在地中海，健康的秘诀不只是饮食

The Mediterranean Diet: Is It the Food or the Lifestyle?
在地中海，健康的秘诀不只是饮食

For decades, health authorities have argued that the diet of people living in Mediterranean countries, with its emphasis on olive oil, nuts and fresh produce, is a driving force behind the region’s historically low rates of heart disease.

几十年来，卫生部门一直称，生活在地中海国家的人重视使用橄榄油、坚果和新鲜农产品的饮食习惯，是这一地区心脏疾病发病率一直比较低的一个主要因素。

But now a team of filmmakers led by a British cardiologist say that the function of the Mediterranean diet may have been oversimplified. They contend in a new film that the region’s good health is driven not only by food, but by an array of lifestyle factors, some of which they claim have been overlooked.

不过，现在有一群由一名英国心脏病学家带队的电影人表示，地中海饮食所起的作用可能被过分简化了。在一部新影片中，他们提出，这一地区的人们身体状况之所以比较好，不仅仅是因为食物，还有一系列生活方式方面的影响因素。他们表示，其中有些因素过去一直被人们忽视了。

In their new film, they hope to show viewers how these factors come together to promote longevity and to also clarify some misconceptions about the Mediterranean diet itself.

他们希望通过这部影片向观众展示，这些因素如何一起促成该地区人口的长寿，也借此澄清有关地中海饮食本身的一些错误观念。

The new film is called the “Pioppi Protocol,” and it is set in the small town of Pioppi, Italy, just south of Naples. The filmmakers chose the town because Ancel Keys, the first scientist to champion the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, lived there for much of the last three decades of his life.

这部名为《皮奥皮实验报告》(Pioppi Protocol)的电影取景于意大利那不勒斯市以南的小镇皮奥皮。几位电影人之所以选择这个镇，是因为在过去30多年里，第一位对地中海饮食对健康的益处予以肯定的科学家安塞尔・基斯(Ancel Keys)，有许多时间就居住于此。

Mr. Keys conducted epidemiological research linking saturated fat to heart disease. His work also inspired the widespread adoption of low-fat diets, which many health authorities no longer endorse.

基斯过去进行的流行病研究将饱和脂肪与心脏疾病联系起来。他的研究成果也激发人们广泛采用了低脂饮食，不过许多国家的卫生部门已经不再大力推荐这种做法。

Dr. Aseem Malhotra said he was inspired to visit the Mediterranean and spend time learning about the traditional diet in which he believes so strongly that he prescribes olive oil to his patients.

阿西姆・马尔霍特拉(Aseem Malhotra)博士表示，他受到启发前往地中海地区，花时间了解那里的传统饮食习惯。他笃信这些饮食的功效，会给自己的病人开橄榄油作为处方。

Dr. Malhotra, an interventional cardiologist and adviser to the United Kingdom’s national obesity forum, said studies show that people who quit smoking see large and immediate reductions in their risk of heart attacks and strokes. But something that his heart disease patients often fail to appreciate, he said, is that changes in diet can have a similarly rapid effect.

作为一名介入性心脏病学家，同时也是英国国家肥胖症论坛的顾问，马尔霍特拉表示，有研究显示，戒烟之后人们会发现自己心梗和脑卒中的风险会在短时间内大幅降低。但他说，他治疗的心脏病患者往往看不到，饮食变化同样可以在短时间内产生这样的效果。

“There is a perception among people who have heart attacks and heart disease and I see this in my patients that there’s already so much damage there’s not much they can do,” Dr. Malhotra said. “But by changing your diet, you can dramatically reduce your risk of having a heart attack even if you have coronary artery disease. We have data suggesting that the risk reduction can happen within weeks.”

“患有心梗和心脏病的人群中有这样一种观念：身体已经有了这么大的损伤，他们所能做的也不多。我的病人有些也这么想，”马尔霍特拉表示。“但通过改变饮食，你可以迅速大幅低心梗的风险，哪怕你患有冠状动脉疾病。我们有数据显示，这种风险在几周之内就会降低。”

Dr. Malhotra visited the Mediterranean with a documentary filmmaker, Donal O’Neill. Together they noticed that a healthful diet was one of many factors that seemed to play a role in the longevity of people in Pioppi, where the average person has a life expectancy of about 90.

