按摩後大量飲水有助於排毒嗎

Question:

問：

Does drinking a lot of water after a massage really help flush away toxins, or otherwise augment massage’s benefits?

在按摩推拿後大量飲水真有助於排毒麼？如果不能，那麼喝水是否有助於增加按摩的效益？

Answer:

答：

There are many reasons to indulge and get a massage. Well-designed studies have shown that massage can reduce levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, improve joint function and reduce pain in people with osteoarthritis, temporarily reduce muscle soreness after hard exercise, and speed healing of sore, overworked muscles by reducing inflammation and otherwise amplifying the muscle cells’ repair process.

有很多理由都支持人們縱情享受按摩推拿服務。若干經過精心設計的研究顯示，按摩可以降低皮質醇等應激激素的水平，改善骨關節炎患者的關節功能並緩解疼痛，暫時減輕大量運動後的肌肉痠痛，通過減少炎症等途徑增進肌肉細胞修復過程，使因過度勞累而痠痛的肌肉得以加速恢復。

What no persuasive science has shown is that massage releases toxins that then need to be flushed away. “I am unaware of any studies that support that idea,” said Dr. Adam Perlman, the executive director of Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, N.C., who has conducted studies of massage. “Of course, I’m also unaware of any studies that disprove the idea.”

然而，尚無有說服力的科學證據顯示按摩會釋放出毒素並需要排毒。“據我所知，並無任何研究支持這一觀點，”杜克大學中西醫結合中心（Duke Integrative Medicine，位於北卡羅萊納州德罕市）的執行董事，曾進行過按摩相關研究的亞當·珀爾曼(Adam Perlman)博士說。“當然，我也不知道有任何研究可以否定這一觀點。”

“It’s possible that there might be an increase in certain metabolites after a massage,” Dr. Perlman said. But these molecules are byproducts of normal metabolic activity, are not toxic, he said, and do not need to be flushed away.

珀爾曼博士說：“在接受按摩後，某些代謝產物可能會有所增加。”但這些分子都是正常新陳代謝活動的副產物，並沒有毒性，他說，不存在“排毒”的必要。

As for the widespread belief that massage can help to remove lactic acid from sore muscles, “there’s pretty good evidence now that lactic acid is not harmful,” Dr. Perlman said. And a 2010 study found that postexercise massage didn’t remove lactic acid effectively anyway.

至於人們普遍認爲按摩有助於從痠痛的肌肉中清除乳酸這一點，珀爾曼博士說：“現在已經有充分的證據證實乳酸對人體無害。”且2010年的一項研究發現，運動後進行按摩並沒能有效地清除乳酸。

But these findings do not mean that people shouldn’t down a glass or two of water after a massage. “It’s a good idea to stay hydrated,” Dr. Perlman said.

但是，這些研究結果並不代表在接受按摩後不應飲水。珀爾曼博士說：“保持體內水分是一個好主意。”

“The bottom line,” he said, “is that while we don’t know that drinking water after a massage is helpful, it’s not likely to be harmful. So if you feel like it, drink up.”

“最起碼，”他說，“雖然我們不知道按摩後喝水是否有所助益，但至少它不太可能會有害。所以，如果你覺得想喝水就喝唄。”