How our bodies react to holiday food excess

你造暴饮暴食的伤害吗

If you’re otherwise healthy, is it OK to over-indulge at the dinner table at this time of year? Here’s the truth.

即使你身体健康，但在节日里任性吃喝合适吗?告诉你真相。

“Comfort food” is in greater demand at certain times of year more than others, be it due to short days and worsening weather, or simply the gastronomic indulgence of seasonal parties.

在一年中的某些日子里，比如情绪跌入低谷、天气条件恶劣，或者仅仅就是季节性美食狂欢派对,你更加的需要“治愈系食品”。

If you’re reading this in the Northern Hemisphere, bear in mind that your evolutionary programming means you’re primed to seek out calorific food sources in winter. "As it gets less light, people’s moods will be affected by that,” says Emily Henderson, a medical anthropologist at the University of Durham, “and that in turn will lead to changes in eating.” This includes turning to sweet treats and extra roast potatoes.

如果是生活在北半球，请记住，你的进化规则意味着冬天你得寻找有热量的食物。杜伦大学的医学人类学家Emily Henderson说，“因为冬天光照减少，人们的心情受到影响，相应的就会导致饮食发生变化。”这可能包括偏向吃甜食，和吃更多的烤土豆。

The question is, if you live an otherwise healthy lifestyle, is it OK to let loose once in a while?

问题是，如果你一直保持健康的生活习惯，偶尔放开大吃一次是否合适?

The answer is both yes and no – it’s all a matter of “how much”, says Barry Campbell, a gastroenterologist at the University of Liverpool.

来自利物浦大学的胃肠病专家Barry Campbell说，答案是两者兼有，关键是“度”的问题。

For starters, it’s not just weight gain or cholesterol that you have to consider. The bacteria in our digestive tract are impacted when we eat overly fatty foods, for instance. Studies have suggested that the proportions of beneficial and harmful bacteria can be adversely affected.

首先，你得顾虑的不只是体重增加或者高胆固醇。例如，当我们吃了太多的高脂肪食物，消化道的菌群会受到影响。研究表明，体内有益和有害的细菌的比例将打破平衡。

If such a pattern of eating continues, that could lead to long-term issues such as an inflamed gut, says Campbell. But there’s hope. Our microbiome has the capacity to rebound.

Campbell说，如果这种饮食模式持续下去，就会导致像肠道发炎这样的长期问题。但是还有救，因为我们体内微生物组有自愈功能。

A one-off day of moderate indulgence followed by a gastronomically frugal period of more careful eating could, then, be considered perfectly healthy.

从烹饪角度注意饮食的节俭，期间适度放纵一天被认为是非常健康的。

There’s more bright news for Christmas eaters. Campbell adds that certain vegetables are particularly good for us – and high on that list is the Brussels sprout. They’re rich in antimutagens which might play a role in lowering the risk of bowel cancer. The antimutagens counter the effect of proteins known as lectins, which can be quite damaging. “They can change the cells or even cause cell death,” comments Campbell.

对圣诞节的吃货们来说，有一些更让人愉快的消息。Campbell补充说，某些蔬菜对身体特别有好处，排在首位的便是孢子甘蓝。它富含抗诱变素，这种物质在降低肠癌的风险中扮演着重要角色。抗诱变素能抵抗一种被称为植物血凝素的非常有害的蛋白质。Campbell说，“它们可以改变细胞甚至致细胞死亡。”

He adds that vegetarians, despite cutting out lectin-rich meats, may still be at risk if they consume a lot of protein-filled legumes. Brussels all round, then.

他补充说，尽管不沾肉类(它们富含植物血凝素)，但如果素食者吃很多高蛋白的蔬菜，仍然存在风险。但孢子甘蓝却没有问题。

Jonathan Hoare, a gastroenterologist at The London Clinic, agrees that single bouts of overeating are nothing to worry about. “One day won’t do anything – it might give you indigestion that night though,” he says.

伦敦某诊所的胃肠病专家Jonathan Hoare，也同意单次暴饮暴食没什么好担心的。他说，“一次没什么影响，但那天晚上可能会消化不良。”

But he points out that what might really impact our health following seasonal periods is the fact that feasting is seldom confined to just one day. An illustration of this comes from the findings of a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Contrary to popular wisdom, weight gain among surveyed Americans was not as sharp during the holiday period as might be expected. However, people failed to shed the extra pounds after the holidays, making their weight accumulate year-on-year.

但他指出，可能真正影响我们的健康的是周期性的暴饮暴食，事实上所有的宴席不可能都局限在一天里。对此的阐述参考自新英格兰医学期刊上的一篇论文的研究结果。与大众观点相反，被调查的美国人在节日期间的体重的增加，并不如先前预测的那样急剧上升。然而，人们在节日之后未能成功甩掉那多余的肉， 致使他们他们的体重逐年上升。

“The net 0.48kg weight gain in the fall and winter probably contributes to the increase in body weight that frequently occurs during adulthood,” noted the paper.

这篇论文指出，“每个秋冬季节增加的0.48KG净重，极有可能给常见的中年发福做了贡献。”

Another study, this time in the Journal of Physiology, found that a bit of physical activity over festive periods can be a good thing. Some daily exercise, even when calorie intakes were much higher than normal, could be extremely beneficial, the researchers found. It led to better blood sugar control and less undesirable genetic variation in fat cells.

另一项研究，是来自生理学杂志的，称节日期间做一点健身运动对身体非常有益。研究人员发现，即使热量摄入量远高于平日，一些日常的锻炼也将会是非常有好处的。它将带来更好的控制血糖，并防止脂肪细胞的不良基因变异。

As Hoare comments, “The advice I’d give people is enjoy yourself but pay it back – you’ve got to have some lean days afterwards and you’ve got to out for some walks.”

正如Hoare所讲，“我给人们的建议是享受生活，但是记得复位。你必须得再过一些克勤克俭的日子，而且每天得外出散步。”