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Having Your Coffee and Enjoying It Too A disclaimer: I do not own stock in Starbucks nor, to my knowledge, in any other company that sells coffee or its accouterments. I last wrote about America's most popular beverage four years ago, and the latest and largest study to date supports that earlier assessment of coffee's health effects. 声明：据我所知，我没有在星巴克(Starbucks)、也没有在其他任何销售咖啡或相关设施的公司持有股票。我上篇写咖啡（美国最流行的饮料）的文章是在四年前，最近的、也是迄今为止规模最大的研究佐证了此前我所做出的咖啡会让人在健康方面受益的评价。 Although the new research, which involved more than 400,000 people in a 14-year observational study, still cannot prove cause and effect, the findings are consistent with other recent large studies. 最近的这项调查，是对超过40万人进行了长达14年的观察性研究，虽然仍没有证明咖啡与健康之间的因果关系，但是这项研究结果与近来其他大规模研究的结果是一致的。 The findings were widely reported, but here's the bottom line: When smoking and many other factors known to influence health and longevity were taken into account, coffee drinkers in the study were found to be living somewhat longer than abstainers. Further, the more coffee consumed each day - up to a point, at least - the greater the benefit to longevity. 研究结果被广泛报道，而其中最核心的一点是：如果研究数据中考虑到吸烟和其他已知的影响健康和寿命的诸多因素，那么喝咖啡的人就比不喝咖啡的人更长寿。此外，在一定程度内，每天喝的咖啡越多，就越益寿。 The observed benefit of coffee drinking was not enormous - a death rate among coffee drinkers that was 10 percent to 15 percent lower than among abstainers. But the findings are certainly reassuring, and given how many Americans drink coffee, the numbers of lives affected may be quite large. 研究观察发现，喝咖啡的益处不算太大——喝咖啡的人比不喝咖啡的人，死亡率低10％至15％。但这个结果肯定令人欣慰，考虑到有许多美国人喝咖啡，咖啡可能会影响到为数众多的人们的生活。 Updating the Evidence 最新证据 In decades past, experts repeatedly warned that a coffee habit could harm health and shorten lives. And, indeed, the new study did find that when the data were adjusted only for age, the risk of death was greater among coffee drinkers. 在过去几十年中，专家们一再警告说，经常喝咖啡可能会损害健康，缩短生命。的确，最新的研究发现，如果研究数据中只考虑到年龄，那么喝咖啡的人的死亡风险更高。 But when the researchers took into account other health-related characteristics among the participants, like smoking, alcohol use, meat consumption, physical activity and body mass index, those who regularly drank coffee lived longer. 但是，如果研究人员考虑到参与者的其他与健康相关的特性，比如吸烟、饮酒、食肉、体力活动和体重指数，那么经常喝咖啡的人则更长寿。 "Coffee drinkers shouldn't be worried," said Neal Freedman, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute who directed the study. "Their risk is quite similar to that of nondrinkers." 美国国家癌症研究所(National Cancer Institute)的流行病学家尼尔·弗里德曼(Neal Freedman)是这项研究的负责人，他说：“喝咖啡的人大可不必担心，他们的健康风险基本等同于不喝咖啡的人。” Coffee drinkers who were relatively healthy when the study began were less likely than nondrinkers to die of heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, infections, injuries and accidents. 在这项研究开始时参与者身体都较为健康，但喝咖啡的人，比不喝咖啡的人更不可能死于心脏疾病、呼吸系统疾病、中风、糖尿病、感染、外伤和意外事故。 The study, published in May in The New England Journal of Medicine, examined data on 402,260 adults in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. They were ages 50 to 71 and free of heart disease, cancer and stroke when the study began in 1995. By 2008, 52,515 had died. Dr. Freedman and his co-authors examined why they died in relation to how much coffee they said they drank when the study began. 