SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Diet News / Big Plans for Losing Weigh

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Diet News / Big Plans for Losing Weight / New Drug for Malaria¹
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Broadcast: Tuesday, June 01, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

 
Graphic² Image
And I'm Doug Johnson. Coming up, new evidence in support of a weight-loss method.

VOICE ONE:

A new plan to try to get more people around the world to lose weight.

VOICE TWO:

And, a new drug in the fight against another big problem: malaria.

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VOICE ONE:

Many people who try to lose weight know that no diet is perfect. But two new studies show that a diet low in carbohydrates⁴ can cause faster weight loss than a diet low in fats. This was true at least in the short term. Researchers published the findings in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The studies appear to support popular low-carbohydrate³ plans like the Atkins diet. Doctor Robert Atkins urged people to eat high-protein foods like meat and eggs. He told dieters to avoid foods high in starch⁵ and sugar. Doctor Atkins died last year. He fell on an icy street in New York and suffered a head injury. He was seventy-two years old.

VOICE TWO:

Our body uses carbohydrates for energy. It can also make energy from protein and fat. But proteins generally make people feel more satisfied with less food than carbohydrates do. This is one of the main arguments for a low-carb diet to lose weight.

One of the new studies took place at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. The Robert C. Atkins Foundation paid for the study but was not involved in the research. This organization works to get more people to follow the doctor's ideas.

One-hundred-twenty overweight adults took part in the study. They were between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five. They followed either the Atkins plan or a low-fat diet for one year.

After six months, the people on the Atkins diet lost an average of eleven kilograms. Those on the low-fat diet lost an average of six kilograms.

VOICE ONE:

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, did the second study. This study did not involve the Atkins Foundation.

One-hundred-thirty-two adults took part. Most had diabetes⁶. The researchers put half the people on a low-carb diet. The other half followed a low-fat diet.

After one year, the low-carb dieters had lost on average as much as eight kilograms. Yet the low-fat dieters lost about the same amount.

What happened? The low-carb dieters lost weight faster in the beginning. But the low-fat dieters lost weight throughout the year. However, the study found that the people with diabetes controlled their blood sugar better with low carbohydrates.

The new research also found that triglyceride levels fell more on the low-carb diet than on the low-fat plan. Triglycerides are fats in the blood that can increase the risk of heart disease.

Levels of so-called good cholesterol⁷ also appeared to improve with the low-carb diet. Higher levels of good cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. But levels of bad cholesterol did go up in some people.

VOICE TWO:

Doctor Walter Willett is a nutrition expert at the Harvard School of Public Health. Doctor Willett wrote a commentary on the two studies. In his words, "we can no longer dismiss very-low carbohydrate diets." He says Doctor Atkins should get "credit for his observations that many people can control their weight by greatly reducing carbohydrates."

But other health experts are not satisfied. They want more research done to learn the effects of following the Atkins diet for long periods of time. They warn that people who eat a lot of fat may give themselves a heart attack. And they question how good it is for people not to eat things like fruit.

VOICE ONE:

The Atkins diet and other low-carbohydrate plans have had a big effect on the food industry. Stores sell lots of new low-carb foods as well as lower-carb versions of breads and pastas. But supporters of the Atkins diet say people should not use it as an excuse to fill themselves with fatty foods.

Marketers of the eating plan have been doing more lately to try to explain it to people. They say proteins such as poultry⁸, fish, beef, pork and soy products should be the largest part of what people eat. But they say the next largest part should be green vegetables. After that, the plan calls for smaller amounts of fruits, oils, nuts, cheese and beans. The Atkins advice is that the smallest part of what people eat should be whole grain foods such as barley⁹, oats and brown rice.

VOICE TWO:

But, to lose weight, it says eating should center on protein, leafy vegetables and healthy oils.

Last week the New York Times reported what it said was apparently¹⁰ the first legal action against the Atkins diet. A Florida man said he suffered a blocked artery¹¹ from high cholesterol after two years on the diet. He asked for twenty-eight-thousand dollars. The Atkins Nutritionals company said the case was part of an effort to scare people into not eating any animal protein.

You're listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.

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VOICE ONE:

Low-carbohydrate diets or not, more people than ever weigh too much. The World Health Organization says this is a serious problem. It says the opposite problem, hunger, affects about eight-hundred-fifty-million people. But more than one-thousand-million are overweight. And that just counts adults. At least three-hundred-million adults are obese¹², severely¹³ overweight.

Health ministers around the world now have a plan called the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. They approved it in late May at the meeting of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.

VOICE TWO:

The plan urges people to eat less saturated¹⁴ fats and trans fatty acids. Food products often list trans fats under the name "partially¹⁵ hydrogenated" oil. The plan also urges people to eat less salt and sugar, and more fruits and vegetables. It calls for more physical activity. And it suggests that governments restrict food advertising¹⁶, especially messages aimed at children.

The plan took two years to develop. The sugar industry and several sugar-producing nations had objected to earlier proposals. They wanted to remove any discussion about limits on sugar. Some sugar producing nations feared that their farmers would be hurt by the new strategy.

VOICE ONE:

The director general of the W.H.O., Lee Jong-wook, praised the strategy as a major success in public health policy. He said it will provide countries with a powerful tool to fight diseases caused by obesity¹⁷.

Health officials say poor diet and lack of exercise are among the leading causes of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. They say these kinds of diseases now cause about sixty percent of deaths worldwide.

In the United States, the government estimates that one in three adults is obese. But health officials warn that the problem is spreading in developing nations as they gain more wealth.

And the problem is not just among adults. A group called the International Obesity Task Force estimates that one in ten children worldwide is overweight or obese.

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VOICE TWO:

Another big problem in the world is malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that about three-million people a year become infected with this disease. About one-million of them die. Most of the deaths are in Africa. Young children and pregnant women suffer the most.

Now, the United Nations has given its support to another drug to fight malaria. It is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine called artemisinin (are-TEM-is-in-in). This drug comes from a plant called the sweet wormwood. Chinese researchers discovered artemisinin more than thirty years ago. Tests took place in the early nineteen-nineties in Vietnam.

Malaria spreads through mosquito bites. New drugs are needed because the parasites¹⁸ that cause the infection develop resistance. Health experts hope to prevent resistance to artemisinin by giving the drug in combination with other medicines.

VOICE TWO:

But experts also warn against the overuse of malaria drugs by people who do not have the disease. They say that sick people often mistake influenza¹⁹ or other diseases for malaria and take anti-malaria medicine. This can add to the problem of drug resistance. There are home tests for malaria. Health experts say greater use of these tests could help make sure people take malaria drugs only when they really need them.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jill Moss²⁰. Cynthia Kirk was our producer. This is Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Doug Johnson. Listen again next week for more news about science, in Special English, on the Voice of America.

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 carbohydrate   

n.碳水化合物；糖类；(plural)淀粉质或糖类

参考例句：

• You should not have too much carbohydrate in your diet.你日常饮食中不该有过多碳水化合物。
• Cashew nuts are rich in carbohydrate.腰果含丰富碳水化合物。

4 carbohydrates   

n.碳水化合物，糖类( carbohydrate的名词复数 )；淀粉质或糖类食物

参考例句：

• The plant uses the carbohydrates to make cellulose. 植物用碳水化合物制造纤维素。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All carbohydrates originate from plants. 所有的碳水化合物均来自植物。 来自辞典例句

5 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。

6 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。

7 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
• They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。

8 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

9 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

10 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。

11 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

12 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。

13 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

14 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

15 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

16 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

17 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。

18 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

19 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

20 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。