为什么法式炸薯条是好食物?

Ever wonder why French fries, potato chips and Cheetos are so appealing when you're feeling stressed? A new study suggests that elevated levels of salt in the body lower stress hormones and raise levels of oxytocin, a hormone involved in love and other social connections. The research, which was conducted in rats, was published in the Journal of Neuroscience. It found that rats' response to a stressful situation — being tied down — depended on how much salt they had in their bodies. When restrained, rats with high salt levels showed less activity in their brain's stress systems, compared with rats with normal salt levels.
你曾经怀疑过吗？当你感到有压力的时候，为什么法式炸薯条，薯片和奇多会如此吸引你？一项新的研究表明，体内盐含量的增加可降低压力荷尔蒙并提高催产素的水平，这是一种包含爱和其他社会关系的荷尔蒙。该项研究是对老鼠进行的试验，发表在《神经科学杂志》上。发现老鼠对应激情境的反应—冷静下来—是根据它们体内盐的含量多少而定的。当它们受到约束的时候，相对于正常盐分含量的老鼠，体内盐分含量较高的大脑压力系统表现得较不活跃。

Having high salt levels is technically called hypernatremia, and rats in this state also recovered faster from being stressed.
体内盐分含量高学术上称为高钠血，而这种情况下老鼠可以更快地从压力中恢复过来。

Moreover, the hypernatremic rats had elevated levels of oxytocin — a compound known as the "love hormone" for its role in helping to create social bonds, between friends, lovers or parents and children. Oxytocin is crucial to the processes that allow love and social contact to reduce stress. Not surprisingly, rats with lots of oxytocin showed less anxiety in social interactions. The effects of oxytocin are complicated, however — it doesn't always produce love and trust — but it is a significant player in those emotions. Bartenders often provide salty snacks to capitalize on what having hypernatremia is most likely to make you feel:  thirst. And indeed, drinking behavior may provide a clue as to why salt may be stress-relieving.
另外，血钠过多的老鼠催产素含量更高——一种称为“爱的荷尔蒙”的化合物，它帮助创造朋友，情人，父母和孩子之间的社会联系。催产素在允许爱和社会联系减少压力的过程中是很重要的。然而，催产素的影响是复杂的——它并不总是产生爱和信任——但它在这些感情上发挥着重要作用。调酒师们经常给客人提供咸点心，利用高血钠症让你感觉到渴。事实上，饮酒行为可以对为什么盐能缓解压力提供线索。

"We're calling this the Watering Hole Effect," said lead author Eric Krause, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati, in a press release. "When you're thirsty, you have to overcome some amount of fear and anxiety to approach a communal water source. And you want to facilitate those interactions — that way everyone can get to the water source."
“我们把这种情况叫做酒吧效应，”辛辛那提大学精神病学副教授，主要作者Eric Krause在一个新闻报道中说。“当你觉得渴，你不得不克服一些恐惧和焦虑去到公共水区。而且你想促进那些互动——每个人得到水的途径。”

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