马尔霍特拉博士与纪录片制片人多纳尔・奥尼尔(Donal O’Neill)一起去了地中海地区。他们发现，似乎有很多因素对皮奥皮地区人们的长寿起到了作用，而饮食只是其中一种。在那里，人们的平均预期寿命大约为90岁。

They were surprised by how the people they encountered enjoyed and savored their food, turning every meal into an excuse for a social occasion with friends and family. They noticed that people spent a lot of time outdoors getting fresh air. Instead of designating daily periods of time to jog or exercise, they engaged in a great deal of leisurely physical activity like walking and riding bicycles. And they seemed to have low levels of chronic stress.

在那里碰到的人那么享受自己的饮食，几乎把每一餐都变成与亲朋好友相聚社交的机会，这让他们很惊讶。他们也注意到，人们花很多时间在户外活动，呼吸新鲜空气。他们不是每天在特定时段慢跑或做运动，而是参与很多悠闲的体力活动，比如走路和骑自行车。而且他们的慢性应激水平似乎比较低。

“We need to redefine the Mediterranean diet,” Dr. Malhotra said. “The truth is that it’s a lifestyle. It’s the whole approach. It’s the food. It’s the social interaction. It’s getting the right kind of exercise. It’s being outside. It’s getting sunlight and sunshine. The question, though, is how can we combine all these lessons from this village with what we know about modern medicine.”

“我们需要重新定义地中海饮食，”马尔霍特拉博士说。“事实上，它是一种生活方式。是那一整套东西，包括饮食，也包括社交，获得正确的锻炼，去户外活动，以及晒太阳。不过，问题是我们如何把从这座村镇学到的东西与我们所知的现代医学结合起来。

Dr. Malhotra and Mr. O’Neill were also surprised by what they learned about food in the Mediterranean.

在那里对地中海地区食物的了解，也很是令马尔霍特拉博士和奥尼尔意外。

Although olive oil and vegetables were a constant, some aspects of the traditional diet varied greatly from one part of the region to the next. They found that pork and lamb were common in some areas, but that sugar was traditionally consumed infrequently. They learned that all olive oils are not created equal. And they discovered that the type of grain typically eaten in Pioppi is very different from what most Americans consume.

尽管橄榄油和蔬菜是当地人经常吃的东西，但其传统饮食的某些方面在不同地区差别非常大。他们发现食用猪肉和羊肉在部分地区相当普遍，但糖在当地传统饮食中用得比较少。他们了解到橄榄油的制作方式不尽相同，还发现皮奥皮人经常吃的一种谷物与大多数美国人食用的谷物大相径庭。

Dr. Malhotra said that in the film he would try to address some misconceptions about the diet while showing people how they could improve their health in only a few weeks by adopting various aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle.

马尔霍特拉博士表示，在影片中，他将试图纠正人们对这种饮食的一些误解，同时也展示出，如何通过吸取地中海生活方式的各种元素，在短短几周内迅速改善自己的健康状况。

“We want to show people that this is something that’s feasible for them,” Dr. Malhotra said. “Simple changes can make a dramatic change to their health and vitality in a short space of time.”

“我们想告诉人们，有些东西对他们来说是可以实现的，”马尔霍特拉博士说。“做一些简单的改变，就可以让健康状况得到巨大改善，还可以在短时间内提高自身活力。”

Dr. Malhotra and Mr. O’Neill hope to release the film in June. But they say that to get there they need more funding. Instead of looking for commercial support, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money from the public. Dr. Malhotra said they did this to avoid taking money from any companies with a financial interest in the outcome.

马尔霍特拉和奥尼尔希望能在明年6月让这部影片上映。但他们表示，为了实现这一点，他们需要更多资金。他们没有寻求商业支持，而是在Kickstarter上发起了一项向公众筹集资金的活动。马尔霍特拉博士表示，这么做是为了避免接受任何与其研究结果存在商业利益的企业的资金。

“One of the reasons we have so much misinformation today is biased funding of research and commercial conflicts of interest,” he said. “We wanted to make this a publicly funded movie to keep it pure and to keep it as independent as we can.”

“如今我们获取这么多虚假消息的一个原因就在于，带倾向性的研究资金和商业利益冲突，”他说。“我们想让这部影片成为公众集资制作的电影，保持它的纯粹性，也尽我们所能保持它的独立性。”