垃圾食物之所以讓我們發胖，是因為垃圾食物卡路裏高嗎？並不一定哦。真正的原因是什麽呢？讓我們跟著【讀者文摘】的一篇文章，一起探索下發胖的真正原因。
Why does junk food make us fat?
垃圾食品為什麽讓我們發胖？
Atypical junk food meal contains nearly twice as many calories as a traditional British meal. Whether it’s pasties, pizza or pop, there is no doubt that junk food is on the increase, and so are our waistlines.
非典型的垃圾食品餐含有的卡路裏幾乎是傳統英式餐的兩倍。毫無疑問，垃圾食品數量正在增加，無論是餡餅、披薩還是碳酸飲料，我們的腰圍也在增加。
Are calories the culprit?
卡路裏是罪魁禍首嗎？
「The fundamental cause of obesity」 the World Health Organisation says, 「is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended.」
世界衛生組織說：「肥胖的根本原因是消耗的卡路裏和攝入的卡路裏之間的能量不平衡。」
To those who love a slice of cake or occasional hamburger, this is good news, because as long as we use more energy than we take in, no harm will be done. The trouble is we keep coming back for more, until we’ve overdone it.
對於那些喜歡吃片蛋糕或偶爾吃個漢堡包的人來說，這是個好訊息，因為只要我們消耗能量多於我們吸收的能量，就不會有傷害。問題是我們不斷吃更多，直到我們吃的過多。
Protip: You could always use an air fryer to substitute your unhealthy treats for the low calorie alternative!
專業提示：您可以隨時使用空氣炸鍋，用低熱量的替代品替代不健康的飲食！
Take the Mexican diet for example (regularly listed as one of the most obese countries): more than 20% of calories come from junk food in Mexico, with sweet treats such as the ‘Gansito’ snack cake and Coca-Cola being firm favourites.
以墨西哥飲食為例（通常被列為最肥胖的國家之一）：墨西哥超過20%的卡路裏來自垃圾食品，「Gansito」零食蛋糕和可口可樂等甜點是最受歡迎的。
In the controversial American film ‘Supersize Me’, Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but junk food and packed in the calories to disastrous effect. While not to the same extremity, we are eating too much junk food and so consuming too many calories.
在備受爭議的美國電影【超大尺寸的我】中，摩根·斯普爾洛克只吃垃圾食品，並且是災難性數量的卡路裏食品。雖然不是同一個極端，但我們吃了太多的垃圾食品，吃進去了太多的卡路裏。
Professor Hebebrand from Essen University in Germany (‘essen’ rather appropriately means ‘to eat’ in German) suggests that 「the modern ‘obesogenic’ environment is characterised by the ubiquitous availability of palatable, energy-dense and inexpensive foods.」 Junk food is everywhere, it’s cheap and it tastes nice.
德國埃森大學（Essen University ）的Hebebrand教授（「essen」在德語中的意思是「吃」）認為，「現代'致胖'環境的特點是無處不在的、可口的、能量密集的和廉價的食物。垃圾食品無處不在、價格便宜、味道上佳。
In fact, it’s addictive
事實上，是上癮
Surprising research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse has shown that junk food affects the brain in a similar way to cocaine and heroin: hijacking the dopamine system in the brain that is associated with feelings of reward and pleasure. And that’s why we crave junk food, eating more until we’ve eaten too many calories.
美國國家藥物濫用研究所（National Institute on Drug Abuse）一項令人驚訝的研究表明，垃圾食品對大腦的影響與可卡因和海洛因相似：劫持大腦中與獎勵和快樂感相關的多巴胺系統。這就是為什麽我們渴望垃圾食品，並且吃得很多，直到我們吃了太多卡路裏。
Chocoholics really do exist! Food manufacturers know just the right combinations of fat, sugar and salt to maximise the dopamine effect.
巧克力上癮確實存在！食品制造商知道如何將脂肪、糖和鹽進行組合，最大限度地提高多巴胺效應。
Some medicines, such as those for Parkinson’s disease, alter dopamine levels, and dopamine levels fall as we age, affecting appetite. Dopamine really does determine our desire for food.
一些藥物，如帕金森病的藥物，會改變多巴胺水平，多巴胺水平會隨著年齡的增長而下降，影響食欲。多巴胺確實決定了我們對食物的渴望。
Once the brain is hooked, there’s a gut reaction
大腦一旦上癮，就會有本能反應
Junk food seems to affect the bowels as well as the brain. Junk food significantly affects the bacterial population in our gut: ten days of a junk food diet eliminates over 1,000 of the 3,500 species of gut bacteria.
垃圾食品似乎會影響腸道和大腦。垃圾食品顯著影響我們腸道中的細菌族群：連續吃十天的垃圾食品可以消除 3,500 種腸道細菌中的 1,000 多種。
Since gut bacteria are among the first cells to encounter and process our food, and play a crucial role in determining what is absorbed and digested, this ‘bacterial blitzing’ will affect what happens to the food we eat, probably leading to weight gain as more is stored as fat.
由於腸道細菌是最早遇到和處理我們食物的細胞之一，並且在決定吸收和消化的食物方面起著至關重要的作用，這種「細菌閃電戰」會影響我們吃的食物，可能會導致體重增加，因為更多的食物被儲存為脂肪。
The bacterial make-up of our gut is thought to be determined by our genes as well as our diet and so some people put weight on despite healthy eating. This is being tested in the simply-named British Gut Project.
我們腸道的細菌組成被認為是由我們的基因和飲食決定的，因此有些人盡管飲食健康，但仍會增加體重。這正在英國腸道計畫中進行測試。
The leader of this project, Professor Tim Spector, suggests a diet that is as diverse and natural as possible to fight obesity. We might do well to learn from mid-Victorian times, when fruits, oily fish and vegetables were the staple. Herring not hamburgers; chestnuts not chips.
該計畫的負責人提姆·斯佩克特教授建議盡可能多樣化和自然的飲食來對抗肥胖。我們不妨學習維多利亞時代中期的飲食，當時水果、油性魚和蔬菜是主食。吃鯡魚而不是漢堡包，吃栗子而不是薯條。
