英国卫报：此时蜜糖,彼时砒霜(10)

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Metabolic¹ syndrome² ties together a host of disorders³ that the medical community typically thought of as unrelated, or at least having separate and distinct causes –

代谢综合症将一系列的疾病联系在一起，而医疗界通常认为这些疾病之间是无关联的，或者至少是有独立的、明确的致因的——

including obesity⁴, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and inflammation – as products of insulin resistance and high circulating insulin levels.

包括肥胖、高血压、高血糖和炎症——是胰岛素抵抗和高循环胰岛素水平的产物。

Regulatory systems throughout the body begin to misbehave, with slow, chronic⁵, pathological consequences everywhere.

全身的调节系统开始失调，慢慢地出现了一些难以根治的病症。

Once we have observed the symptoms of consuming too much sugar, the assumption is that we can dial it back a little and be fine – drink one or two sugary beverages⁶ a day instead of three;

一旦我们发现自己因摄入太多糖出现了一些症状，那么我们就可以少喝一点，每天喝一到两杯含糖饮料，别喝三杯，这样就好了。

or, if we're parenting, allow our children ice cream on weekends only, say, rather than as a daily treat.

或者，如果我们为人父母，那么我们就只允许孩子在周末吃冰淇淋，而不是每天都吃。

But if it takes years or decades, or even generations, for us to get to the point where we display symptoms of metabolic syndrome,

但是如果我们需要几年、几十年，甚至几代人的时间才会出现代谢综合症的症状，

it's quite possible that even these apparently⁷ moderate amounts of sugar will turn out to be too much for us to be able to reverse the situation and return us to health.

那么很有可能的情况是，即便是看似适量的糖对我们来说也会过量，而且无法扭转局面恢复健康。

And if the symptom that manifests first is something other than getting fatter – cancer, for instance – we're truly out of luck.

如果首先出现的症状不是变胖而是其它什么——比如癌症——那我们就真的没那么走运了。

The authorities who argue for moderation in our eating habits tend to be individuals who are relatively⁸ lean and healthy; they define moderation as what works for them.

主张饮食适度的权威人士往往是比较苗条、比较健康的人，他们把适度定义为对他们有用的东西。

This assumes that the same approach and amount will have the same beneficial effect on all of us.

假设同样的方法和相同的数量对所有人都有同样的好处。

If it doesn't, of course, if we fail to remain lean and healthy or our children fail to do so, the assumption is that we've failed – we ate too much sugar, or our children did.

如果没有，就是说，如果我们没有保持苗条和健康，或者我们的孩子没有保持苗条和健康，那么假设就是我们失败了——我们吃的糖太多了，或者我们的孩子吃的糖太多了。

If it takes 20 years of consuming sugar for the consequences to appear, how can we know whether we've consumed too much before it's too late?

如果摄入糖20年后才会产生后果，那么为了避免为时已晚，我们怎样才能知道自己是否摄入了过多的糖？

Isn't it more reasonable to decide early in life (or early in parenting) that not too much is as little as possible?

在人生的早期(或养育孩子的早期)就决定“少而不多”不是更合理吗？

Any discussion of how little sugar is too much also has to account for the possibility that sugar is a drug and perhaps addictive⁹.

任何关于糖少即是多的讨论都必须考虑到糖是一种药物的可能性，而且可能会上瘾。

Trying to consume sugar in moderation, however it's defined, in a world in which substantial sugar consumption is the norm and virtually unavoidable,

无论如何定义，在一个大量摄入糖是常态且几乎不可避免的世界里，吃糖要尽量适量，

is likely to be no more successful for some of us than trying to smoke cigarettes in moderation – just a few a day, rather than a whole pack.

对我们很多人来说，尝试摄入适量的糖可能和尝试吸适量的烟(一天几根，而不是一天一包)一样艰难。

Even if we can avoid any meaningful chronic effects by cutting down, we may not be capable of managing our habits, or managing our habits might become the dominant¹⁰ theme in our lives.

即便我们可以通过减少摄糖量来避免一些有害的慢性影响，可是我们也可能无法管理我们的习惯，或者管理习惯可能会成为我们生活中的一个重要的主题。

Some of us certainly find it easier to consume no sugar than to consume a little – no dessert at all, rather than a spoonful or two before pushing the plate to the side.

有人肯定会发现，不吃糖比吃一点糖更容易——完全不吃甜点，而不是在把盘子拿走之前吃个一勺两勺的。

1 metabolic   

adj.新陈代谢的

参考例句：

• Impressive metabolic alternations have been undergone during embryogenesis.在胚胎发生期间经历了深刻的代谢变化。
• A number of intoxicants are associated with metabolic acidosis.许多毒性物质可引起代谢性酸中毒。

2 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

3 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。

6 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

10 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。