HEALTH REPORT - Doctors Study Benefits of Severely Reduced C

HEALTH REPORT - Doctors Study Benefits of Severely¹ Reduced Calories
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Wednesday, May 19, 2004

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Calories are a measure of energy in food. A small study has found that people improved their health when they severely restricted the amount of calories they ate. The study found that the people reduced their risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes². Such risk normally increases with age.

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, Missouri, led the study. They say lower risk of disease means that the people can expect to live longer than average lives. The results appeared in the Proceedings³ of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers compared people who ate a traditional Western diet with people who ate fewer calories. They found that those who restricted their calories had less chance of blocked arteries⁴. Fatty material can block the flow of blood to the heart and brain, and cause a heart attack or stroke.

The researchers found the people for the study through an organization called the Caloric Restriction⁵ Optimal⁶ Nutrition Society. Members of this group try to eat between ten and twenty-five percent fewer calories than the average American.

Eighteen members took part in the study. Their ages were thirty-five to eighty-two. They had lived on restricted calories for between three years and fifteen years. Doctors compared them with a group of people who ate normally.

The calorie-restricted group ate between one-thousand-one-hundred calories and about two-thousand calories per day. The amount depended on their weight, height and sex.

Twenty-six percent of the calories came from protein. Twenty-eight percent came from fat. And forty-six percent came from complex carbohydrates⁷, such as whole grains.

The other group ate between about two-thousand and three-thousand-five-hundred calories per day. Eighteen percent of their calories came from protein. Thirty-two percent came from fat. And fifty percent came from carbohydrates. These included processed sugars and grains.

The researchers tested both groups for signs of blocked arteries. The team measured blood pressure and levels of several chemicals in the blood, including cholesterol⁸ and triglycerides. The doctors said some of the people who ate fewer calories had results like those of people many years younger.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 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。

3 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

4 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

6 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

7 carbohydrates   

n.碳水化合物，糖类( carbohydrate的名词复数 )；淀粉质或糖类食物

参考例句：

• The plant uses the carbohydrates to make cellulose. 植物用碳水化合物制造纤维素。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All carbohydrates originate from plants. 所有的碳水化合物均来自植物。 来自辞典例句

8 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。