Do we live to eat or eat to live? That is the question.
我们活着为了吃还是吃为了生活？那是一个问题。


I remember as a child growing up in Britain having fish and chips or baked beans on toast at least twice a week on my lap while watching my favourite cartoon. Of course I enjoyed my food but it wasn’t something I often talked about. Now, I’m not blaming my culture for my lack of interest in food at an early age. Perhaps my silence was due to the fact that I didn’t know anything about food. How many children know that prawns only turn pink when they are cooked and that tuna does not come from a can? Now after having lived in Southern Europe, Asia and Australia I find myself talking about food all the time. The world has seduced my taste buds and opened my mouth.
我还记得我还是一个生长在英国的小孩子时，至少一周两次一边看电视一边吃着放在膝盖上的鱼和薯条或烤豆土司。当然，我很喜欢我的食物，但是我通常不怎么谈论食物。我现在不是在因我早年时缺乏对食物的兴趣而批评我的文化。也许我的沉默是因为我不了解食物。有多少孩子知道，虾被煮熟的时候才会变粉红色，金枪鱼不是来自罐头呢？住过南欧，亚洲和澳大利亚后，我发现现在自己总是谈论食物。世界诱惑了我的味蕾，撬开了我的嘴巴。


Food that’s plain and simple is often the best but not always so. For many of us food is a need. For others, food is a friend. Yet to some others food is an enemy. Cravings grip us at all the wrong times while we struggle to follow a strict diet that turned all our favourite desserts into mortal sins. There are others who regard food as an investment. To them, food has some kind of special powers that can control their lives, for better or for worse. If that’s the case, it’s time to change and make food work for us.
   平淡简单的食物通常是最好的，但不总是如此。对于我们许多人来说，食物是必需品。对于其他人来说，食物是朋友。但是对于另外的其他一些人来说，食物是敌人。在严格的饮食把我们最爱的甜品变成凡人的罪过，而我们严格遵守时，渴望总在错误的时间紧紧抓住我们。有人认为，食物是一种发明。对于他们来说，食物或好或坏是某种特殊的力量，掌控着他们的生活。如果是那样，那么是时候改变食物，让食物为我们服务了。

 

Let’s start by using food the way you would use a pencil or a pair of scissors. We begin using food as a tool. Like tools, some food works well for some tasks and some is specially designed to accomplish others.
   让我们开始使用食物，就像使用一枝铅笔或一把剪刀那样。我们开始把食物当做一种工具使用。就像工具一样，一些食物可以很好地为某些任务工作，有一些则是专门设计用来完成其它任务的。


Let’s say you’re feeling down. You had a tough day or a tiff with a best friend that drove you round the bend. You decide to treat yourself to a bar of chocolate –nothing like chocolate to perk you up. Unfortunately you’re setting yourself up for a higher dose of the blues. That’s because chocolate bars have a hefty amount of fat and sugar – which takes a long time to digest and can draw energy away from your brain – and caffeine which will temporarily boost your mood and alertness but send you crashing back down as soon as its effect starts to wear off.
   比如说你感觉沮丧。你一天都很难过或和最好的朋友争吵了，这让你很烦恼。你决定拿根巧克力棒慰劳自己--没有什么能像巧克棒那样让你振作起来。很不幸地，你给自己设定了更高剂量的沮丧。那是因为巧克力棒有大量的脂肪和糖分-需要长时间消化，要从你的大脑里消耗脂肪-咖啡因能暂时促进你的心情和警觉性，但是一旦作用开始消退，你就会重新回到心情低落状态。

 

Does this mean snacking is a bad idea when you’re feeling down? Not at all. You just have to do it wisely. In place of a chocolate bar, have a slice of toast with chunky marmalade. Then instead of fat and caffeine you’ve just given yourself a dose of vitamin C that has been shown to fight depression. In addition, marmalade is loaded with the type of sugar that spurs the release of mood-lifting chemicals in the brain.
   这意味着在你感觉低落时，吃零食是坏主意吗？一点也不是。你只是要明智地吃零食。替换掉巧克力棒，吃一片涂有厚厚果酱的土司。然后你就只是给自己补充了一剂量的维他命C，而不是脂肪和咖啡因，维他命C已被证明可以抗忧郁。另外，果酱含有一种糖分，可以促使大脑释放情绪提升的化学物质。

 

In fact you can manage your mood and boost your brainpower, metabolism, even your sex life, by eating the right food. Whatever your goals, you can custom-design a diet to help you meet them. Here’s how taking control of your food can help you take control of your life.
   事实上，吃正确的食物可以让你管理你的情绪，提高你的智力，代谢，甚至是你的性生活。不管你的目标是什么，你都可以定制设计一份食谱，以此帮助你达到你的目标。这里的如何控制你的食物可以帮你掌控你的生活。
 

The next time you have an important meeting that requires mental processing, try some brain processing food that looks like this: tuna salad on whole wheat bread, green salad with tomatoes, a handful of nuts, bananas, a glass of skimmed milk. Tuna, bananas, nuts and whole wheat bread are high in vitamin B6, which has been scientifically proven to help preserve cognitive skills. Protein-rich food contains a nutrient called Tyrosine, which studies have shown, are linked to clear thinking and alertness. Greens such as broccoli and spinach naturally contain loads of vitamins and iron. Lack of these nutrients can lead to fatigue and difficulty in concentrating.
   下次，你有重要的会议，需要思维处理，尝试一些大脑加工食物，是这样的：全麦面包加金枪鱼沙拉，蔬菜沙拉含有番茄，一把坚果和一杯脱脂奶粉。金枪鱼，香蕉，坚果和全麦面包富含维他命B6，这已经被科学证明可以保护认知能力。
富含蛋白的食物包括一种营养物质叫络氨酸，研究表明，该物质有助于清晰的思考和警觉性。蔬菜如花椰菜和菠菜天然含有大量的维他命和铁。缺少这些营养物会导致疲惫和精神集中困难。
 

Having said all that, let’s not be too stressed about what we eat. Many scientists these days believe that indulging in life’s little pleasures may actually help improve your health because of the psychological lift it gives you. There is a lot of truth in the old saying that ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’.
   说了这么多，我们还是不要为我们吃的东西有太大的压力。如今许多科学家认为沉溺在生活一点点的乐趣中实际可以改善你的健康，因为这可以给予你心理上的提升。俗话有很多真理之处，“一点点你喜欢的东西对你有益”。