工作和生活壓力山大，讓不少人出現(xiàn)了抑郁癥狀。最新研究表明，吃黑巧克力或許能將患抑郁癥的風(fēng)險降低四分之三，這真是各位巧克力愛好者們的福音。

It is food news guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

這則食品新聞肯定會讓你喜笑顏開。

Scientists have found that eating dark chocolate appears to lower the risk of depression by four fold.

科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，吃黑巧克力或能將患抑郁癥的風(fēng)險降低四分之三。

While 7.6 percent of the 13,000 people surveyed reported depressive symptoms, just 1.5 percent of the chocolate eaters did.

在接受調(diào)查的1.3萬人中，曾出現(xiàn)抑郁癥狀的人比例為7.6%，而僅有1.5%的吃巧克力的人曾出現(xiàn)抑郁癥狀。

The study by University College London (UCL), the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services Canada, also found that the people who consumed the most of any chocolate were also 57 percent less likely to report depressive symptoms.

英國倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院、加拿大卡爾加里大學(xué)和阿爾伯塔省衛(wèi)生服務(wù)局開展的這項調(diào)查還發(fā)現(xiàn)，食用任何種類巧克力最多的人出現(xiàn)抑郁癥狀的可能性比其他人要低57%。

Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson, of UCL’s Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care, said: “This study provides some evidence that consumption of chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, may be associated with reduced odds of clinically relevant depressive symptoms.

該研究首席作者、倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院流行病學(xué)與醫(yī)療保健研究所的莎拉·杰克遜博士說：“這項研究提供了一些證據(jù)以證明吃巧克力——尤其是黑巧克力——可能與降低臨床相關(guān)抑郁癥狀的幾率有關(guān)?！?/p>

“Should a causal relationship demonstrating a protective effect of chocolate consumption on depressive symptoms be established, the biological mechanism needs to be understood to determine the type and amount of chocolate consumption for optimal depression prevention and management.”

他說：“一旦建立起證明吃巧克力對抑郁癥狀具有防護作用的因果關(guān)系，我們就必須明白其生物機制，以確定巧克力的種類和數(shù)量，從而得出預(yù)防和治療抑郁癥的最佳方案?！?/p>

causal relationship：因果關(guān)系

The study is the first to examine the association with depression according to the type of chocolate consumed.

這是首個根據(jù)所吃巧克力的種類來研究與抑郁癥關(guān)系的研究。

The team assessed data from 13,626 adults from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

研究小組評估了來自美國全國健康和營養(yǎng)調(diào)查中13626名成年人的數(shù)據(jù)。

A range of other factors including height, weight, marital status, ethnicity, education, household income, physical activity, smoking and chronic health problems were also taken into account to ensure the study only measured chocolate’s effect on depressive symptoms.

研究人員還考慮了身高、體重、婚姻狀況、種族、教育程度、家庭收入、體育活動、吸煙和慢性健康問題等其他多種因素，以確保這項研究只衡量巧克力對抑郁癥狀的影響。

After adjusting for these factors, it was found that individuals who reported eating any dark chocolate in two 24-hour periods had 70 percent lower odds of reporting clinically relevant depressive symptoms in the previous two weeks than those who reported not eating chocolate at all.

根據(jù)上述因素調(diào)整之后，研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，與不吃巧克力的人相比，任意兩天內(nèi)吃過黑巧克力的人在此前兩周出現(xiàn)臨床相關(guān)抑郁癥狀的幾率要低70%。

Most recent figures show that around 19.7 percent of people in Britain aged 16 and over showed symptoms of anxiety or depression.

最新數(shù)據(jù)顯示，英國16歲及以上人群中，大約19.7%的人曾出現(xiàn)焦慮或抑郁癥狀。

Chocolate contains a number of psychoactive ingredients which produce a feeling of euphoria similar to that of cannabinoid, found in cannabis.

巧克力含有很多精神活性成分，這些成分可產(chǎn)生類似于大麻中的大麻素帶來的興奮感。

euphoria [ju?'f??r??]：n.（常指較短時間的）極度興奮，情緒高漲

It also contains phenylethylamine, a neuromodulator which is believed to be important for regulating people’s moods.

它還含有苯基乙胺，這種神經(jīng)調(diào)節(jié)物質(zhì)被認(rèn)為對調(diào)節(jié)情緒很重要。

neuromodulator[,nju?r?u'm?djuleit?]：n.神經(jīng)調(diào)質(zhì)；神經(jīng)調(diào)節(jié)物質(zhì)

Dark chocolate also has a higher concentration of flavonoids, antioxidant chemicals which lower inflammation and can prevent the onset of depression.

黑巧克力還含有較高濃度的類黃酮，這種抗氧化劑可以減輕炎癥，還能防止出現(xiàn)抑郁。

antioxidant [?nt?'?ks?d(?)nt]：n.抗氧化劑

However British scientists urged caution about the findings, suggesting that the decision to eat dark chocolate could be linked to other health factors. For example people who choose dark chocolate may be more health conscious in general, which is known to protect against depression.

不過，英國科學(xué)家敦促人們謹(jǐn)慎對待這一發(fā)現(xiàn)，并稱吃黑巧克力的決定可能與其他健康因素有關(guān)。例如，一般來說，選擇黑巧克力的人可能更有健康意識，這也可以預(yù)防抑郁。

Depressed people are also more likely to crave more sugary fatty foods and so could be less likely to pick a dark alternative when choosing chocolate.

抑郁的人也更有可能想吃更多的高糖高脂食物，因此在選擇巧克力時，他們不太可能選擇黑巧克力。

The research was published in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

這項研究發(fā)表在《抑郁和焦慮》期刊上。

英文來源：每日電訊報

翻譯&編輯：yaning