Chocoholics are rejoicing amid a proliferation of new scientific evidence showing cocoa may be good for the heart. But most chocolate is packed with calories and unhealthy sugar. A wave of new products with high levels of pure cocoa is being marketed as a way to enjoy chocolate"s benefits without empty calories.

　　巧克力控們要高興了，因?yàn)橐唤M最新的科學(xué)證據(jù)表明可可可能對心臟有好處。不過，以往市面上大部分的巧克力卡路里和含糖量都偏高。如今，一批批含高純度可可的巧克力新品陸續(xù)上市，讓人們在享受到巧克力所帶來的美味和健康的同時(shí)，完全不用擔(dān)心空熱量的問題。

　　The cocoa bean, actually a seed, grows in pods on trees. It contains compounds called flavanols, which have been shown to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and reduce overall risk of heart disease. Three scientific analyses published in the past six months pooled results of smaller studies to conclude that cocoa is good for the heart. Scientists believe flavanols work, at least in part, by stimulating production of nitric oxide, which relaxes vessels and improves blood flow.

　　可可豆(實(shí)際上就是可可子)生長在可可樹的豆莢中。可可豆含有黃烷醇，該物質(zhì)有助于降血壓、促進(jìn)血液流動并降低罹患心臟病的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。過去六個(gè)月內(nèi)發(fā)表的三項(xiàng)科學(xué)研究通過對多項(xiàng)小型研究結(jié)果進(jìn)行綜合分析，推斷出可可有益心臟的結(jié)論。科研人員認(rèn)為，黃烷醇可以刺激一氧化氮的產(chǎn)生，而一氧化氮可以放松血管、促進(jìn)血液流動，因此至少從這一點(diǎn)來看，黃烷醇是有功效的。

　　The catch, says David L. Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center, is that exactly how much chocolate is needed for a health benefit isn't known. 'Chocolate is a concentrated source of calories, so it's important to keep the dose within therapeutic range,' he says.

　　耶魯大學(xué)預(yù)防研究中心(Yale University’s Prevention Research Center)主任大衛(wèi)·卡茨(David L. Katz)表示，問題在于具體該攝入多少巧克力才對人體健康有益還不清楚。他稱，“巧克力含熱量高，所以將攝入量控制在對健康有益的范圍內(nèi)是很重要的。”

　　Most chocolate isn't labeled with milligrams of flavanols and there's no industry or scientific standard yet for measuring flavanols in chocolate. One objective measure is the cocoa percentage on the label. Milk chocolate can be as little as 10% cocoa paste by weight, with the rest in sugar, milk and other ingredients. Dark-chocolate bars typically contain 50% to 60% cocoa by weight, scientists say.

　　大多數(shù)巧克力產(chǎn)品并不標(biāo)注出黃烷醇的具體含量，到目前為止也還沒有可據(jù)以測量巧克力中黃烷醇含量的行業(yè)或科學(xué)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。比較客觀的一個(gè)指標(biāo)是標(biāo)簽上的可可含量。科研人員表示，按重量計(jì)算，牛奶巧克力中的可可含量可能只有10%，其余均是糖、牛奶和其他配料。而黑巧克力中的可可含量一般在50%-60%。

　　'The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the flavanol content, the higher the antioxidant content and thus we believe the greater positive health benefit,' says Washington, D.C., nutritionist Joy Dubost, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a trade group.

　　美國貿(mào)易組織營養(yǎng)和飲食學(xué)會(Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)的女發(fā)言人、華盛頓特區(qū)的營養(yǎng)學(xué)家喬伊·杜波斯特(Joy Dubost)表示，“可可含量越高，黃烷醇含量就越高，抗氧化物的含量也就越高，因此我們認(rèn)為，這對人體健康也更有益處。”

　　A growing number of specialty products are offering higher-test cocoa, as much as 100%, which makers say are minimally processed to retain as many nutrients as possible. Most of the brands don't have lab tests on the amount of flavanols, so there's no way to make a comparison.

　　越來越多的特殊產(chǎn)品開始提供更高純度的可可，有時(shí)純度甚至達(dá)到100%。生產(chǎn)商表示，這類產(chǎn)品只經(jīng)過最低程度的加工，以盡可能保留原有的營養(yǎng)成分。但大部分的巧克力品牌均不對黃烷醇含量進(jìn)行檢測，因此無法進(jìn)行比較。

　　Antidote 'red label' chocolate contains nothing but high-quality cocoa beans from Ecuador, says Red R. Thalhammer, owner of Tripple Red Corp., the Long Island City, N.Y., company that sells it. A bar is 440 calories. To drink your flavanols, Choffy is specially milled 100% cocoa and roasted to taste good when brewed like coffee─ideally in a French press, says Jason Sherwood, co-founder of Choffy LLC, Vancouver, Wash. It is $15 for a 12-ounce bag and 20 calories for an eight-ounce cup.

