Vegetarians live longer than meat-eaters, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, a Journal of the American Medical Association.
據《美國醫學會雜誌•內科學》(JAMA Internal Medicine)周一發表的一項研究顯示，素食者比肉食者更長壽。《美國醫學會雜誌•內科學》是美國醫學會雜誌(Journal of the American Medical Association)的一種。
The authors tracked 73,308 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for almost six years. The church is known for promoting a vegetarian diet, though not all of its followers adhere to that teaching. Researchers found out what type of diet participants ate, then followed up to find out how many of those participants had died and how.
研究作者對73,308名基督復臨安息日會(Seventh-day Adventist Church)的成員進行了為期近六年的跟蹤調查。該教會主張素食，不過並非所有的信徒都遵守這一教義。研究人員調查研究對象所吃食物的種類，然後進行隨訪，找出有多少研究對象去世以及死因。
Vegetarians in the study experienced 12% fewer deaths over the period. Dietary choices appeared to play a big role in protecting the participants from heart disease, from which vegetarians were 19% less likely to die than meat-eaters.
研究期間，素食者死亡人數比肉食者少12%。飲食選擇似乎在保護研究對象避免罹患心臟病方面發揮了重要作用。素食者死於心臟病的人數比肉食者少19%。
There also appeared to be fewer deaths in the vegetarian group from diabetes and kidney failure.
素食者中死於糖尿病和腎衰竭的人數似乎也比肉食者少。
Caloric intake didn't seem to matter. The different participant groups generally ate around the same amount of calories daily. Researchers found that the beneficial associations weren't related to energy intake.
熱量攝入量似乎並不重要。不同的研究對象小組每日攝入的熱量大體相同。研究人員發現，飲食模式給身體帶來的益處與能量的攝入量無關。
The advantage appeared stronger in men than women, whose diet didn't seem to make as much of a difference. Eating plant foods didn't seem to protect participants against cancer, which struck both the vegetarians and non-vegetarians in roughly equal measure.
素食對男性的益處比女性更明顯。飲食模式對女性健康的影響似乎沒有男性大。素食似乎並沒有保護研究對象避免罹患癌症。素食者和非素食者罹患癌症的比例大體相同。
The paper, written by researchers at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California, is larger and includes a more diverse population than previous research, says lead author Michael Orlich, director of the preventive medicine residency program there. 'People are confronted with all sorts of nutritional information, but the bottom line is, 'How will your diet pattern affect your risk of dying?'' he says.
研究報告由位於加州洛馬林達的洛馬林達大學(Loma Linda University)的研究人員撰寫。報告第一作者、洛馬林達大學預防醫學實習項目主任奧爾利奇(Michael Orlich)說，相比之前的研究，這次的研究規模更大，研究對象更加多樣化。他說，人們面對各種各樣的營養信息，但關鍵在於，你的飲食模式將如何影響你的死亡風險?
Researchers don't know why a plant-based diet seems to have a protective effect, but one likely reason is the nutrient profile of vegetarian diets, which tend to be higher in fiber and lower in saturated fat. Vegetarians tend to be thinner, another factor known to have an effect on health outcomes, Dr. Orlich says. He adds that the study benefited from examining a group whose rates of alcohol and tobacco use are low.
研究人員不知道素食為何似乎起到保護作用，但一個可能的原因在於素食的營養成分。素食往往纖維含量較高，飽和脂肪含量較低。奧爾利奇說，素食者往往較瘦，這是另外一個已知的對身體健康有影響的因素。他補充說，還有一個原因是研究對象飲酒和吸菸的比例都不高。
Of course, just eliminating meat from the plate doesn't always equal a healthy meal. Vegetarian dishes─for example, a vegetable spring roll─still can be high in fats and calories. And certain meats are healthy.
當然，僅僅不吃肉並不總是等於健康的飲食習慣。素食(比如蔬菜春卷)的脂肪和熱量含量仍可能很高。此外，某些肉類也是健康的。
Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day Adventist institution specializing in health care. The church recommends a diet with 'generous use of whole-grain breads, cereals and pastas, a liberal use of fresh vegetables and fruits, a moderate use of legumes, nuts and seeds,' according to a statement on its website. The study published Monday was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
洛馬林達大學是一所專注於醫療保健的基督復臨安息日會機構。據該教會網站上的一份聲明說，建議的飲食包括大量全麥麵包、麥片和義大利麵，不限量的新鮮蔬菜和水果，適量的豆類蔬菜、堅果和果仁。周一發布的研究由美國國立衛生研究院(National Institutes of Health)資助。
When adopting a vegetarian lifestyle, nutritionists recommend watching closely to make sure the intake of key nutrients is sufficient. These include iron and zinc, frequently found in meat, and calcium and vitamin B12. Roughly 5% of Americans consider themselves to be vegetarians, according to a survey published last year by Gallup.
當選擇一種素食生活方式時，營養學家建議需要密切注意確保主要營養的攝入是充足的。這些主要營養包括鐵和鋅(常含於肉中)，以及鈣和維生素B12。據蓋洛普(Gallup)去年發布的一項調查顯示，約有5%的美國人自認為是素食者。
The Loma Linda researchers used a questionnaire to categorize participants into groups based on their diets.
洛馬林達大學的研究人員利用一份問卷調查，根據飲食習慣將研究對象劃分為不同的類別。
The categories include nonvegetarians and people considered semi-vegetarians, who eat meat more than once a month but less than once a week. In addition to meat, vegans eliminate dairy and eggs from their diets.
研究對象分類包括非素食者及被認為是半素食的人。半素食者指的是每個月食用一次以上的肉食，但每周吃肉不到一次。除肉類外，嚴格的素食者也不吃奶製品和蛋類。
Others eat fish, in addition to the cohort that eats no meat but consumes dairy and eggs. For many of the analyses, the researchers lumped all of these subsets of people together as simply 'vegetarians.'
其他類別有吃魚的，以及不吃肉但吃奶製品和蛋類的。對很多分析項目來說，研究人員將所有這些類別統稱為「素食者」。
（實習編輯：宋天敏）