英語聽力文摘476 美食家的煩惱
You may have heard of supertasters. These are people who, it was discovered, are carrying around extra taste buds on their tongues, making the world of eating much more intense.
It’s not at all an unusual thing: the latest data suggest that one out of every four people is a supertaster. For them, eating is a much richer, more flavorful experience than for the rest of us.
Still, before you get too jealous if you’re not a supertaster, it turns out there are drawbacks to having a technicolor tongue. A study that looks specifically at supertasters over the age of sixty-five found that they have more colon polyps than folks who aren’t so taste bud gifted.
Colon polyps are the things you want to have removed before they become cancerous, which is why all folks fifty and older should get a yearly colon exam.
Why do supertasters have more colon polyps? It isn’t known. But supertasters also weigh more on average than non-supertasters, and weight increases cancer risk. The reason for this may be as simple as it sounds: eating is more fun when you taste in 3-D.
Some researchers think, however, that the problem may not just be an increase in pleasure. Those extra taste buds may also drive people away from food that’s good for them, such as vegetables, because the taste of, say, a brussels sprout is just too intense.
品嘗師們要注意啦!
你可能也聽過有這樣一個群體——品嘗師。他們是被挖掘出的特殊人群，他們的舌周圍廣泛分布著味蕾，讓吃東西變得異常有“感覺”。
這并不稀奇：最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示每四個人中就有一個人是品嘗師。相比于我們這些普通人，他們吃東西時會有更豐富、更美味的體驗。
然而，你也不用因為自己無法成為超級品嘗師而對他們羨慕不已。事實證明，擁有那樣“華麗麗”的舌頭也會帶來某些不好的影響。專門對65歲以上的品嘗師展開的一項調(diào)查研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們比那些未被賦予“超常”味蕾的人們患結(jié)腸息肉的概率更高。
結(jié)腸息肉容易發(fā)生癌變，因而它是“人人得而誅之”，這也是為什么人們上了50歲每年都得進行一次腸息肉檢查。
為什么品嘗師們?nèi)菀谆忌辖Y(jié)腸息肉?具體原因還待考證。但有一點，品嘗師們的體重一般都比普通人重，而體重會增加患癌癥的風(fēng)險。而他們體重偏重的原因就跟大家聽起來一樣：多方位的品嘗食品時，飲食讓人倍感無窮樂趣。
然而，很多研究人員又認為原因很可能不僅僅是在飲食當(dāng)中增加了樂趣。這些多出來的味蕾會讓品嘗師們對一些有益身體健康的食物(如蔬菜)敬而遠之。這是因為這些食物(蔬菜)的滋味，比如說抱子甘藍，就太重了。