　　紐約州長島市(Long Island City)Tripple Red Corp.公司的老板里德·塔爾哈默(Red R. Thalhammer)表示，該公司銷售的“紅色包裝”的Antidote巧克力未摻雜任何配料，完全由來自厄瓜多爾的優(yōu)質(zhì)可可豆制成，這樣一塊巧克力含有440大卡熱量。想將黃烷醇“喝”進(jìn)肚子里?華盛頓州溫哥華市(Vancouver)Choffy LLC公司的共同創(chuàng)始人詹森·舍伍德(Jason Sherwood)表示，該公司出產(chǎn)的Choffy像烘焙咖啡一樣，將100%的純可可研磨成粉，烘焙出好味道──還是美妙的法式烘焙法。其12盎司一包的成品售價(jià)15美元，8盎司一杯的沖泡量中只含20大卡的熱量。

　　Or take your chocolate straight and chomp on raw cocoa beans. Navitas Naturals, sold by Navitas LLC, Novato, Calif., offers crunchy whole beans or nibs─beans with the shell removed─at $10 for an eight-ounce bag. To maintain maximum nutrients, the nibs aren't roasted, Navitas says. Unsweetened nibs are 130 calories an ounce; sweetened, 150 calories.

　　或者，直接將生可可豆放進(jìn)嘴里享受?加利福尼亞州諾瓦托(Novato)Navitas LLC公司銷售的Navitas Naturals系列產(chǎn)品就有脆脆的可可豆或去了殼的可可粒，8盎司一包，售價(jià)10美元。Navitas稱，為了盡可能地保留營養(yǎng)成分，這些可可粒都沒有經(jīng)過烘焙。未加糖的可可粒每盎司含130大卡熱量，加糖的含150大卡熱量。

　　Navitas Naturals, Choffy and Antidote haven't done clinical trials on their products.

　　Navitas Naturals、Choffy和Antidote的產(chǎn)品均未做臨床試驗(yàn)。

　　As for taste, the products overall were mostly intense and delicious, though it sometimes took a few bites to adjust to chocolate without sugar. Choffy was so delicious, I drank it without milk and sugar. Navitas's unsweetened nibs were a bit intense and the sweetened ones were a bit too sweet; a half-and-half mixture of the two was just right.

　　至于口味，這些產(chǎn)品總體上味道濃厚、可口，當(dāng)然，無糖巧克力的苦味有時(shí)候還是需要適應(yīng)一下的。Choffy產(chǎn)品味道極好，我在飲用時(shí)甚至沒有加奶和糖。Navitas的無糖可可粒味道有點(diǎn)濃，加糖可可粒又有點(diǎn)太甜了，折中一下倒是不錯(cuò)。

　　Then there's cocoa as a dietary supplement. CocoaWell dietary supplement pills from Reserveage Organics LLC, Gainesville, Fla., are filled with cocoa powder and other plant antioxidants. According to the bottle's label, every two pills contain at least 450 milligrams of pure plant flavanols. CocoaWell costs $30 for a month's supply. There are no clinical trials on CocoaWell yet.

　　此外，可可還被用作一種膳食補(bǔ)充成分。加利福尼亞州蓋恩斯維爾(Gainesville)Reserveage Organics LLC公司出品的CocoaWell膳食補(bǔ)充丸便含有可可粉和其他植物抗氧化物。根據(jù)瓶上的標(biāo)簽，每兩粒CocoaWell膳食補(bǔ)充丸至少含有450毫克的純植物黃烷醇。CocoaWell按一個(gè)月的補(bǔ)充量計(jì)算價(jià)格30美元。CocoaWell亦尚無臨床試驗(yàn)的支持。

　　Mars Inc. packs 350 milligrams of cocoa flavanols into its 30-calorie a day CocoVia daily supplements. To keep the flavanol content high, Mars 'gently' processes its cocoa' and adds an extract of cocoa flavanols made with a proprietary process, says Catherine Kwik-Uribe, director of research and development at the Mars Botanical unit. Mars also sells Cirku, a 15-calorie packet containing cocoa extract with a fruit flavor that you mix with water. Mars found heart-health benefits with a research blend of gently processed cocoa that is similar to CocoaVia but without the extract added. It doesn't yet have results on CocoaVia and Cirku.

