肠道对我们的健康至关重要

肠道对我们的健康至关重要

They are terms previously not part of polite conversation -- let alone TV commercials: Intestinal distress. Irregularity. Irritable bowel syndrome.

它们以前都不是礼貌用语的一部分——更别提电视广告了:肠道疾病。不规律。肠易激综合症。

Where food goes after it's eaten, however, has become a hot topic. Indeed, emerging research is linking the health of the gut -- the entire digestive system, particularly the stomach, intestines and colon -- to general wellness.

然而，食物吃完后到哪里去却成了一个热门话题。事实上，新兴的研究正在将肠道健康——整个消化系统，尤其是胃、肠和结肠——与总体健康联系起来。

"New data shows that the gut is critical to our well-being," says Dr. Mark Liponis, medical director of the Canyon Ranch health resorts.

“新的数据显示，肠道对我们的健康至关重要，”马克·利庞尼斯博士说，他是峡谷牧场健康度假村的医疗主任。

Essentially, the gut is your body's gatekeeper, letting in helpful compounds and evicting harmful ones. It's home to 70 to 80% of our immune cells. When the gut is in good shape, our systems run efficiently, but when it's not, we may experience upset stomach, be at risk for weight gain or digestive problems like heartburn and constipation, or just feel vaguely out of sorts.

从本质上说，肠道是你身体的看门人，让有益化合物进入，赶走有害化合物。它是我们70%到80%的免疫细胞的家园。当肠道处于良好状态时，我们的系统有效运行，但如果不是，我们可能会感到胃部不适，有体重增加的风险，或消化问题，如胃灼热和便秘，或只是隐约感到不适。

For many people, that run-down feeling has lasted so long that it's mistaken for the norm, says New York cardiologist Alejandro Junger, author of "Clean Gut."

《清洁肠道》一书的作者、纽约心脏病学家亚历杭德罗·荣格尔说，对很多人来说，这种疲惫感持续的时间太长了，以至于被误认为常态。

"We could feel so much better -- we just don't know it."

“我们可以感觉好很多——只是我们不知道。”

The bacteria that rule your body

控制你身体的细菌

The gut is swarming with about 100 trillion bacteria, or flora, which outnumber human cells in our body 10 to 1.

肠道里挤满了大约100万亿个细菌或菌群，它们的数量是人体细胞的10倍。

"These bacteria and the compounds they excrete can have positive and negative effects on a person's health," says Dr. Stanley Hazen, chair of cellular and molecular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "To have a healthy gut, one must avoid eating foods that foster the growth of bacteria that create unhealthy metabolites."

克利夫兰诊所细胞和分子医学主席斯坦利·黑曾博士说:“这些细菌及其排出的化合物对人体健康既有积极的影响，也有消极的影响。”“要有一个健康的肠道，就必须避免吃那些促进细菌生长的食物，这些细菌会产生不健康的代谢物。”

Friendly bacteria aid the metabolism of nutrients and help certain compounds get into the bloodstream. A diverse population of health-promoting flora protects the gut from the less helpful strains.

友好的细菌有助于营养物质的新陈代谢，并帮助某些化合物进入血液。不同的促进健康的菌群可以保护肠道不受有害菌群的伤害。

In contrast, an outsize number of less-beneficial flora -- which proliferate with a diet high in sugar, fat, and processed food -- can cause gas, discomfort, bloating and inflammation. The flora can also emit chemicals that compromise the intestinal lining, says Lita Proctor, of the Human Microbiome Project at the National Institutes of Health.

相比之下，过多的不太有益的植物群——在高糖、高脂肪和高加工食品的饮食中大量繁殖——会导致气体、不适、腹胀和炎症。美国国立卫生研究院人类微生物组项目的利塔·普罗克特说，这种菌群还会释放出损害肠道内壁的化学物质。

"This so-called 'leaky gut' allows nonnutritive materials to slip into our bodies and affect how we feel."

“这种所谓的‘肠漏’会让非营养物质溜进我们的身体，影响我们的感觉。”

Incredibly, some bacteria might even make you fat: A recent study of twins, published in "Nature," found that when bacteria from an obese human twin were introduced into the digestive systems of lean mice, the mice turned fat; when bacteria from the thin sibling were introduced into lean mice, the mice stayed lean.

令人难以置信的是，一些细菌甚至可能会让你变胖：最近发表在《自然》上的一项双胞胎研究发现，当来自一个肥胖的人类双胞胎的细菌被引入瘦老鼠的消化系统时，老鼠就会变胖;当从瘦削的双胞胎身上提取的细菌被引入瘦削的老鼠体内时，老鼠保持了瘦削的状态。

Studies also suggest that diabetic and obese patients tend to lack a diversity of bacteria, and the Cleveland Clinic found that some bacteria metabolize components of egg and meat to produce a compound that aids in the clogging of arteries.

研究还表明，糖尿病和肥胖患者往往缺乏多样性的细菌，克利夫兰诊所发现，鸡蛋和肉的一些细菌代谢成分产生一种化合物，会导致动脉堵塞。

"This might explain why some unhealthy eaters get heart disease while others don't," says Hazen.

“这也许可以解释为什么一些不健康的饮食者会得心脏病，而另一些不会，”黑曾说。

The good news is that you can reset your gut bacteria, swapping bad flora for good.

好消息是，你可以重置你的肠道细菌，将坏的菌群转换成好的。

To cultivate healthful microflora, you want to nourish the desirable species while killing off the bad. Beware of antibiotics, however, which decimate the flora keeping our bodies healthy along with those causing illness and infection.

要培育健康的微生物群，你需要在杀死坏的菌群的同时滋养好的菌群。但是要小心抗生素，因为抗生素会破坏保持我们身体健康的菌群，同时也会导致疾病和感染。