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The Fast Way to Long Life: Starve Every Other Day

吃一天饿一天有助长寿

By Jonathan Leake

文/乔纳森·利克

Starving yourself every other day can make you live longer, American government scientists say.

美国政府科学家称，隔日断食能够延年益寿。

They have discovered that a diet based on fasting[1] on alternate days will not only help people to shed pounds[2] but could delay age-related disease, boost brain power and extend lifespan.

他们发现，基于隔日断食的饮食法不仅有助于减轻体重，还可以延缓罹患老年病、增强脑力以及延长寿命。

[1] fasting 节食，禁食。

[2] pound 磅（重量单位），引申为体重。

The experimental diet, pioneered at the National Institutes on Aging (NIA), is based on the fact that animals given the bare minimum of calories required to maintain life can live up to twice as long.

这一实验性饮食法由美国国家老龄化研究所（NIA）首倡。其事实依据是，让动物仅摄入维持生命所需最低卡路里，其寿命可延长一倍。

Such diets appear to protect the heart, circulatory system[3] and brain against age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s. It was previously thought to have little relevance to humans because so few people would have the willpower to keep their calorie intake so low.

如此饮食似乎可以帮助心脏、血液循环系统以及大脑抵御老年病，包括阿尔茨海默病。之前的观点普遍认为这一事实与人类关系不大，因为很少有人能够坚持将卡路里的摄入量控制在如此低的水平。

[3] circulatory system 血液循环系统。

However, scientists at the NIA have now found that fasting every second day is almost as effective, while still allowing dieters to eat what they like on days between fasts.

然而，NIA的科学家现已发现，采取隔日断食几乎同样有效，而且节食者在不禁食期间可随意饮食。

The idea has been tested on animals but the scientists who conducted the research have found similar evidence for humans.

这一想法已经在动物身上得到验证，而进行这一研究的科学家在人类身上也发现了类似的证据。

“Dietary energy restriction extends lifespan and protects the brain and cardiovascular[4] system against age-related disease,” said Mark Mattson, head of the laboratory of neurosciences[5] at the NIA and professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

NIA神经科学实验室主管、约翰·霍普金斯大学巴尔的摩主校区的神经科学教授马克·马特森称：“限制饮食能量可以延长寿命，并可保护大脑和心血管系统免遭老年病的侵袭。”

[4] cardiovascular 心血管的。

[5] neurosciences 神经科学。

“We have found that dietary energy restriction, particularly when administered in intermittent[6] bouts of major caloric restriction, such as alternative day fasting, activates cellular stress response pathways[7] in neurons[8].”

“我们已经发现，限制饮食能量，特别是间歇性大幅限制卡路里摄入（例如隔日断食），可以激活神经元的细胞压力反应通路。”

[6] intermittent 间歇的。

[7] pathway 生物名词，多用为信号通路（signal pathway），是指当细胞内要发生某种反应时，信号从细胞外到细胞内传递了一种信息，细胞要根据这种信息来做出反应的现象。

[8] neuron 神经元。

Such responses help rejuvenate the brain and so boost or protect cognitive powers and intelligence, said Matt-son.

马特森称，这类反应有助于恢复大脑活力，从而提高或保护认知能力和智力。

In one set of experiments, Matt-son and his colleagues fed laboratory mice only on alternate days. They allowed other mice to eat daily. Both groups of animals were given unlimited access to food when they were permitted to eat and, over time, averaged the same overall calorie intake.

在一次系列实验中，马特森和同事对实验鼠进行隔日喂食，对其他老鼠则每日喂食。在允许进食时，两组动物的进食量不受限制。最终，两组动物的总体卡路里摄入量平均而言完全一致。

Mattson found, however, that the animals fed intermittently retained a higher sensitivity to insulin[9], the hormone which controls sugar levels in the blood after a meal or snack. This meant they needed to secrete less of the insulin, high levels of which have been found to be associated with lower brain power and a higher risk of diabetes.

然而，马特森发现，间歇性喂食的动物对胰岛素保有更高的敏感性。胰岛素是一种控制进食后血糖水平的激素。这意味着它们需要减少胰岛素的分泌。而胰岛素高往往会使脑力下降，增加患糖尿病的风险。

[9] insulin 胰岛素。

Intermittent feeding also improved the animals’ resistance[10] to a neurotoxin[11] that simulates Alzheimer’s disease. Mattson compared the brains of animals fed a low-calorie diet with those of animals that had eaten well. Calorie-restricted diets appeared to enhance the function of brain synapses[12] – the junctions between brain cells that promote the generation of new cells and make them more resistant to stress.

间歇性喂食还可以提高这些动物对一种能够模拟阿尔茨海默病的神经毒素的抗性。马特森对比了低卡路里饮食和放开饮食的两组动物的大脑。限制卡路里的饮食似乎可以提高大脑突触的功能，而突触是脑细胞之间的接触点，能够促进新细胞的形成，提高它们的压力抗性。

[10] resistance 抗性。

[11] neurotoxin 神经毒素。

[12] synapse 突触。

Calorie-restricted diet was also found to improve memory in older people. Cutting energy intake appears to inhibit the genes that promote ageing and switch on genes that slow ageing down.

研究发现，限制卡路里的饮食法还能够增强老年人的记忆力。减少能量摄入可以抑制推动衰老的基因，同时激活延缓衰老的基因。

Mattson practises what he preaches, limiting himself to no more than 2,000–2,200 calories a day.

马特森身体力行，他将自己每天摄入的卡路里控制在2000卡到2200卡。

（译者单位：中国人民解放军信息工程大学洛阳校区）