美国国家公共电台 NPR Is The Secret To A Healthier Microbiome Hidden In The Hadza Diet?

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The phrase endangered species often refers to charismatic animals like mountain gorillas¹ or polar bears. Well, today scientists are reporting that a whole different type of extinction² is happening inside our bodies. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff explains.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE³: So if you want to see where this extinction is happening, just look down at your belly⁴. Inside there is a whole ecosystem⁵. Yes, I'm talking about your microbiome, which contains more than a thousand species of bacteria. Justin Sonnenburg at Stanford says they are powerful critters.

JUSTIN SONNENBURG: These microbes influence biology all over our bodies. So they're affecting our immune system, our metabolism⁶.

DOUCLEFF: Even our brains.

SONNENBURG: So moods and behavior can be affected⁷ by our gut⁸ microbes. So it's really an important community for our health.

DOUCLEFF: A community, Sonnenburg says, that's in danger. Today in the journal Science, he and his colleagues report that some bacteria inside our guts⁹ are disappearing.

SONNENBURG: Over time, we are losing valuable members of our gut community.

DOUCLEFF: Sonnenburg and his colleagues analyzed¹⁰ the microbiomes of 18 different cultures around the world, including traditional cultures like hunter-gatherers in Tanzania who don't eat any processed food or refined sugars. The findings were crystal clear. The further away people's diets are from a Western diet, the more variety of microbes they have in their guts, including bacteria that are missing from Americans.

SONNENBURG: We've come to realize how important this gut community is for our health, and yet we're eating a diet that totally neglects them. So we're essentially¹¹ starving our microbial selves.

DOUCLEFF: In other words, a Western lifestyle has wiped a few species from our digestive tracts¹². Jens Walter, a microbiologist at the University of Alberta, says now the big question is, how is this affecting our health? He talked to us on Skype and says one hypothesis is that losing those bacteria has contributed to the rise in autoimmune diseases, including diabetes¹³.

JENS WALTER: All these diseases, you know, they have skyrocketed within the last 50 or 60 years.

DOUCLEFF: And they've already been linked to the microbiome in animal models.

WALTER: Although we lack a definite proof, at least the picture or the puzzle is getting more and more complete. And everything points to that hypothesis.

DOUCLEFF: And keeping people healthy likely means keeping the critters inside of us healthy and happy. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 gorillas   

n.大猩猩( gorilla的名词复数 )；暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• the similitude between humans and gorillas 人类和大猩猩的相像
• Each family of gorillas is led by a great silverbacked patriarch. 每个大星星家族都由一个魁梧的、长着银色被毛的族长带领着。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

5 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

6 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。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

9 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

13 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。