VOA慢速英语:Garlic: The Key to a Long Life?(翻译)

Garlic is one of the most common cooking ingredients around the world.Many dishes in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas use this strong-flavored vegetable.
大蒜是全世界一种最普遍的食材。欧洲、非洲、亚洲及美洲各国有许多菜肴会加入这种味道很重的蔬菜。

Garlic is similar to other bulb-shaped plants, including onions, chives, leeks and scallions.But garlic is special.For centuries, people have used garlic not only for cooking, but also for medicine.
大蒜与其他灯状植物（如洋葱、香葱、大葱、及青葱等）有相似之处。不过大蒜有自身独特之处。几百年来，大蒜不仅用于烹饪，更是用于医疗方面。

Researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Cornell University studied the medicinal use of garlic throughout history.They found references to garlic in ancient texts from Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and India.
纪念斯隆-凯特林癌症中心和康奈尔大学的研究人员研究了史上大蒜的医疗用途。他们在埃及、希腊、罗马、中国和印度等国的历史文献中发现了与大蒜有关的记载。

For example, in ancient Greece and Rome, people considered garlic an aid to strength and endurance.
例如，古希腊和古罗马人认为大蒜有助于改善体力，增强耐力。

The original Olympic athletes in Greece ate garlic to improve their performance.The ancient Romans fed garlic to the soldiers and sailors.
古希腊的奥林匹克运动员都吃大蒜来提高比赛成绩。古罗马人令其士兵和水手食用大蒜。

Workers who built the pyramids in Egypt ate garlic.In fact, this is a theme throughout early history -- workers eating garlic to increase their strength.
古埃及修建金字塔的工人也食用大蒜。事实上，工人们吃大蒜增强体力—这是贯穿早期历史的主题。

But why is garlic such a healthy food?
可是食用大蒜为什么如此有益健康？

The short answer is that garlic creates a gas called hydrogen sulfide.
简单的说，是因为大蒜会产生一种名为硫化氢的气体。

At first, hydrogen sulfide does not seem very healthy.In fact, it is toxic and flammable.It smells like rotten eggs.But it does an important job in our bodies.Hydrogen sulfide relaxes blood vessels.
起初，硫化氢似乎不利健康。实际上，硫化氢有毒并且易燃。闻起来就像臭鸡蛋。不过它在我们体内作用斐然。硫化氢有助于血管舒张。

Relaxing blood vessels, in turn, allows more oxygen to travel to the body’s organs.It lowers high blood pressure and protects the body against cardiovascular disease.
血管舒张使得更多的氧气运输到体内各个器官。降低血压，预防心血管疾病。

Cardio relates to the heart and "vascular" relates to blood vessels.
“心血管疾病”的心指的是我们的心脏，血管指的是体内运输血液的通道。

Some researchers in China have gone so far as to call hydrogen sulfide the key to a longer life.
中国一些研究人员甚至视硫化氢为长寿之本。

In a 2007 study, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham studied how garlic increased hydrogen sulfide and how that, in turn, affected red blood cells.
2007年的一次研究中，阿拉巴马大学伯明翰分校的研究人员研究大蒜如何产生硫化氢气体及其如何影响造血细胞。

David Kraus led that study.At the time, he was an associate professor in the university’s Departments of Environmental Health Sciences and Biology.He and his team performed their study on rats.They found that when garlic compounds changed into hydrogen sulfide in the vascular system, the gas caused the muscles to relax.
David Kraus负责此次研究。那时，他还是该校环境健康科学与生物学系的副教授。他和团队以老鼠为实验对象。他们发现大蒜化合物在血管系统中转化成的硫化氢气体会放松肌肉。

In their report, the researchers wrote,This relaxation is the first step in lowering high blood pressure and gaining heart-protective effects.They found that these healthy effects are closely linked to the hydrogen sulfide produced from garlic compounds interacting with red blood cells.
报告中，研究人员写到，“放松肌肉是降低血压的第一步，同时保护心脏。”他们发现这些健康效应很可能是由大蒜化合物产生的硫化氢气体与红细胞发生反应而产生的。

