经济学人35:节食的历史 A history of dieting

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;A history of dieting；Binge and purge¹；

　　文艺；书评；节食的历史；狂欢和清理；

　　Calories and Corsets: A History of Dieting Over 2000 Years. By Louise Foxcroft.

　　《卡路里和束身衣：2000年来的节食历史》 Lousise Foxcroft 著。

　　After the binge of the holidays, many stumble into January with a hangover, some fragile resolutions and a desire to shed a few pounds. Alas², few will benefit from rigid³ calorie-counting or cabbage-soup slurping⁴. In a recent study of 31 long-term diet plans, the American Psychological Association found that up to two-thirds of participants ended up heavier than before they started. Some diets are more sensible than others, but any regimen that promises swift and dramatic results will doom⁵ most followers⁶ to failure. Weight-loss pills and surgery are similarly ineffective—and sometimes dangerous—over time. Yet girth-management is big business, full of charismatic hucksters and fake science (fat-burning lip balm?), earning $40 billion a year in America alone.

　　在假日的狂欢之后，许多人宿醉，下着不坚定的决心，立志要减去数磅体重，在跌跌撞撞中进入了一月。哎呀，少有人会得益于严格计算卡路里饮食或是食用卷心菜汤所带来的好处。最近有一项关于31个长期节食计划的研究，美国心理协会发现有超过三分之二的参与者在结束计划时比他们开始时还要重。一些饮食计划明显比其他的要有效果，但是任何承诺快速有效的养生方法都注定让它的实践者们失败。减肥药片和手术经过时间的验证，同样效果不佳——有时甚至很危险。然而，腰围管理仍然是一件大事，这里充满着有推销能力的商家和伪科学（燃烧脂肪的唇膏？），每年就仅仅在美国就可以挣得400亿美元。

　　“The diet industry is all about exploitation and profit,” writes Louise Foxcroft in “Calories and Corsets”, her slim new book about the history of dieting. Less a banquet than a tasting menu (the tone is breezy, opinionated and occasionally rushed), she chronicles more than 2,000 years of movers, shakers and tummy-tuckers, highlighting both the wise and the wacky.

　　“节食产业几乎只有开发和盈利” Louise Foxcroft在《卡路里和束束身衣》一书中写道，她薄薄的新书描述了节食的历史。她的书与其说是一场盛宴，不如说是一本激起人食欲的菜单（整本书语调轻松，观点明确，有时有些咄咄逼人），Foxcroft按时间顺序，编写了2000多年来的行动者, 有影响的人物和减肥人士, 既写聪明人，也记叙古怪的人。

　　The word diet comes from the Greek diaita, an approach to health that linked the mental with the physical. Classical physicians saw being too fat or thin as a sign of an imbalance. Man “cannot live healthily on food without a certain amount of exercise”, observed Hippocrates, who believed in breakfast, long walks and prudent⁷ vomiting⁸. Philosophers such as Socrates saw a relationship between food and ethics⁹, as a taste for luxury often leads to greed and unjust behaviour.

　　“diet”节食这个单词来源于希腊语“diata”,意思是使身体和心灵都健康的方法。传统的医师认为太胖或者太瘦都是不平衡的标志。人类“依靠食物健康地生存必须要有定量的运动” 希波克拉底得出这个结论，他崇尚早餐，长距离的行走和适当呕吐。哲学家如苏格拉底发现了食物和道德之间的关系，吃大餐通常会导致人的贪婪和不公平行为。

　　Unlike the other deadly sins, gluttony is visible and so is often judged harshly, as if heft were always evidence of wanton indulgence or laziness. (The link between genetics and metabolism¹⁰ was not discovered until the 20th century.) In particularly hard times such as the two world wars, fat people were seen as traitors¹¹. Greater access to food and a rising stigma¹² against podge helped inspire the fashion for corsets in the 17th century, which caused overlapping¹³ ribs¹⁴, bad breath and the occasional death. When it comes to diets, women occupy a perversely¹⁵ central place, argues Ms Foxcroft. They are condemned¹⁶ for their gluttony, criticised for their vanity, manipulated for their insecurity心神不定 and also blamed for the flab on their husbands and children.