美国卫生研究院-美国退休者协会(NIH-AAPR)合作进行了这项饮食和健康研究，分析了来自402260位成年人参与者的数据，《新英格兰医学杂志》(The New England Journal of Medicine)在今年5月发表了研究报告。研究始于1995年，参与者的年龄介于50至71岁之间，并且都没有患心脏疾病、癌症或中风。到了2008年，其中52515位参与者已经去世。弗里德曼博士和他的合作者分析了参与者的死因与其在研究开始时自诉的喝咖啡量之间的关系。 The risk of death gradually dropped as the number of cups the participants drank increased to four or five. At six cups or more each day, there was a slight rise in death risk, compared with that at four or five cups. But the chances of death remained lower than among people who drank no coffee. 如果参与者每天喝咖啡的量控制在四到五杯以内，喝咖啡越多，死亡风险越低。每天喝六杯或更多咖啡的参与者，其死亡风险略高于每天喝四或五杯咖啡的参与者，但其死亡风险仍然低于不喝咖啡的人。 Reflecting practices of the mid-1990s, the researchers considered a cup of coffee to be 8 to 10 ounces. The gargantuan cups now often served would count as more than one cup, Dr. Freedman said. Several of these extra-large cups can cause restlessness, irritability, sleeplessness and anxiety (and might enable me to fly without an airplane). 按照研究开始时（1995年）的习惯，研究人员将一杯咖啡的量定在是8到10盎司之间（227克到283克）。弗里德曼博士说，现在常用的咖啡杯可比那时的杯子大多了。喝几杯超大杯咖啡，可能引起烦躁、易怒、失眠和焦虑（估计喝几杯，我不用乘飞机就能飞起来了）。 Contrary to previous belief, at usual levels of consumption, coffee is not any more of a diuretic than the equivalent amount of water. Up to six cups a day can be counted toward one's recommended liquid intake. 与以前的观念相反，饮用常规量的咖啡，可以不考虑咖啡的利尿作用，而是直接计算成等量的水。在每天六杯的范围内，饮用咖啡的量可计入每天的推荐液体摄入量。 Effects on Health 对健康的影响 Coffee is a complex substance that contains more than 1,000 compounds that may affect health. Caffeine, a stimulant, is the most studied and sought after. The amounts in coffee can vary greatly, from about 70 milligrams in a shot of espresso to about 100 milligrams in eight ounces of brewed coffee. 咖啡是复杂的物质，其中包含的1000多种化合物都有可能会影响健康。其中所含的咖啡因是一种兴奋剂，是研究得最多、最受追捧的。不同咖啡饮料中咖啡因的含量可以相差很大，一杯浓咖啡含大约70毫克的咖啡因，而一杯8盎司的滴滤咖啡含大约100毫克的咖啡因。 But there can be wide variability in caffeine levels, even in similar beverages. As Jane V. Higdon and Balz Frei of Oregon State University reported in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, when the same type of coffee was purchased from the same store on six different days, the caffeine content varied from 130 milligrams to 282 milligrams in an eight-ounce cup. 即使是同种咖啡饮料，咖啡因的含量也变化很大。俄勒冈州立大学(Oregon State University)的简·V·希格顿(Jane V. Higdon)和巴尔兹·弗雷(Balz Frei)在《食品科学与营养评论》(Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition)发表的论文中报告称，研究人员分别在六天从同一家咖啡店购买同种类型的咖啡，结果一杯8盎司咖啡的咖啡因含量从130毫克至282毫克不等。 Nor is caffeine is the only compound in coffee important to health. In the new study, little or no difference was found in death rates among those who drank predominantly caffeinated coffee or decaffeinated coffee. Other substances - like antioxidants and polyphenols - probably also play a health-related role, the researchers noted. 咖啡因并不是咖啡中唯一与健康有关的化合物。在这项新研究中，参与者无论是主要喝含咖啡因的咖啡，还是喝低因咖啡，其死亡率基本上没有差异。研究人员指出，咖啡中的其他物质如抗氧化剂和多酚类物质，可能也起到了有益健康的作用。 