美国国家公共电台 NPR Mushrooms Are Good For You, But Are They Medicine?

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Mushrooms, the edible¹ kind, have been used in Eastern medicine for centuries to treat everything from asthma² to gout. And now they're being marketed in the West as functional³ or medicinal mushrooms. So what's the evidence that they're actually good for your health? NPR's April Fulton takes a look.

APRIL FULTON, BYLINE⁴: To find a really good variety of mushrooms, I went to Mitsuwa.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Do you have a favorite mushroom?

FULTON: It's a Japanese market in a drab shopping center in Los Angeles. But when you step inside, you see color - Japanese snacks in bright packages, vendors⁵ hawking⁶ steaming bowls of ramen, and there are rows and rows of mushrooms.

YUMI KUWATA: This is very healthy.

FULTON: Yumi Kuwata is the manager here. She shows me around.

KUWATA: Shimeji and enoki and shiitake mushroom.

FULTON: Shimeji, enoki and shiitake are her top sellers, but she always has at least 10 varieties. Kuwata says her customers buy mushrooms because they're healthy and low in calories.

KUWATA: You know that the mushroom is pretty much calorie zero percent. My customer know this about Japanese food, very healthy cuisine⁷, so that's what they're expecting.

FULTON: But mushrooms offer a lot more than low calories. They have nutrients⁸ and compounds which fight inflammation in the body. Think of them as the superheroes of the fungi⁹ kingdom.

Researchers in the lab have reported all kinds of promising¹⁰ benefits, from killing¹¹ cancer in human cells to reducing insulin resistance in mice. As for research on people, there hasn't been as much. Shiitake mushroom extract seemed to help prolong the lives of stomach cancer patients undergoing chemo, and, in fact, doctors in Japan now prescribe them for that purpose. And then there's the hen-of-the-woods. Extracts from this mushroom seem to stimulate¹² the immune system of some breast cancer patients.

It's hard to draw big conclusions, though, because these studies are small. Viki Sabaratnam is a scientist at the University of Malaya. She's studying how mushrooms might someday help fight off brain disease like Alzheimer's.

VIKI SABARATNAM: We have shown in lab experiments, yes, some of these properties are there, but it's quite a long way to go.

FULTON: Until, she says, scientists can say for sure just how useful mushrooms are for humans. Still, that hasn't stopped the dietary supplement industry from jumping on reports of mushroom health benefits.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS #1: (As character) Our advanced mushroom immune system support supplement is created...

FULTON: There are teas, coffees and pills that contain extracts of mushrooms that promise to reduce stress and jumpstart your brain.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS #2: (As character) And experience a new level of vibrancy¹³ and overall wellness.

FULTON: Megan Ware¹⁴ is a dietitian¹⁵ in Orlando. She sees the potential health benefits of mushrooms, but she warns...

MEGAN WARE: If you're eating cheeseburgers and fries for lunch every day and you eat a couple of mushrooms along with it, that doesn't mean it's going to lower your risk for heart disease or diabetes¹⁶ or any of those lifestyle conditions just because you added a couple mushrooms to your burger.

FULTON: Maybe one day science will be able to prove that mushrooms really can help prevent and treat disease. And if not, well, Yumi Kuwata at the Japanese market points out that mushrooms are really delicious. So what do you have to lose?

What's your favorite mushroom?

KUWATA: Nameko - the slimy one.

FULTON: April Fulton, NPR News, Los Angeles.

(SOUNDBITE OF RUMTUM'S "GOOD PLACES")

1 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

2 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

3 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

7 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

8 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

13 vibrancy   

n.活跃；震动

参考例句：

• I like the vibrancy of her character.我喜欢她的活泼性格。
• Tom felt himself being drawn towards her vibrant personality. 汤姆感觉自己被她充满朝气的个性所吸引。

14 ware   

n.(常用复数)商品，货物

参考例句：

• The shop sells a great variety of porcelain ware.这家店铺出售品种繁多的瓷器。
• Good ware will never want a chapman.好货不须叫卖。

15 dietitian   

n.营养学家

参考例句：

• You can seek the advice of a nutritionist or dietitian.你可以征求营养师或饮食专家的意见。
• I have no doubt she would make a good dietitian.毫无疑问她会成为优秀的营养学家。

16 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。