VOA慢速英语:Chocolate Improves Memory and Heart Health

Can eating a chocolate bar every day really prevent age-related memory loss?
每天吃一块巧克力真的可以预防与年龄有关的记忆力衰退？

No.
不行。

Can eating chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner be good for your heart?
三餐都吃巧克力蛋糕对心脏有好处？

Again, the answer is no.
再次，答案是否定的。

That would be too good to be true.
这好得让人难以置信。

But new research shows that large amounts of flavanols, substances found in cocoa, tea and some vegetables, may reverse age-related memory failure. Another study is looking to see if high levels of cocoa flavanols can help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
但是新的研究表明，大量黄烷醇类物质也许可以逆转与年龄有关的记忆障碍，这种物质在和谐、茶叶和一些蔬菜中都有发现。另一项研究想看看高浓度的和谐黄烷醇是否有助于预防心脏病发作和中风。

Flavanols found in dark chocolate are known to increase blood flow in the part of the brain that controls memory. They also help prevent heart disease by lowering blood pressure and "bad" cholesterol.
黑巧克力中发现的黄烷醇可以提高大脑控制记忆部分的血流量。它们还有助于预防低血压和“不好的”胆固醇引发的心脏病。

A new study published online in Nature Neuroscience found that cocoa flavanols reverse minor memory loss in older adults. A company that makes chocolate helped to pay for the study.
《自然神经科学》网上发表的一项新研究发现和谐黄烷醇能够逆转老年人的轻微失忆。一家生产巧克力的公司为这项研究提供了资金。

Can chocolate improve memory?
巧克力能提高记忆力吗？

Brain processes decrease as we age. By the time we reach our 50s and 60s we may have trouble remembering simple things such as the names of new people we meet or where we put our car keys.
随着年龄增加大脑活动减少。当我们到了五六十岁时，我们可能不记得一些简单的事情，如新朋友的名字，或车钥匙放哪了？

Dr. Scott Small is a professor of neurology at Columbia University in New York City. He is the lead writer of a research paper describing the effects of cocoa flavanols on brain activity.
Scott Small博士是纽约哥伦比亚大学的一位神经学教授。他是这篇描述和谐黄烷醇对大脑活动影响的研究论文的第一作者。

The study involved 37 volunteers aged between 50 and 69. Researchers gave them a high-level flavanol drink made from cocoa beans or a low-level flavanol drink. For a period of three months, some subjects got 900 milligrams of flavanol a day. The others got 10 milligrams of flavanol each day.
这项研究涉及了37位年龄在50到69岁之间的志愿者。研究人员给他们饮用了用和谐豆制成的一种高浓度黄烷醇饮料或低浓度黄烷醇饮料。在三个月时间里，有些受试者每天饮用900毫克的黄烷醇，其他受试者每天饮用10毫克的黄烷醇。

Brain imaging and memory tests were given to each study subject before and after the study. Dr. Small says that the subjects who had the high-level flavanol drink showed much improvement on memory tests.
在这项研究前后分别对每位研究对象进行了大脑成像和记忆测试。Small博士称，饮用高浓度黄烷醇饮料的受试者在记忆测试中大有提高。

Four-year study to dig deeper into healing powers of flavanol
为期四年的研究，深入挖掘黄烷醇的治疗作用

The researchers warn that more work is needed because this study was performed on a small group. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts recently announced plans to do just that.
研究人员警告说还需要做更多工作，因为这项研究是在一个很小的群体中进行。马萨诸塞州波士顿布莱根妇女医院的研究人员最近宣布计划要进行更多工作。

Dr. JoAnn Manson is the lead researcher of a four-year study involving 18,000 adults. This study will use flavanol capsules.
JoAnn Manson博士是这项涉及18000名成年人的为期四年的研究的首席研究员。这项研究将使用黄烷醇胶囊。

"This capsule of cocoa flavanols will avoid having the calories and the sugar and the saturated fat found in chocolate."
“这种和谐黄烷醇胶囊可以避免含有巧克力中发现的热量、糖和饱和脂肪。”

The study subjects will be divided into two groups and will take two pills a day. The capsules will all look the same. But, one group's capsules will contain flavanols. The other group will take capsules made of an inactive substance, or placebo.
该研究的受试者将被分为两组，每天将服用两颗药。这些胶囊看上去都一样。但是一组的胶囊含有黄烷醇，另一组将服用安慰剂做成的胶囊。

Dr. Manson says that a person would have to eat ten times a normal amount to get the flavanols in just one flavanol pill.
Manson博士说，一个人需要食用正常用量的10倍才能顶上一颗黄烷醇胶囊。

"The amount of chocolate that it would take in order to have this amount of cocoa flavanols would be more than ten times the amount that people would ordinarily eat."
“为了获得这种量级的和谐黄烷醇，人们需要食用的巧克力数量是正常人通常食用的10倍以上。”

But Dr. Small says people should not necessarily start eating more chocolate. He says a person would have to eat a huge amount of chocolate to get the level of flavanol given to the test subjects. He also says many manufacturers remove the flavanols from their chocolate products.
但Small博士称，人们不一定要开始食用更多巧克力。他说，一个人必须要食用大量的巧克力才能达到受试者的黄烷醇水平。他还说，许多厂家都从其产品中去除了黄烷醇。、

Dr. Small says a cocoa-based flavanol extract may be developed in the future. He says that more studies are needed to see how much flavanol is good for human health.
Small博士说，和谐基黄烷醇提取物未来可能被开发出来。他说，需要进行更多研究来证明多少黄烷醇对人体健康有益。