維生素和保健品的不可不知

It seems like simple, obvious advice: eat your vegetables, get some exercise, and - of course - take your vitamins. Or not.

看起來簡單，建議明確：多吃蔬菜，多做運動，當然也要吃維他命。或者不吃。

Decades of research has failed to find any substantial evidence that vitamins and supplements do any significant good.

數十年來，沒有研究發現有確鑿的證據表明維他命和其他補充藥物有明顯的效果。

In fact, recent studies skew in the opposite direction, having found that certain vitamins may be bad for you.

事實上研究的結果與預期背道而馳，定量服用維他命可能對你來說還有弊端。

Several have been linked with an increase in certain cancers, while others have been tied to a rise in the risk of kidney stones.

幾類維他命的定量服用會導致特定的癌症，還有其他的會導致罹患腎結石風險的上升。

And a large new study out Wednesday suggests that despite this growing knowledge, Americans' pill-popping habits have stayed basically the same over the last decade.

週三的大量的最新研究表明，人類對於此類事實的認知逐步提高，但是美國人對於定期服用維他命的習慣和過去的十年比較基本沒有變化。

So here are the vitamins and supplements you should take - and the ones you should avoid:

所以在這裏我們列出了你應該要補充的維他命和保健品，還有你其實不需要的：

Multivitamins: Skip them - you can get everything you need with a balanced diet.

複合維他命，不需要服用，在營養均衡的一餐中都涵蓋了。

For decades, it was assumed that multivitamins were critical to overall health. Vitamin C to "boost your immune system", Vitamin A to protect your vision, Vitamin B to keep you energized.Not only do you already get these ingredients from the food you eat, but studies suggest that consuming them in excess can actually cause harm.

過去的幾十年，人們一直認爲複合維他命對整體的健康非常重要。維他命C來“提高你的免疫系統”，維他命A保護你的視力，維他命B保持你的活力。你在自己的食物中已經可以獲得這些營養素，研究表明過量服用還可能會引起額外的損害。

A large 2011 study of close to 39,000 older women over 25 years found that women who took them in the long term actually had a higher overall risk of death than those who did not.

在2011年的一項大型研究，3.9萬婦女在25年間的結果表明，那些服用複合維他命的婦女比那些沒有的死亡的比例更高。

Vitamin D: Take it - it helps keep your bones strong and it's hard to get from food.

維他命D：服用，能夠幫助你骨骼強壯，而且從食物中比較難獲取。

Getting sunlight helps our bodies produce it as well, but it can be tough to get enough in the winter. Several recent study reviews have found that people who took Vitamin D supplements daily lived longer, on average, than those who didn't.

多曬太陽幫助我們的身體合成維他命，但是在冬天的時候就容易缺乏。幾項近期的研究表明，那些定期服用維他命D保健品的人平均比那些沒有服用的人活得久。

Antioxidants: Skip them - an excess of these has been linked to an increased risk of certain cancers, and you can eat berries instead.

抗氧化：不要服用，過量服用此類藥物會得某些癌症，可以同過吃莓類食物代替。

Vitamins A, C, and E are antioxidants found in plentiful form in many fruits - especially berries - and veggies, and they've been touted for their alleged ability to protect against cancer.

維他命A，C，E這些抗氧化藥物大量的存在於我們的食物之中，特別是莓類和蔬菜類，他們因食用能夠不得癌症而備受吹捧。

But studies suggest that when taken in excess, antioxidants can actually be harmful. A large, long-term study of male smokers found that those who regularly took Vitamin A were more likely to get lung cancer than those who didn't.

但是研究發現，如果過量攝入，抗氧化藥物也會有危害。對於男性吸菸人員長時間，大樣本的研究發現，定量攝入維他命A的人比那些沒有的更容易患肝癌。

Vitamin C: Skip it - it probably won't help you get over your cold, and you can eat citrus fruits instead.

維他命C: 不要服用，它也許對於治療感冒沒有效果，你可以吃柑橘類的水果代替。

Study after study has shown that Vitamin C does little to nothing to prevent the common cold. Plus, megadoses of 2,000 milligrams or more can raise your risk of painful kidney stones.So get your Vitamin C from your food instead. Strawberries are packed with the nutrient.

研究發現維他命C對於預防普通感冒幾乎沒有效果，而且劑量大於2000毫克會讓你換上腎結石的比例升高，腎結石可是很痛的。所以你可以通過食物攝入維他命C，莓類就含有很多。

Vitamin B3: Skip it and eat salmon, tuna, or beets instead.

維他命B3：不要服用，通過吃三文魚，金槍魚和甜菜根來代替。

For years, Vitamin B3 was promoted to treat everything from Alzheimer's to heart disease. But recent studies have called for an end to the over-prescription of the nutrient.

多年來，維他命B3被宣傳可以治療老年癡呆到心臟病，幾乎無所不能。不過最近的研究叫停了它的各種不切實際的營養宣傳。

A large 2014 study of more than 25,000 people with heart disease found that putting people on long-acting doses of Vitamin B3 to raise their levels of 'good' didn't reduce the incidence of heart attacks, strokes, or deaths.

2014年的一項研究中有2.5萬患有心臟病的人被要求長期服用維他命B3看他們的病症能不能轉“好”，但是心臟病，中風和死亡的案例並沒有減少。

Plus, people in the study who took the B3 supplements were more likely than those taking a placebo to develop infections, liver problems, and internal bleeding.

而且，研究發現B3不僅僅只是安慰劑，而且它還導致了感染，肝部問題和內出血。

Probiotics: Skip them - the science isn't advanced enough yet for them to have a significant benefit, and you can eat yogurt instead.

益生菌：不要服用，科學沒有證明它們有顯著的效果，你可以喝酸奶來代替。

Probiotics - pricey bacterial supplements that can cost upward of $1 per pill but are found naturally in smaller amounts in yogurt and other fermented foods - have become a big business with a market of roughly US$23.1 billion in 2012.

益生菌價格不菲的益生菌保健品最貴的要1美金一片，在酸奶和其他的發酵食物中少量存在——在2012年成爲市場上的大生意市值231億美金。

Zinc: Take it - it's one of the only ingredients linked to shortening a cold.

鋅：可以服用—唯一一個確定可以縮短感冒的食物。

Unlike Vitamin C, which studies have found likely does nothing to prevent or treat the common cold, zinc may actually be worth it. The mineral seems to interfere with the replication of rhinoviruses, the bugs that cause the common cold.

不像維他命C對於普通的感冒沒有任何預防作用，鋅的作用還是很明顯的。因爲病毒的複製會引起感冒，但是鋅這種礦物質可以干擾病毒的複製。

Folic acid: Take it if you're pregnant, or if you might want to get pregnant.

葉酸：你懷孕或者備孕服用。

Folic acid is a B vitamin which our bodies use to make new cells.

葉酸是一種B類維他命，能夠幫助身體形成新細胞。

The National Institutes of Health recommends that women who are currently pregnant or who want to get pregnant take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily because their bodies demand more of this key nutrient when they are carrying a growing fetus.

美國國立衛生研究院推薦，懷孕或者備孕的婦女每天攝入400毫克的葉酸，因爲他們的身體需要很多這樣的主要營養素來孕育一個不斷生長的胚胎。

（翻譯：林潯鷗）