研究表明，吃适量的黑巧克力可能對你有好處。黑巧克力富含鎂和鐵等礦物質，同時具有高水平的抗氧化劑。但巧克力對你的健康越好，它的味道就越苦。本期 “随身英語” 讨論巧克力是否可以被看作健康食品。 詞彙：chocolate 巧克力

　　When you think of foods that are good for you, chocolate may not be high up on your list. But, there has been a lot of research into dark chocolate, which shows that it does, in fact, have health benefits.

　　當你想到對你有益的食物時，巧克力可能不在你的名單上。但是，有很多關于黑巧克力的研究表明，它實際上對健康有好處。

　　Chocolate is made by roasting cacao seeds, which come from the cacao tree. After being processed into cocoa solids, cocoa butter and combined with sugar and sometimes dairy, chocolate is the result. To know how dark the chocolate is, and to determine the potential health benefits, we need to look at the level of cocoa solids it contains.

　　巧克力是通過烘焙可可種子制成的，這些種子來自可可樹。在加工成可可固體、可可脂，并與糖(有時是乳制品)結合後，就得到了巧克力。要知道巧克力有多黑，并确定其潛在的健康益處，我們需要看它所含可可固體的水平。

　　If dark chocolate has a high cocoa content, labelled as a percentage, it may be dense in minerals such as magnesium and iron. According to a 2011 study comparing cacao seeds to ‘super fruits’ such as cranberries and pomegranates, dark chocolate may have high levels of antioxidants. Other research includes a 2018 study which found that dark chocolate could significantly reduce inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes.

　　如果黑巧克力的可可含量高(以百分比标示)，那麼它可能富含鎂和鐵等礦物質。2011年的一項研究将可可籽與蔓越莓、石榴等“超級水果”進行了比較，結果發現黑巧克力可能含有高水平的抗氧化劑。其他研究包括2018年的一項研究，該研究發現黑巧克力可以顯著減少2型糖尿病患者的炎症。

　　But companies trying to market dark chocolate as a healthy snack may have a difficult time – the higher the cocoa content, the more bitter the taste. Plus, commercial dark chocolate tends to be high in calories, saturated fat and can contain significant amounts of sugar. On top of that, during the actual manufacturing process of cleaning, fermenting and roasting the cacao beans, the natural benefits may be lost.

　　但是那些試圖将黑巧克力作為一種健康零食進行營銷的公司可能會遇到困難——可可含量越高，味道越苦。另外，市面上的黑巧克力往往含有高熱量、飽和脂肪，還可能含有大量的糖。除此之外，在可可豆的清洗、發酵和烘焙等實際生産過程中，天然的好處可能會失去。

　　All in all, it seems that consuming a moderate amount of dark chocolate can’t do you harm – just look for a high cocoa solid percentage!

　　總而言之，食用适量的黑巧克力似乎不會對你造成傷害——隻要尋找高含量的可可固體就可以了!

　　詞彙表 dark chocolate 黑巧克力roast 烤，烘cacao seeds 可可種子cocoa solids 可可塊cocoa butter 可可油，可可脂cocoa content 可可含量dense 密度大的magnesium 鎂iron 鐵cranberry 蔓越莓pomegranate 石榴antioxidants 抗氧化劑inflammation 炎症type 2 diabetes 二型糖尿病market 推銷bitter 有苦味的commercial 市面上的calorie 卡路裡saturated fat 飽和脂肪manufacturing process 生産過程ferment 發酵moderate 适量的

　　測驗與練習 1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

　　1. What minerals may chocolate with a high cocoa content have?

　　2. What did a 2011 study compare cacao seeds with?

　　3. True or False? Dark chocolate can stop people getting type 2 diabetes.

　　4. Why is it difficult to market dark chocolate?

　　5. Why can commercial dark chocolate be unhealthy?

　　2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

　　1. The doctor said I have low levels of _______ in my blood.

　　cocoa solids iron calories cocoa butter

　　2. My mum _______ chicken and vegetables at home every Sunday.

　　ferments markets roasts contains

　　3. Fried food has high levels of _______ and is not good for you.

　　inflammation antioxidants saturated fat cocoa content

　　4. I find the taste of black coffee very _______, so I add a lot of milk.

　　dense commercial bitter moderate

　　5. If I feel sad, I usually eat unhealthy snacks like crisps and _______.

　　magnesium pomegranate cranberries chocolate

　　答案 1. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

　　1. What minerals may chocolate with a high cocoa content have?It may be dense in minerals such as magnesium and iron.

　　2. What did a 2011 study compare cacao seeds to?‘Super fruits’ such as cranberries and pomegranates.

　　3. True or False? Dark chocolate can stop people getting type 2 diabetes.False. A study found that eating a small amount of 84% dark chocolate could reduce inflammation in people with type 2 diabetes.

　　4. Why is it difficult to market dark chocolate?Because the higher the cocoa content, the more bitter the taste.

　　5. Why can commercial dark chocolate be unhealthy?It tends to be high in calories, saturated fat and can contain significant amounts of sugar.

　　2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

　　1. The doctor said I have low levels of iron in my blood.

　　2. My mum roasts chicken and vegetables at home every Sunday.

　　3. Fried food has high levels of saturated fat and is not good for you.

　　4. I find the taste of black coffee very bitter, so I add a lot of milk.

　　5. If I feel sad, I usually eat unhealthy snacks like crisps and chocolate.

　　,

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