想永葆青春? 吃番石榴吧

Pomegranate helps fight heart disease, relieves stress and improves sex life - now it's nature's elixir of youth, claims study.
最新研究結果顯示，石榴可以幫助對抗心臟病，緩解壓力，提高性生活質量。簡直就是大自然的長生不老藥。

It can help to prevent heart disease, relieve stress and has even been shown to improve your sex life.
石榴可以防止心臟病，緩解壓力，甚至可以提高性生活質量。

And if that was not enough to convince you to try pomegranate, the fruit is now being hailed as the elixir of youth.
如果這些都還不足以說服你嚐嚐石榴，那麼我要告訴你：石榴現在已經被譽爲是永葆青春的長生不老藥。

A £2million study has found a daily dose could slow the ageing process of DNA.
一項花費200萬英鎊的實驗研究發現，每天吃一點石榴，可以延緩DNA的老化速過程。

An extract of the whole fruit – including pith, peel and seeds – was given to 60 volunteers every day for a month in the form of a capsule.
研究者每天爲60位參與者每人發放一枚“石榴膠囊”，膠囊裏是用整顆石榴榨成的汁（裏面包括果核和果皮），堅持服用一個月。

Researchers monitored the activity of chemicals in their bodies compared with those who took a placebo.
研究者監測了參與者體內化學物質的活動，並與服用空白對照劑的對照組進行比較。

They found a significant decrease in a marker associated with cell damage, which can cause impaired brain, muscle, liver and kidney function as well as ageing effects on the skin.
他們發現與細胞損傷相關的一處標記出現了顯著的下降。這種細胞損傷會造成大腦、肌肉、肝臟和腎臟功能的損害，還會造成皮膚的老化。

This decrease – a hitherto unknown benefit of consuming pomegranate – is thought to slow down the oxidation, or ‘rusting’, of the DNA in cells which naturally occurs over time, according to researchers at the private ProbelteBio laboratory in Murcia, Spain.
根據西班牙穆爾西亞ProbelteBio私人實驗室的研究學者們的觀點，這種因爲食用石榴帶來的下降現象雖然目前原因未知，但是他們認爲應該是減緩了細胞內DNA的氧化速度。Dr Sergio Streitenberger, who led the study, said: ‘We are very excited about this study which we believe demonstrates that regular consumption of this pomegranate extract can slow down the process of DNA oxidation.
組織研究的Sergio Streitenberger博士表示：“我們很興奮這個研究證實了我們之前的猜想，那就是長期食用這種石榴汁可以減緩DNA的氧化過程。”

'One way to look at ageing is to think of it as rusting, or oxidising, a damaging process. Being able to guard against this process would be a significant breakthrough.’
“我們可以把老化現象想成是身體生鏽氧化的損傷過程。能夠預防這個氧化過程將會是很重要的一次突破。”

Dr Streitenberger’s team – whose study will be published later this month – found a decrease in levels of a chemical marker called 8-Oxo-DG in the participants’ urine tests.
Sergio Streitenberger博士團隊的研究成果將於本月晚些時候發佈。他們在對研究參與者進行的尿液測試中發現一種名叫8-Oxo-DG化學標識出現了各水平上的下降。

It is associated with damage to DNA caused by a host of chemicals we eat, drink and breathe in.
這種化學標識與DNA損傷有關。我們食用、飲用和呼吸進入體內的許多化學物質都會造成DNA損傷。

Pomegranate has been renowned as a superfood for centuries, and has been found to contain vitamins A, C and E as well as iron and antioxidants – chemicals which help neutralise harmful oxygen molecules called free radicals.
長期以來石榴都有超級食物的美譽，富含維生素A、維生素C和維生素E，還有鐵和抗氧化劑，作爲抗氧化劑的這些化學物質可以幫助身體中和學名爲自由基的有害氧分子。

Last year, researchers at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh found pomegranate juice could combat middle-aged spread and even reduce stress at work.
去年位於愛丁堡市的瑪格麗特皇后大學的研究者們通過研究發現，石榴汁可以抵抗中年發胖，還能減輕工作壓力。