直面超加工食品的危害

     近年来，随着工业化和商业化的快速发展，超加工食品在市场上的份额不断增加，其便利性和味觉刺激往往使人们欲罢不能。然而，我们常常忽视了这些食品可能带来的潜在危害。本文深入探讨了超加工食品的定义、制作过程以及与健康问题之间的紧密联系。通过对研究和专家观点的综合分析，我们将揭示超加工食品背后隐藏的风险。

[1] WHICH IS HEALTHIER: a bag of crisps or a kale salad? That is easy. Now which is healthier: a pizza made from scratch or one made from the same basic ingredients, with the same number of calories, pulled out of a box in the freezer?

一袋薯片和一份羽衣甘蓝沙拉哪个更健康？答案显而易见。那么请问两份用料一样、热量相同的自制披萨和冷冻盒装披萨，哪个更健康呢？

[2] Many people concerned with what they eat would instinctively say the former, perhaps citing a vague concern with “processed food”. Such food can often be delicious. (This columnist has a particular weakness for salty potato crisps.) And there is much to cheer about calories being cheap and abundant, when for most of human history they were neither. But as Chris van Tulleken’s new book, “Ultra-Processed People”, explains, that cheapness and abundance come at a cost.

许多关心饮食的人会本能地选择前者，也许他们对“加工食品”有着隐隐的担忧。这类食品往往很美味（笔者特别喜欢咸薯片）。此外，能以低廉的价格摄入大量的卡路里也是件值得高兴的事情。因为在人类历史上，卡路里往往昂贵且匮乏。但是，正如克里斯·范·图勒肯的新书《超加工人群》所解释的那样，卡路里的廉价和丰富是有代价的。

[3] Mr van Tulleken, a doctor and television presenter, draws a distinction between “ultra-processed food” (UPF) and “processed food”. Almost everything people consume is processed in some form: rice is harvested and hulled, animals are butchered. He uses a definition proposed by Carlos Monteiro, a food scientist, describing UPF as “formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, made by a series of industrial processes, many requiring sophisticated equipment and technology”. A pizza made from scratch contains minimally processed food (wheat turned into flour, tomatoes into sauce, milk into cheese). The one in the freezer, with its thiamine mononitrate and sodium phosphate, is UPF.

范·图勒肯是一名医生，同时也是一名电视主持人。他指出“超加工食品”（UPF)与“加工食品”有所区别。几乎人们摄入的所有东西都经过了某种形式的加工：大米要收割去壳，牲畜要进行宰杀。他采用了食品科学家卡洛斯•蒙泰罗提出的定义，称超加工食品是“经由一系列工业流程加工制成的配方食品，主要用于工业领域，其中许多步骤需要精密的仪器和复杂的技术”。自制披萨经过的加工程序最少（小麦加工成了面粉，番茄成了酱料，牛奶成了奶酪）。而冷冻披萨则含有硝酸硫胺和磷酸钠，是超加工食品。

[4] The cocktail of additives and preservatives in UPF harm people in ways both known and unknown. It seems to affect the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria that contribute to health in a range of ways. Calorie-rich but usually nutrient-poor, UPF contributes to obesity in part because its palatability and soft texture foster overconsumption, overriding satiety signals from the brain.

超加工食品中的添加剂和防腐剂会通过某些方式（包含已知和未知的）危害人们的健康。这种食品似乎会影响肠道中的微生物群（有益于健康的数万亿的细菌）。超加工食品卡路里含量高，但往往又没什么营养，这类食品风味可口、口感绵密，导致人们过度食用，压制了大脑传来的饱腹感信号，从而导致了肥胖。

[5] Because this frankenfood is cheap to produce and buy, UPF displaces healthier alternatives, particularly for poor people. Extra weight was once a sign of wealth, but among British and American women today, obesity rates are higher at lower-income levels. (Curiously, rates do not vary for men, even though a greater share of American men than women are obese.) 

因为这种转基因食品制作成本及价格低廉，所以超加工食品取代了更为健康的食品，对贫困人群尤为如此。超重曾是财富的象征，但是对于如今的英美女性而言，低收入人群的肥胖率反而更高 （不过说来也奇怪，虽然美国的超重男性比例高于女性，高收入男性的肥胖率和低收入男性的肥胖率不相上下。）

[6] The reasons why UPF can be harmful are not always clear, even to scientists. Additives that may be safe in isolation or small quantities may be harmful in combination with other chemicals or when consumed regularly. If we are what we eat, considering the impact of UPF is essential, but too often Mr van Tulleken’s case for clean food is accompanied by anti-capitalist preening: for instance, he nonsensically calls corporate-tax minimisation “part of ultra-processing”.

超加工食品有害的原因尚不明确，就连科学家也无法解释。某些添加剂单独使用或者小剂量使用时可能比较安全，但与其它化学物质一起摄入或是经常食用则可能对身体有害。如果人如其食，考虑超加工食品的影响至关重要，但是图勒肯在呼吁食用卫生食品的同时透露出了反资本主义的洋洋自得：例如，他荒谬地将企业避税称为“超加工的一部分”。

[7] Environment matters, too. People who live in what the author calls “food swamps”, where “UPF is everywhere but real food is harder to reach”, could spend large amounts of time and money seeking out fresh food, but that is not how most people live. There is nothing wrong with the odd fast-food trip, but anyone who can afford to eat less UPF probably should. 

环境也同样重要。一些人住在作者称为“食物沼泽”的地方，那里“超加工食品无处不在，真正健康的食材却很难获得”，人们可能需要花费大量时间和金钱寻找新鲜食品，但这并不是大多数人的生活方式。偶尔吃几次快餐并没有什么不对，但是有能力避免的话应该尽量少吃。