VOA慢速英语:Will Eating Less Help You Live Longer?(翻译)

If you want to slow aging, you might want to eat less.Researchers in the United States say eating less can slow the aging process of cells in the body.
如果你想要减缓衰老，你可能要少吃一些。美国的研究人员说，少吃可以减缓体内细胞的衰老过程。

This finding is good news – if you are a mouse.The researchers studied mice, not people.
如果你是一只老鼠的话，那么，这个发现是个好消息。研究人员研究的是小鼠，而不是人。

John Price is a biochemistry professor at Brigham Young University in the U.S. state of Utah.
约翰·普里斯是美国犹他州布莱根青年大学的生物化学教授。

He and other researchers studied two groups of mice.One group was able to eat as much as it wanted.The researchers restricted what the animals in the other group ate.Their diet had 35 percent fewer calories than the first group of mice.
他和其他研究人员研究了两组小鼠。一组小鼠尽可能多吃。而研究人员对另一组小鼠进行了限制饮食。他们的饮食比第一组小鼠少百分之三十五的卡路里。

Price says the mice with the diet restrictions were “more energetic and suffered fewer diseases.”They were not just living longer, they seemed to stay younger for a longer period of time.
普里斯说，受到饮食限制的小鼠“更有活力，更少生病。”他们不只是活得更长，似乎保持年轻的时间也更长。

Price says that when you restrict calories (in mice), there is a direct increase in lifespan – the average age of the animal.He and his team found that calorie “restriction caused real biochemical changes that slowed down the rate of aging.”
普里斯说，当你限制（老鼠的）卡路里时，他们的预期生命期限- 动物的平均年龄直接延长。普里斯和他的团队发现“限制卡路里会真的产生生理变化，减慢老化的速度。”

But how?
但这是如何做到的？

The researchers found that fewer calories slow down a natural mechanism in cells called ribosomes.Price explains that ribosomes are responsible for making important proteins in the cells.But with fewer calories, they slow down.This gives the cells more time to repair themselves.
研究人员发现，较少的卡路里减慢了细胞内名为核糖体的自然机制。普里斯说，核糖体负责在细胞中产生重要的蛋白质。但是卡路里越少，他们产生的越慢。这给予细胞更多的时间来修复自己。

The University of Utah researchers say ribosomes use from 10 to 20 percent of the cell’s energy to make those proteins.
犹他大学研究人员说，核糖体使用百分之十到百分之二十的细胞能量来制造这些蛋白质。

In a press release on the study, Price wrote that "because of this,it is impractical to destroy an entire ribosome” when it starts to break down.
在一篇关于此项研究的新闻稿中，普里斯写道，“正因如此，当细胞开始分解时，破坏整个核糖体是不切实际的。”

However, “repairing individual parts of the ribosome on a regular basisenables ribosomes to continue producing high quality proteins for longer than they would otherwise.This top quality production, in turn, keeps cells and the entire body functioning well.“
然而，“定期修复核糖体的单个部分，使核糖体能够继续生产高质量的蛋白质，持续的时间比其他方式更长。反过来，这种高质量的生产会保持细胞和整个身体的良好运行。

Price used automobiles to explain how ribosomes repair themselves.He said that a “ribosome is a very complex machine,” like a car.
普里斯以汽车为例来解释核糖体如何修复自己。他说，“核糖体是一个非常复杂的机器，”就像一辆汽车。

Ribosomes, likes cars, need “maintenance to replace the parts that wear out the fastest.When tires wear out,” he explained, “you don’t throw the whole car away and buy” a new one.It costs less to replace the old tires.
像汽车一样，核糖体需要“维护更换磨损最快的部件。当轮胎磨损时，”他解释说，”你不需要把整辆车扔掉，再买一辆新车。更换旧轮胎的成本更低一些。

Earlier studies have suggested a link between calorie restrictions and slowed aging.However, this is the first to show how the ribosomes can influence aging.
早期的研究已经指出限制卡路里和减缓衰老之间存在联系。然而，此次研究是第一次表明核糖体是如何影响衰老的。

Price noted calorie restriction as a way to slow aging has not been tested in humans.But he adds that the main finding for people is the “the importance of taking care of our bodies.”
普里斯指出，作为一种减缓衰老的方法，限制卡路里的摄入尚未在人类中进行测试。但他补充说，对于人类来说，主要发现是“照顾我们身体的重要性。

“Food,” he said, “isn’t just material to be burned—it’s a signal that tells our body and cells how to respond.”
“食物，”他说，“不仅是被消耗的物质 – 它是一个信号，告诉我们的身体和细胞如何采取回应。

Price said the findings help to explain how exactly our bodies age.And this may “help us make more educated decisions about what we eat.”
普里斯说，研究结果有助于解释我们实际的身体年龄。这可能“帮助我们对吃什么做出更明智的决定”。

I’m Anna Matteo.
安娜·马特奥为您播报。