英文杂志-Magazine：Food

 　　Food

　　Do we live to eat or eat to live? That is the question.

　　I remember as a child growing up in Britain having fish and chips or baked beans on toast at least twice a week on my lap while watching my favourite cartoon. Of course I enjoyed my food but it wasn’t something I often talked about. Now, I’m not blaming my culture for my lack of interest in food at an early age. Perhaps my silence was due to the fact that I didn’t know anything about food. How many children know that prawns¹ only turn pink when they are cooked and that tuna does not come from a can? Now after having lived in Southern Europe, Asia and Australia I find myself talking about food all the time. The world has seduced² my taste buds and opened my mouth.

　　Food that’s plain and simple is often the best but not always so. For many of us food is a need. For others, food is a friend. Yet to some others food is an enemy. Cravings grip us at all the wrong times while we struggle to follow a strict diet that turned all our favourite desserts into mortal sins. There are others who regard food as an investment. To them, food has some kind of special powers that can control their lives, for better or for worse. If that’s the case, it’s time to change and make food work for us.

　　Let’s start by using food the way you would use a pencil or a pair of scissors. We begin using food as a tool. Like tools, some food works well for some tasks and some is specially³ designed to accomplish others.

　　Let’s say you’re feeling down. You had a tough day or a tiff⁴ with a best friend that drove you round the bend. You decide to treat yourself to a bar of chocolate –nothing like chocolate to perk⁵ you up. Unfortunately you’re setting yourself up for a higher dose of the blues⁶. That’s because chocolate bars have a hefty amount of fat and sugar – which takes a long time to digest and can draw energy away from your brain – and caffeine which will temporarily boost your mood and alertness but send you crashing back down as soon as its effect starts to wear off.

　　Does this mean snacking is a bad idea when you’re feeling down? Not at all. You just have to do it wisely. In place of a chocolate bar, have a slice of toast with chunky marmalade. Then instead of fat and caffeine you’ve just given yourself a dose of vitamin C that has been shown to fight depression. In addition, marmalade is loaded with the type of sugar that spurs the release of mood-lifting chemicals in the brain.

　　In fact you can manage your mood and boost your brainpower, metabolism⁷, even your sex life, by eating the right food. Whatever your goals, you can custom-design a diet to help you meet them. Here’s how taking control of your food can help you take control of your life.

　　The next time you have an important meeting that requires mental processing, try some brain processing food that looks like this: tuna salad on whole wheat bread, green salad with tomatoes, a handful of nuts, bananas, a glass of skimmed milk. Tuna, bananas, nuts and whole wheat bread are high in vitamin B6, which has been scientifically proven to help preserve cognitive⁸ skills. Protein-rich food contains a nutrient⁹ called Tyrosine, which studies have shown, are linked to clear thinking and alertness. Greens such as broccoli¹⁰ and spinach¹¹ naturally contain loads of vitamins and iron. Lack of these nutrients¹² can lead to fatigue¹³ and difficulty in concentrating.

　　Having said all that, let’s not be too stressed about what we eat. Many scientists these days believe that indulging in life’s little pleasures may actually help improve your health because of the psychological lift it gives you. There is a lot of truth in the old saying that ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’.

1 prawns   

n.对虾，明虾( prawn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mine was a picture of four translucent prawns, with two small fish swimming above them. 给我画的是四只虾，半透明的，上画有两条小鱼。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
• Shall we get some shrimp and prawns? 我们要不要买些小虾和对虾？ 来自无师自通 校园英语会话

2 seduced   

诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷

参考例句：

• The promise of huge profits seduced him into parting with his money. 高额利润的许诺诱使他把钱出了手。
• His doctrines have seduced many into error. 他的学说把许多人诱入歧途。

3 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

4 tiff   

n.小争吵，生气

参考例句：

• They patched up their tiff again.他们平息了争执，又和好如初了。
• There was a new tiff between the two girls.那两个女孩之间有一场新的吵嘴。

5 perk   

n.额外津贴；赏钱；小费；

参考例句：

• His perks include a car provided by the firm.他的额外津贴包括公司提供的一辆汽车。
• And the money is,of course,a perk.当然钱是额外津贴。

6 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

7 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。

8 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

9 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。

10 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

11 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

12 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。