纪录片《饮食变迁》 第32期:贮存脂肪是天性

Maybe we've all been judging the obese¹ too harshly.

也许我们对肥胖者的评价过于尖刻了

Chronic² weight gain is a modern-day phenomenon.

慢性增重是一种当代的现象

But could an ability to store fat

然而储存脂肪的能力真的

have actually played a crucial role in our evolution?

在我们的进化历程中起到了关键作用吗

According to obesity³ geneticist Dr Eric Ravussin,

根据肥胖遗传学家埃里克·鲁瓦森博士的理论

our hunter-gatherer ancestors

我们以采集狩猎为生的祖先

had to live off whatever they could find.

必须靠食用他们能找到的东西为生

Sometimes that wasn't much.

有时那些是不够的

Which is when fat as an

也就是说 脂肪作为

efficient storage system really came into its own.

有效的储存系统 应该得到应有的重视

Populations went through periods of feast and famine.

人们会经历食物充足以及饥荒的时期

During the periods of famine,

在饥荒的时期

maybe two-thirds or

或许三分之二甚至

three-quarters of the population would disappear.

四分之三的人口会死于饥荒

But those who were chubbier⁴

而那些丰满的人

or those fatter babies would survive and then

或者说是肥胖的婴儿则会活下来

procreate themselves and pass on these genes⁵.

繁衍后代 将自己的基因传递下去

So, according to this theory,

根据这一理论

at times of famine it was

饥荒的时期

literally⁶ a case of the survival of the fattest.

实际上是胖者生存的时期

The cycles of feast and famine

在饥饿与富足的循环中

that humankind has been

人类则要经历

subjected to was an important natural selective

重要的自然选择过程

, in which all the

在这一过程中

babies or the people a little bit chubbier

丰满的成人或者是婴儿

would survive the periods of famine and

可以在饥荒的情况下生存下来

then be able to gain the weight during the period of feast.

而在食物充足的时候 他们会增加体重

1 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

4 chubbier   

adj.胖乎乎的，圆胖的，丰满的( chubby的比较级 )

参考例句：

5 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。