据应该达到20万。

He wasn’t the only one to praise vegetarianism at the Unite to Cure Fourth International Vatican Conference, where he presented his results. Professor David Jenkins, of the University of Toronto, who is credited with developing the glycemic index, also praised the effect that a plant-based diet has on one’s health.

在会议上，Willett不是唯一一个提倡素食的科学家。东京大学的教授David Jenkins以提出“血糖生成指数”概念而著称。他同样表示，素食饮食具有极大的健康益处。

The glycemic index is a rating system which shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own, a unit widely used in nutritional and gastronomic guides

“血糖生成指数”是一项评价指标，能够反映单独摄入某种食物时，血糖浓度的升高速率。

In a study on gorillas, Jenkins found that if gorillas are fed the equivalent of a human vegetarian diet, their cholesterol drops by 35% in only two weeks — the expected equivalent of a strong treatment with statins — a class of lipid-lowering medications. Having a simple diet change be as effective as a medical treatment is remarkable and shows just how important the vegetarian diet can be.

Jenkins进行过一项大猩猩研究，结果发现：大猩猩在采取等同于人类素食的饮食后，胆固醇在两周时间内降低35%——这种效果相当于服用他汀类药物(一种降脂药物)。原来，简单的饮食变化就能够起到药物治疗的作用。

“That was quite dramatic,” Jenkins said “We showed that there was no real difference between what we got with the diet and what we got with a statin.” However, at least for now, the diet switch on its own is no substitute for medical treatment.

这项研究成果十分引人注目，它证明了素食饮食的重要性，证明了饮食变化和他汀类药物的效果没有差别——不过，至少就目前而言，饮食变化不能代替药物治疗。

Even if you don’t entirely give up meat, reducing meat intake can have extremely beneficial results. There is substantial research which shows that reducing meat from our diets (especially red meat) can help us be healthier and live longer.

无法完全放弃吃肉?那么可以选择减少肉类摄入量。大量研究表明，减少肉类摄入量(特别是红肉)能够使我们更健康、更长寿。