对我们来说最健康的食物也是对地球最健康的食物

The foods that do a body good may also do our planet the least harm.

对身体有益的食物对地球的危害也最小。

A major new study, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offers a comprehensive look at the health and environmental impacts of 15 food groups, from fruits to red meat to dairy to fish.

本周发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》杂志上的一项重大新研究，全面审视了从水果、红肉、乳制品到鱼类等15类食品对健康和环境的影响。

The study found that nut production, though water intensive, treads more lightly on the environment than other food production practices. (Photo: Javani LLC/Shutterstock)

To come up with their findings, researchers took a deep dive into the resources needed to produce each food — looking at factors like land and water use, greenhouse gas emissions and how much pollution its production generated.

为了得出他们的发现，研究人员深入研究了生产每种食物所需的资源，考察了土地和水的使用、温室气体排放以及生产过程中产生了多少污染等因素。

Then they looked at the food's impact on human health.

然后他们研究了食物对人类健康的影响。

The food that earned top marks from both an environmental and health perspective?

从环境和健康的角度来看，哪种食物得分最高?

The humble nut.

低调的坚果。

To tell their story, the researchers need to go beyond the basic nutrition value of nuts. (Photo: Krzysztof Slusarczyk/Shutterstock)

Indeed, the study found red meat to be chief among environmental villains with a single serving dishing out about 40 times the negative impact on our planet as vegetables — while upping the relative risk of overall mortality by 40 percent.

事实上，研究发现，红肉是环境的罪魁祸首之一，一份红肉作为蔬菜对我们的星球造成的负面影响是蔬菜的40倍，同时将总体死亡的相对风险提高了40%。

And meat's environmental footprint may be even more dramatic. A quarter pound of hamburger, for example, requires about 450 gallons of water to produce. That's to say nothing of the dent it makes in our air and water quality, which helps make it one the least sustainable farming practices on the planet. When you factor in the toll red meat takes on the body — a litany of issues from type 2 diabetes, to cardiovascular disease to certain types of cancer — it's easy to understand why meat is a costly indulgence.

肉类对环境的影响可能更大。例如，一个四分之一磅的汉堡包需要450加仑的水来生产。这还不包括它对我们的空气和水质造成的损害，这使得它成为地球上最不可持续的农业生产方式之一。当你考虑到红肉对身体的危害——从2型糖尿病、心血管疾病到某些类型的癌症——很容易理解为什么吃肉是一种昂贵的嗜好。

Processed meats have been linked to an increased risk of some cancers, as well as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. (Photo: FotoKulinaria/Shutterstock)

There were, of course, a few notable exceptions to the general rule that what's good for us is less harmful for the planet. No one is going to argue that sugar does a body good. In fact, it may even impair our ability to think. But sugar cane goes down easy on the environment, with researchers claiming it isn't much more taxing on the environment than growing vegetables.

当然，在“对我们有益的事情对地球的危害较小”这一普遍规律之外，也有几个值得注意的例外。没有人会说糖对身体有益。事实上，它甚至可能损害我们的思考能力。但甘蔗对环境的影响并不大，研究人员称，甘蔗对环境的影响并不比种植蔬菜大多少。

Refined sugar isn't your body's best friend, but sugar cane's impact on the earth is about the same as growing vegetables. (Photo: Handmade Pictures/Shutterstock)

Then there's the slippery issue of fish. Some research suggests fish — specifically fish oil — is a healthy staple that could dramatically curb our risk of heart disease. But the researchers caution that sourcing is critical in mitigating at least some of the damage fish production causes to the environment. As Tilman notes in NPR, open ocean fishing packs a lot of baggage due to all the diesel fuel needed for a relatively small catch.

然后是鱼的问题。一些研究表明，鱼——尤其是鱼油——是一种健康的主食，可以极大地降低我们患心脏病的风险。但研究人员警告说，至少在一定程度上，采购对于减轻鱼类生产对环境造成的破坏至关重要。正如蒂尔曼在美国国家公共广播电台(NPR)所指出的那样，远洋捕鱼需要消耗大量的柴油燃料，所以捕捞量相对较小。

It all adds up to more informed dietary choices. We're never eating for just one, but rather for the entire planet.

所有这些都是明智的饮食选择。我们从不只为一个人而吃，而是为整个地球而吃。

"Such information could help consumers, food corporations, and policy makers make better decisions about food choices, food products, and food policies, potentially increasing the likelihood of meeting international sustainability targets such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Climate Agreement," the authors note in the study abstract.

”这些信息可以帮助消费者，食品公司和决策者对食物的选择做出更好的决策,食品公司和食品政策,可能会增加国际可持续发展目标实现的可能性,如联合国可持续发展目标或巴黎气候协议,”这项研究的作者在摘要中指出。