From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
VOA英语学习健康生活方式方面的报道。
We may not need another study telling us that fruits and vegetables are good for our bodies.
或许已经有很多研究表明，蔬菜水果对身体有好处。
But research and studies can help us to understand how foods affect our bodies in good ways and bad.
但相关的研究还是能帮助我们理解食物对我们身体所产生的好坏作用。
Researchers at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine
南加利福尼亚大学凯克医学中心的研究人员
have found another great reason to eat more fruits and vegetables.
发现了多吃蔬菜水果的另一个好处。
They say that potassium-rich foods like sweet potatoes, avocados, spinach and bananas could help to lower your blood pressure.
他们表示，富含钾的食物（如地瓜、牛油果、菠菜、香蕉）能促进血压的降低。
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is an international problem.
高血压是全球性问题。
Experts at the World Health Organization say more than one billion people suffer from high blood pressure.
世界卫生组织的专家表示，有10亿多人患有高血压。
The condition causes 51 percent of deaths from stroke and 45 percent of deaths due to heart disease.
患有高血压的人中，分别有百分之五十一的人和百分之四十五的人因中风和心脏病而死亡。
Health officials in the U.S. say heart disease and stroke together kill more Americans each year than any other cause.
美国卫生部的工作人员表示，每年死于心脏病和中风的人要多于死于其他病因的人。
Years of research have linked sodium, or salt, intake to increased blood pressure.
多年来的研究表明，钠（或盐分）的摄入量与血压升高之间有关联。
So, officials advise people to use salt in moderation.
因此，他们建议大家适度摄入盐分。
Experts at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say Americans get most of their sodium --
美国疾病控制与预防中心的专家表示，美国人摄入的大部分钠
about 75 % -- from processed foods and eating at restaurants.
（约达百分之七十五）来自于加工食品和饭店用餐。
This is a good reason to eat fresh food prepared at home.
说在家里准备新鲜食材来吃很健康是有原因的。
Alicia McDonough is a professor of cell and neurobiology at the Keck School of Medicine.
艾丽西娅·麦克多诺是凯克医学中心的一名细胞神经生物学教授。
She led this recent study.
她牵头进行了最近的这项研究。
McDonough says that eating less sodium is a well-known way to lower blood pressure.
麦克多诺表示，减少钠的摄入量可以降低血压，这个大家都知道。
But she also says evidence suggests that eating more potassium may have an equally important effect on hypertension.
但她同时也表示，摄入过多钾可能也会造成高血压。
For her research, she examined studies that looked at the link between potassium and sodium.
在她自己的研究中，她查阅了一些调查钾与钠关系的研究。
McDonough found that people who ate more potassium generally had lower blood pressure unconnected to how much sodium they ate.
麦克多诺发现，基本上，钾摄入量高的人血压都相对较低，这与他们是否摄入钠并无关系。
Her research suggests that the body does create a balance, using sodium to control potassium levels in the blood.
通过研究，她发现，人体的机体会制造一种平衡，用钠的含量来控制血液中钾的含量。
“When dietary potassium is high,” she says, “kidneys excrete more salt and water, which increases potassium excretion.”
麦克多诺表示，“当摄入较多钾时，肾脏就要分泌更多的盐分和水分，而这会增加钾的分泌量。”
This process cleans the kidneys.
这一过程可以清理肾脏。
She explains that as humans evolved, they ate a diet rich in potassium, but low in sodium.
麦克多诺解释说，人类在进化过程中，开始食用更多的钾，更少的钠。
This has lead us to crave sodium, not potassium.
所以，我们的身体更想要钠，而非钾。
“If you eat a typical Western diet,” she says, “your sodium intake is high and your potassium intake is low.”
麦克多诺还表示，“如果采用典型的西方食谱，那么钠的摄入量就会变高，钾的摄入量就会变低。”
She adds that this greatly “increases your chances of developing high blood pressure.”
她补充道，这就大大“增加了患高血压的可能性。”
McDonough published her study in the April 2017 issue of the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and metabolism.
2017年4月，麦克多诺将自己所做的研究发表在《美国生理学会杂志：内分泌学与新陈代谢》上。
Health experts at the CDC agree that
疾病控制与预防中心的健康专家表示，
“eating enough potassium each day can help balance out some of the harmful effects that high sodium intake can have on blood pressure.”
“每天摄入充足的钾能够帮助人体抵消掉钠摄入量过高对血压造成的有害影响。”
However, they also say that eating less sodium is important as well.
不过，他们也表示，少摄入钠也很重要。
On its website, the CDC lists these fruits and vegetables -- and other foods -- as being good sources of potassium.
疾病控制与预防中心在其官网上推荐了以下钾含量丰富的食物：
potato, baked with skin, leafy greens such as cooked beet greens, spinach and Swiss chard,
烤土豆，青菜，比如做好的甜菜叶、菠菜、唐莴苣
bananas, sweet potato, baked in skin, fruit and vegetable juices such as prune, carrot, pomegranate, tomato and orange,
香蕉，烤地瓜，蔬菜水果汁，比如西梅汁、胡萝卜汁、石榴汁、番茄汁、橙汁
acorn squash, plain nonfat yogurt, beans and lentils, soybeans,
南瓜，脱脂酸奶，黄豆和扁豆，大豆
and some types of fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and halibut.
以及一些鱼类，如鲑鱼、马鲛鱼、金枪鱼、比目鱼。
But how much potassium should we eat each day?
不过，每天摄入多少钾合适呢？
A 2004 study by the Institute of Medicine shows adults should eat about 4.7 grams of potassium a day to lower blood pressure.
美国医学研究所2004年做的一项研究表明，成年人每天应摄入4.7克钾来降低血压。
McDonough says eating about 60 grams of beans would provide 50 percent of that.
麦克多诺表示，大概摄入60克的豆类就能提供百分之五十的钾。
And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report.
以上就是本期的健康生活方式报道。
I’m Anna Matteo.
安娜·马泰奥为您播报。