　　瑪氏公司(Mars Inc.)含30大卡熱量的CocoVia每日營養(yǎng)補(bǔ)充產(chǎn)品含有350毫克的可可黃烷醇。瑪氏公司旗下業(yè)務(wù)部門Mars Botanical 的研發(fā)總監(jiān)凱瑟琳·奎克·烏里韋(Catherine Kwik-Uribe)表示，為了保證CocoVia中黃烷醇的含量，瑪氏公司“溫和”加工可可豆，并額外添加通過專利技術(shù)萃取的可可黃烷醇。瑪氏公司還銷售一種含15大卡熱量的可可萃取物產(chǎn)品Cirku，水果香型，可沖泡飲用。在一項(xiàng)研究中，瑪氏公司發(fā)現(xiàn)溫和加工后的一種可可混合物對心臟健康有益，這種可可混合物類似CocoaVia，但沒有額外添加萃取物。CocoaVia和Cirku的功效也尚無臨床研究佐證。

　　Some cardiologists say even the spate of recent research doesn't provide enough evidence for taking chocolate as a dietary supplement. 'I don't think it's overwhelming evidence,' says Carl Lavie, medical director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. Other nutrients─including Vitamin E─have looked just as promising and later proved disappointments, he adds. It isn't unreasonable to eat chocolate for health reasons if you enjoy the taste, he adds, but make sure to cut a snack of equivalent calories from your diet.

　　一些心臟病專家表示，雖然近期涌現(xiàn)出大批研究項(xiàng)目，但均不足以證明巧克力可以作為一種膳食補(bǔ)充。新奧爾良?xì)W奇斯能醫(yī)療中心(Ochsner Medical Center)的心臟病預(yù)防醫(yī)學(xué)主任卡爾·拉維(Carl Lavie)表示，“我認(rèn)為這算不上壓倒性的證據(jù)。”他補(bǔ)充道，其他一些營養(yǎng)成分，包括維他命E，起初看起來都像是充滿了希望，但隨后的結(jié)果卻是令人失望。當(dāng)然，如果你喜歡那種口味，以健康之名去吃巧克力也并無不妥，只是別忘了從其他零食中勻出相等大卡的熱量來。

　　There is some evidence that suggests as little as a few ounces of chocolate─including types found in many grocery stores─may be beneficial. A 45-person study published in 2010 co-authored by Dr. Katz found blood flow in vessels improved two hours after ingesting a 2.6-ounce serving of Hershey's HSY +0.30% Extra Dark (327 calories). The study was funded by Hershey's and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

　　有證據(jù)顯示，吃幾盎司的巧克力(哪怕是雜貨店里很常見的一些品種)也許確實(shí)有益健康。2010年發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)針對45人的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，攝入2.6盎司的好時(shí)公司(Hershey's)特濃黑巧克力(327大卡)兩個(gè)小時(shí)后，人體血管內(nèi)的血流情況有所改善。此項(xiàng)研究由好時(shí)公司和耶魯大學(xué)預(yù)防研究中心共同發(fā)起，卡茨博士是該研究成果的署名作者之一。

　　Four tablespoons a day of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa (about 40 calories) in a variety of research test beverages also has been shown to be heart-healthy, according to the study and at least one other published trial. Hershey's Extra Dark contains 420 milligrams of flavanols in a 1.4-ounce serving and Hershey's cocoa contains 210 milligrams of flavanols per tablespoon, says Debra Miller, director of nutrition at Hershey Co.'s Center for Health and Nutrition.

　　根據(jù)上述研究以及另外至少一項(xiàng)公開發(fā)表的臨床試驗(yàn)結(jié)果，在不同飲料樣本中加入一天四湯匙的好時(shí)無糖可可粉(約40大卡)均顯示出對心臟有益的功效。好時(shí)公司健康與營養(yǎng)中心的營養(yǎng)部主任黛布拉·米勒(Debra Miller)表示，好時(shí)特濃巧克力每1.4盎司含有420毫克的黃烷醇，而好時(shí)可可粉每湯匙含有210毫克黃烷醇。

　　According to research by Hershey Co., dutch processing, a chemical alkalizing process that makes chocolate less bitter, also destroys many nutrients. Consumers can choose regular cocoa instead of the dutch-processed variety. Also, Hershey's research has shown that baking a chocolate cake with baking soda, which is an alkaline, destroyed flavanols but nutrients were retained when using baking powder.

　　好時(shí)公司的研究顯示，荷蘭式加工法(一種鹼化加工法)可以降低巧克力的苦味，但同時(shí)也破壞了很多營養(yǎng)成分。相比之下，消費(fèi)者可以選擇常規(guī)加工的可可。此外，好時(shí)公司的研究還顯示，用小蘇打(屬鹼性)烘焙巧克力蛋糕會破壞黃烷醇，但用泡打粉烘焙的話則可以保留其中的營養(yǎng)成分。

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