奶茶喝多了会变笨？

年轻人需要什么？阳光、空气、水、奶茶。

 

现代人在工作生活压力大的情况下，不可避免还是有很多人会选择冒着变胖的风险买杯奶茶犒劳自己，让自己开心一点。

 

It’s 3 pm. Lunch was hours ago. Work is piled to the ceiling and you just can’t. What better way to push through than to throw down a handful of carbs for a quick sugar rush?

下午3点，吃午饭是几小时前的事了。工作堆积如山，你就是做不下去。还有什么比吃掉一把碳水化合物来快速补充糖分更好的方法呢?

 

Only it’s not a thing. Data collected from studies involving more than a thousand adults has found not only does sugar not give us a pick-me-up buzz, it actually makes us more tired and less alert.

不是这样的。从一千多名成年人参与的研究中收集的数据发现，糖不仅不会让我们兴奋起来，反而会让我们更累、更迟钝。

 

 

Researchers from Germany and the UK pulled together 31 studies on the consumption of carbohydrates and physiological responses in the name of figuring out if simple sugars really lift our moods and make us feel energetic.

来自德国和英国的研究人员将31项有关碳水化合物摄入和生理反应的研究合在一起，目的是弄清楚单糖是否真的能改善我们的情绪，让我们感到精力充沛。

 

The question has been a tricky one to answer. There’s a history of research supporting the belief that sugar affects the pleasure centres of our brain, making us crave its sweet, sweet goodness.

这个问题很难回答。有一项历史研究支持这样的观点：糖会影响我们大脑的愉悦中枢，让我们渴望它的甜味、享受甜味的好处。

 

There’s also evidence that we typically turn to sugar when we’re feeling depressed, anxious, traumatised, and stressed, often to the detriment of our long-term mental health.

也有证据表明，当我们感到沮丧、焦虑、创伤和压力时，我们通常会求助于糖分，这往往会损害我们的长期精神健康。

 

We humans simply love our sweet beverages and snacks. In the past half century, consumption of sugary drinks has more than doubled in the US, with the average citizen swallowing nearly three times the recommended daily amount.

我们只是热爱着我们的甜饮料和零食。在过去的半个世纪里，美国人对含糖饮料的消费量增加了一倍多，平均每人每天的摄入量几乎是建议摄入量的三倍。

 

While we all understand the benefits of moderation, the daily grind of everyday life drives us to look for a sneaky buzz where we can, especially when we’re in need of energy.

虽然我们都知道适度饮食的好处，但日常生活中的琐事驱使我们尽可能地寻找一种可以获取活力的方法，尤其是当我们需要能量的时候。

 

 

“The idea that sugar can improve mood has been widely influential in popular culture, so much so that people all over the world consume sugary drinks to become more alert or combat fatigue,” says psychologist Konstantinos Mantantzis from Humboldt University of Berlin.

来自柏林洪堡大学的心理学家康斯坦蒂诺斯·曼坦齐斯说：“糖能改善情绪的观点在流行文化中有着广泛的影响，以至于全世界的人都通过饮用含糖饮料来提高警惕或对抗疲劳。”

 

Plenty of studies paint a picture of an immediate improvement in alertness, arousal, and clear-headedness following ingestion of sugar after an amount of fasting. But there are also a number of studies that show the complete opposite.

大量的研究描绘了这样一幅画面：禁食一段时间，继而摄入糖后，人的警觉性、唤醒和清醒头脑立即得到改善。但也有一些研究表明完全相反。

 

According to the researchers, it’s because different methods are giving us different perspectives.

研究人员表示，这是因为不同的方法给我们带来了不同的观点。

 

To get to the bottom of the debate, the team reviewed the literature and deconstructed the variety of studies using a systematised approach that took into account variations in sugar, fasting times, and dosages.

为了弄清争论的真相，研究小组回顾了相关文献，并运用系统化的方法解构了各种各样的研究，该方法考虑了糖、禁食时间和剂量的变化。

 

The 31 studies that were fit to use provided data on just under 1,260 adult participants. Sifting through their details, the researchers could come to just one conclusion.

31项适合使用的研究提供了1260名成年参与者的数据。研究人员仔细分析了这些细节，得出了一个结论。

 

“Our findings very clearly indicate that such claims are not substantiated,” says Mantantzis.

曼坦齐斯说：“我们的研究结果非常清楚地表明，这种说法并没得到证实。”

 

“If anything, sugar will probably make you feel worse.”

“如果说有什么的话，那也是糖可能会让你感觉更糟。”

 

Not only will you not feel joy by downing that fizzy drink, your body will only be more lethargic and less awake than before.

喝下碳酸饮料，你不仅不会感到快乐，而且你的身体只会比之前更昏昏欲睡，更不清醒。

 

Admittedly, the study focused on relatively healthy adults, leaving open the small possibility that individuals with a significant mood disorder might feel differently.

诚然，这项研究关注的是相对健康的成年人，留下了一个小的可能性，即患有严重情绪障碍的人可能会有不同的感觉。

 

For the vast majority of us, though, the idea that we need to refill our reserves with a sugary shot needs to go into the bin.

然而，对于我们中的绝大多数人来说，我们需要用含糖饮料补充储备的想法应该被丢弃了。