英语听力文摘 English Digest 716 吃蔬菜的正确时间（在线收听）

Timing Your Vegetables Right

Veggie Insect Repellent

When a vegetable is growing, it protects itself from insects by producing chemical nutrients that make it taste bad or seem repellant to predators. Some of these nutrients—in particular phytochemicals—have been shown to fight cancer in people. What’s more, many vegetables are able to anticipate when insects will attack, and will ramp up its defenses accordingly.

Light Exposure

Even after vegetables are harvested and they’re no longer fighting insects, these garden wonders can still be made to produce more nutrients at certain times. This is done by varying a vegetable’s light exposure to simulate the experience of night turning into day. Studies have shown that vegetables stored this way produce more phytochemicals during the light cycle.

So eating vegetables during this golden period means you’re getting more nutritional value!

It’s not yet clear how people might be able to activate these nutrition-packed properties at home. Perhaps simply storing veggies in the dark and then subjecting them to a flash of light is enough to trigger the process. Or it could be more complex. In any case, more research could help us find ways to maximize vegetables’ nutritional benefits.

 吃蔬菜的正确时间

蔬菜驱虫剂

当一种蔬菜生长时，它通过产生化学营养物质来保护自己免受昆虫的侵害，这些营养物质会使它的味道变差或看起来对捕食者很排斥。这些营养素中的一些，特别是植物化学物质，已经被证明可以抗癌。更重要的是，许多蔬菜能够预测昆虫何时会攻击，并相应地增强防御能力。

光照曝光

即使在蔬菜收获后，它们不再与昆虫搏斗，这些花园奇迹仍然可以在某些时候产生更多的养分。这是通过改变蔬菜的光照来实现的，以模拟夜晚变成白天的体验。研究表明，以这种方式储存的蔬菜在光循环期间会产生更多的植物化学物质。

所以在这个黄金时期吃蔬菜意味着你获得了更多的营养价值！

目前还不清楚人们如何在家中激活这些富含营养的特性。也许仅仅是把蔬菜放在黑暗中，然后用闪光灯照射就足以触发这个过程。或者可能更复杂。无论如何，更多的研究可以帮助我们找到最大化蔬菜营养效益的方法。