　　不同于其他致命的罪恶，暴饮暴食是显而易见的，因此常招致严厉的批评，似乎重量就是放肆纵容和懒惰的证据（直到20世纪，遗传学和新陈代谢之间的联系才被发现）尤其是在艰难时期如两次世界大战，肥胖的人往往被视为是叛徒。17世纪，人们可以吃到更多的食物，对于矮胖之人的羞辱也与日俱增，这一切引发了束身衣的流行。束身衣可以致使人肋骨重叠，口臭，甚至是死亡。Foxcroft 女士指出，当谈到节食时，女性通常占据着主导地位。她们常因暴食受到谴责，因虚荣招致批评，因心神不定而被人利用，因丈夫和孩子身上的肥肉受到指责。

　　Until the 18th century, ideas on diet were mostly about healthy eating, morality and control. Laxatives and emetics¹⁷ were common, but many philosophers and physicians had sensible ideas about restraint and nutrition. By the early 19th century complaints about fat became rife¹⁸, as even the working class had moved from the fields to the calorie-rich cities. This created a larger market for dieting solutions, particularly fads¹⁹ such as cold-rain douches, chest beatings, electrode zappings and massages²⁰ that promised to crush subcutaneous fat globules.

　　直到18世纪，人们关于节食的想法大都关于健康饮食，道德和控制。排泄和催吐非常普遍，但是许多哲学家和医师对于抑制和营养有着明智的看法。到19世纪早期，当工人阶级从农村搬到充满卡路里的城市，人们对于肥胖的抱怨开始流行起来。这为节食计划创造了更大的市场，尤其是冷水灌洗，击打胸部，电极刺激和按摩这些承诺可以减少皮下脂肪的方法。

　　The 19th century saw a chap named William Banting bring the first low-carbohydrate diet to a mass audience. A study in the Lancet later confirmed the value of favouring protein and fat over carbs well before a once overweight cardiologist named Robert Atkins figured this out for himself. Horace Fletcher, otherwise known as “The Great Masticator”, was emphatic²¹ about chewing each mouthful of food until it was liquid, and counted John D. Rockefeller and Franz Kafka among his disciples²².

　　在19世纪，有个叫做William Banting的人，他第一次将低碳水化合物食谱推荐给大众。后来在《柳叶刀》中刊登的一项研究证实了多摄入蛋白质和脂肪，少摄入碳水化合物的好处，在此之后，有一个曾经超重的心脏病专家Robert Atkins也为自己指出了这一点。Horace Fletcher，以“伟大的咀嚼者”广为所知，曾强调咀嚼每一口食物直到它们成了液体，他的拥趸包括洛克菲勒和卡夫卡。

　　There have been other gurus, plans, drugs and devices, but most offer short-lived results and long-term angst. Lasting²³ changes need slow but steady modifications²⁴ to lifestyle. Inspired by those early Greeks, who wished to achieve personal balance, not an ideal body type, Ms Foxcroft offers a suggestion that sounds enough like a resolution: “make sensible choices and stick to them.”

　　还有些权威，节食计划，药品和设备，但是大多数方法都缩短了人的寿命，引起了人们长期的愤怒。持久的变化需要对生活方式进行缓慢但稳定的调整。Foxcroft女士受到了早期希腊人的启发，要想获得个人的平衡，而不是理想的身材。她出了一个建议，但听起来更像一个决心：做理智的选择，并且持之以恒。

1 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

2 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

3 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

4 slurping   

v.啜食( slurp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was slurping his tea. 他正咂着嘴喝茶。
• Although the downturn has not stopped consumers slurping ice-cream, it has affected the bottom line. 尽管经济低迷没有阻止消费者吃冰淇淋，但却影响了净利润。 来自互联网

5 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

6 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

7 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

8 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

9 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

10 metabolism   

n.新陈代谢

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。

11 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

12 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

13 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

14 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

15 perversely   

adv. 倔强地

参考例句：

• Intelligence in the mode of passion is always perversely. 受激情属性控制的智力，总是逆着活动的正确方向行事。
• She continue, perversely, to wear shoes that damaged her feet. 她偏偏穿那双挤脚的鞋。

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 emetics   

n.催吐药( emetic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do not give patient any baking soda or emetics. 禁止给病人碳酸氢钠或催吐剂。 来自互联网
• Gastric lavage is preferable to emetics in poisoning. 治疗中毒病例，洗胃比用催吐剂好。 来自互联网

18 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

19 fads   

n.一时的流行，一时的风尚( fad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It was one of the many fads that sweep through mathematics regularly. 它是常见的贯穿在数学中的许多流行一时的风尚之一。 来自辞典例句
• Lady Busshe is nothing without her flights, fads, and fancies. 除浮躁、时髦和幻想外，巴歇夫人一无所有。 来自辞典例句

20 massages   

按摩，推拿( massage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At present the doctor is giving him daily massages to help restore the function of his limbs. 目前医生每天在给他按摩，帮助他恢复腿臂的功能。
• His father massages his nose and chin. 他爸爸揉了揉鼻子和下巴。

21 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

22 disciples   

n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一

参考例句：

• Judas was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. 犹大是耶稣十二门徒之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "The names of the first two disciples were --" “最初的两个门徒的名字是——” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

23 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

24 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》