Their findings should reassure people concerned about possible harm from substances long used to remove caffeine from coffee. Fear of these chemicals prompted many manufacturers to switch to the Swiss water method for removing caffeine. 人们一直担心用于从咖啡中去除咖啡因的化学品可能会给健康造成危害，这项研究结果应该能打消人们的顾虑。正是因为担心这些化学品的影响，许多咖啡制造商改用瑞士水洗法来去除咖啡因。 But how coffee is brewed can make a health difference. Two prominent chemicals in coffee beans, cafestol and kahweol, are known to raise blood levels of cholesterol and especially artery-damaging LDL cholesterol. These substances are removed when coffee is prepared through a filter, but remain in espresso, French press and boiled coffee. Single-serving coffee pods, like those used in a Keurig, contain filters. 但是，冲泡咖啡的方式不同，对健康的影响则会有所不同。众所周知，咖啡豆中含有两种重要的化学物质——咖啡醇(cafestol)和咖啡豆醇(kahweol)，它们能提高血液中胆固醇的含量，尤其是对动脉有害的低密度脂蛋白(LDL)胆固醇。用滤纸滴漏做出的咖啡能滤除这两种化学物质，但是用蒸汽加压咖啡机、法式压滤壶、以及滴滤壶做出来的咖啡中仍然存在这两种化学物质。单份式咖啡机会内置滤纸，例如Keurig品牌的咖啡机。 Even though coffee can cause a temporary rise in blood pressure, the new study, like those before it, found the risk of heart disease to be lower among otherwise healthy coffee drinkers. Other benefits suggested by recent studies include a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, liver disease and Parkinson's disease. Some research has found a reduced risk of depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease among coffee drinkers. 尽管咖啡可导致血压暂时上升，但是与以前的研究结果一致，这项新研究发现健康的参与者，如果常常喝咖啡的话，他们患心脏病的风险相对较低。最近的研究揭示了咖啡的其它益处，包括降低罹患Ⅱ型糖尿病、肝脏疾病和帕金森氏症的风险。一些研究还发现喝咖啡的人，患抑郁症、痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病的风险较低。 People who engage in strenuous physical activities can also benefit, but only if their coffee contains caffeine, which helps muscles use fatty acids for energy and blunts the effect of adenosine, extending the time before muscles fatigue. Post-exercise soreness is also reduced and recovery time shortened. 从事剧烈体力活动的人也能从喝咖啡中受益，但前提是他们喝的咖啡中必须含有咖啡因，这是因为咖啡因有助于肌肉使用脂肪酸作为能量，并且可以减弱腺苷的影响，从而使得肌肉疲劳的时间延后。同时，运动后的酸痛可以得到减轻，恢复元气的时间也可以缩短。 Whether coffee poses a risk to pregnant women remains controversial. A causal relationship between coffee consumption and miscarriage has not been demonstrated at caffeine intakes of less than 300 milligrams a day, but some studies have found increased risk of low birth weight associated with consuming more than 150 milligrams a day. 孕妇喝咖啡是否有风险，目前仍然存在争议。在每天的咖啡因摄入量少于300毫克的程度内，孕妇喝咖啡和流产之间的因果关系尚未得到证明，但一些研究发现，如果孕妇每天的咖啡因摄入量超过150毫克，那么生下低体重婴儿的风险就会增加。 Keep in mind, too, that caffeine is a drug. Some medications, including Tagamet, Diflucan, Luvox, Mexitil, estrogens and antibiotics like Cipro and Levaquin, interfere with the metabolism of caffeine and can increase its effects. 另外，请记住咖啡因是一种药物。有些药物，包括泰胃美(Tagamet)、大扶康(Diflucan)、兰释(Luvox)、脉序律(Mexitil)，还有雌激素和抗生素，如环丙沙星(Cipro)和左氧氟沙星(Levaquin)，能够干扰咖啡因的代谢，增强咖啡因的效用。 In other cases, caffeine can enhance the effect of drugs like aspirin and acetaminophen (a benefit for pain relief). Caffeine can be toxic if used with prescribed doses of the antipsychotic medication clozapine. 在其他情况下，咖啡因可增强某些药物的药效，如阿司匹林和对乙酰氨基酚(acetaminophen)，从而有利于缓解疼痛。但是咖啡因如果与规定剂量的抗精神病药物氯氮平(clozapine)同时服用，就可能是有毒的。 |
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