健康生活:吃得少才能記性好
Eating less 'can boost your brain and help you remember more'
吃得少能刺激大腦智力 幫你提高記憶力Eating less could help you remember more, researchers have found.
有研究者發現，吃得少能提高記憶力。Skipping dessert and having an after-dinner coffee instead could also be good for your brain, as well as your waistline.
放棄餐後甜點，來一杯餐後咖啡，有益於你的腦子，也有助於控制你的腰圍。
The news comes from an Italian study into ‘calorific restriction’ – the idea that near-starvation rations boost health and extend life.
這樣的說法來自於一個意大利的關於“卡路里限制”的研究，而研究顯示，接近飢餓的食物配給能有助於促進健康和延長壽命。Scientists have long known of the phenomenon, but have struggled to work out just what it is about severely cutting calories that improves health.
科學家們在很久以前就得知這種現象，但通過近期的努力鑽研，科學家們才知曉大量減少卡路里能增進身體健康到底是怎麼一回事。Researcher Giovambattista Pani decided to focus on a protein called CREB1 that is known to be important to memory and learning.
科學家Giovambattista Pani決定對一種名爲CREB1的蛋白質作針對性研究，而這種蛋白質對於學習能力和記憶能力是十分重要的。In experiments on mice, he showed that cutting calories boosted learning if the animals could still make CREB1. He also showed that cutting calories boosts the amount of the protein made in the brain. The animals’ calorie count was only cut by 25 to 30 per cent. In human terms, this equates to about 600 calories a day.
在老鼠的實體試驗中，他發現在老鼠大腦持續產出CREB1的情況下，減少卡路里能增加記憶能力。同時，他也得出，減少卡路里也能促進大腦細胞數量的增長。實驗中只是讓小白鼠減少25-30%的卡路里攝入，而在人體內，這相當於每天減少600卡路里。A cup of tea or coffee may also be beneficial, with studies crediting caffeine with upping the amount of CREB1 made in the body. The work by Dr Pani, of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome is detailed in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
研究顯示，咖啡因能讓身體多產CREB1蛋白質。那麼，喝一杯茶，或是品一杯咖啡會是非常有益。這個研究項目由羅馬聖心天主教大學的Pani博士負責，該研究的具體細節刊登在《國家科學院學報》的期刊論文上。Dr Pani said: ‘It is just 25 to 30 per cent fewer calories. It is like not eating a cake at the end of the meal. This gives us a tool to better investigate this brain circuitry and try to figure out more drugs that do the same. We are trying a couple of compounds right now on animals but it is at a very preliminary stage.
Pani博士表示：“這項實驗僅僅需要減少25-30%的卡路里，只是讓你感覺像是沒吃餐後甜點一樣。這爲我們提供了更好的研究大腦路徑的方法，我們也嘗試找出更多的藥物減少卡路里，提高記憶。我們即將在活體上嘗試幾種複合物，但這還停留在非常初步的階段。”Keeping the brain young could be of huge value in an ageing population. Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia affect more than 800,000 Britons, and the number expected to double in a generation.
在人口老齡化的今天，保持大腦活性將擁有巨大的價值。阿爾茨海默氏症以及其它形式的癡呆症影響着超過80萬英國人，而下一代患癡呆症的人數將會是上述數據的兩倍。Dr Pani said: ‘Our findings identify for the first time an important mediator of the effects of diet on the brain. This discovery has important implications to develop future therapies to keep our brain young and prevent brain degeneration and the ageing process. Our hope is to find a way to activate CREB1, for example through new drugs, so to keep the brain young without the need of a strict diet.’
Pani博士表示：“我們的研究第一次確認了飲食習慣對大腦產生影響的中介物質。這次的發現意義重大，我們可以研發出創新療法，讓我們的大腦保持活性，還能防止大腦衰退和老齡化進程。我們希望尋求一種激活CREB1蛋白質的方法，例如通過新藥（而不是制定嚴格的飲食計劃）就能讓大腦保持活性。”