In 2013, scientists were finally able to see this process happen.Chemists Alexander Lippert of Southern Methodist University in Dallas and Vivian S. Lin discovered how to observe this process in living human cells.
2013年，科学家终于能够亲眼证实这一反应。达拉斯南方卫理公会大学的化学家Alexander Lippert、Dallas和Vivian S. Lin观察了该反应如何在人类细胞中发生。

In a Science Daily news release, Lippert explains that they "made a chemical probe that reacts and lights up when live human cells generate hydrogen sulfide.“Lippert’s real-time video features live human cells making hydrogen sulfide.
在《科学日报》新闻稿中，Lippert称他们“创造了一种化学探测器，当人类细胞中产生硫化氢时会发生反应并发亮。” Lippert实时视频记录了人类细胞产生硫化氢的过程。

Their discovery has opened the door to more research into the health benefits of garlic and the production of hydrogen sulfide in the body.
他们的研究结果为更多有关大蒜健康效应的研究及体内生成硫化氢的研究打开了大门。

In a 2015 experiment at Penn State University,researchers injected a solution that would create hydrogen sulfide in the arms of healthy young adults.They wanted to see what hydrogen sulfide would do to a small area of blood vessels.
2015年，在美国宾夕法尼亚州大学的一次实验中，研究人员在健康的年轻人胳膊上注射一种能够产生硫化氢气体的溶液。他们想研究硫化氢会对小部分血管产生什么影响。

The initial findings are that hydrogen sulfide widened blood vessels, which then increased the flow of blood.These researchers plan to continue their research.They published their findings in The Journal of Physiology.
实验的最初发现是硫化氢会扩张血管，增加血流量。这些研究人员计划继续研究。他们在《生理学杂志》上发布了研究成果。

But let’s leave the laboratory and go to the kitchen.Don’t throw out older garlic that has sprouted.You may have thought that garlic growing light green sprouts was past its prime or old and on its way to the trash bin.
离开实验室，去厨房看看。一定要把发芽的老蒜留下。你可能认为冒绿芽的大蒜失去了它原本的营养价值，或者不再新鲜，应该丢到垃圾箱。

But not so fast.
不要着急。

Scientists have reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that this older garlic has even more properties that are good for our bodies than fresh garlic.When researchers tested garlic that had sprouted for five days, they found it had higher antioxidant activity than fresher bulbs of garlic.
《农业与食品化学杂志》报道，科学家发现大蒜愈老，对人体有益的成分愈多。研究人员测试了发芽五天的大蒜后发现其内部抗氧化活性剂高于新鲜大蒜。

Also, to get the full effect of garlic’s health benefits, do not add it to food or cook with it immediately.Cutting, crushing or mincing garlic releases the healthy compound found in the vegetable.But heating the garlic or adding it to other ingredients prevents the release of this healthy compound.So cut or crush or mince the garlic, and let it rest by itself for a couple minutes.
除此之外，要想全盘吸收大蒜的优点，我们不能直接将其烹饪。只有蒜片、蒜蓉、蒜末才会释放对健康有益的化合物。将其加热或是混入别的食材会阻碍大蒜释放化合物。因此，把大蒜切成片或切碎、碾碎吃更好，切完后再静置几分钟。

So, are there any downsides to garlic?Well, the same reason garlic is good for us and good in dishes that strong sulfur odor -- is the same reason it gives us bad breath.
那么，食用大蒜有坏处吗？噢，大蒜有益健康，也能烹制出美味的菜肴。但它产生的强烈的硫化氢臭气会导致口臭噢。

But there might be a cure for that, too.Yet another study found that eating an apple or lettuce after eating garlic cuts down on the strong garlic smell on one’s breath.
不过，也有解决之道。另一项研究发现，食大蒜后吃一个苹果或一些生菜会清新口气，减弱嘴巴呼气时强烈的大蒜味。

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report.
以上就是今日的健康和生活方式报道。

I’m Anna Matteo.
我是Anna Matteo。

In the Comments Section, share how you use garlic in your cooking.
在评论区说说你是如何烹饪大蒜的。