Why (some) humans are born to have a beer belly

Why (some) humans are born to have a beer belly

为什么（一些）人天生就有啤酒肚

Scientific literature on excess weight and health is expanding along with global waistlines, and yet, it's hard to find a solid, coherent scientific explanation for why some people get fat and others don't, and why some overweight people get Type 2 diabetes and heart disease and others don't.

全球范围内人们的腰围正在增加的同时，关于超重和健康的科学文献也在变多。然而，很难找到一个可靠且合乎逻辑的科学解释，说明为什么一些人会变胖而一些人不会，为什么一些超重的人得了 2 型糖尿病和心脑血管疾病，而另一些人没有。

Last week, an evolutionary biologist published a sweeping picture of human fat and health in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

上周，一位进化生物学家在《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表了一篇关于人类脂肪和健康的全面描述。

The biologist, Mary Jane West-Eberhard of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Costa Rica, has focused her work on understanding biological variation.

这位名叫 Mary Jane West-Eberhard 的生物学家在哥斯达黎加史密森热带研究所工作，她致力于研究理解生物变异。

Sometimes individuals with the same genes can show dramatic differences. She proposes that the same biological principle can explain why humans come in quite different shapes. Some people put on so-called visceral fat, surrounding vital organs, while others put on so-called subcutaneous fat on the limbs, hips and elsewhere. This makes a big difference in health because recent studies show it's the visceral fat that's associated with Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

有时，具有相同基因的个体可能表现出显著的差异。她提出，同样的生物原理可以解释为何人类的体型如此不同。一些人长着所谓的内脏脂肪，这些脂肪包围着重要的器官。另一些人则在四肢、臀部和其它地方长出所谓的皮下脂肪。这对健康产生了很大的影响，因为最新的研究表明，内脏脂肪才是 2 型糖尿病和心脏病的罪魁祸首。

She looked into visceral fat—also known as the omentum, a part of the immune system. It wraps around the vital organs and protects them from infection. But what's protective early in life can have a downside later. Our natural immune response often involves inflammation, and that has been associated with Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Mary Jane West-Eberhard 研究了也被称为网膜的内脏脂肪，它是免疫系统的一部分。内脏脂肪包裹着重要的器官，让它们免受感染。但是早年具有保护功能的脂肪随后可能会产生不利影响。我们天生的免疫系统（随后对内脏脂肪）的反应包括炎症，而炎症跟 2 型糖尿病和冠心病脱不了关系。

Analyses like West-Eberhard's paper might change the way we see our fellow humans. What makes a person with gorgeous, enviable curves different from someone with an unhealthy-looking gut? It's not necessarily that one is more "out of shape" or less self-controlled.

像 West-Eberhard 的论文这样的分析可能会改变我们看待人类同胞的方式。 是什么让一个曲线迷人，令人羡慕的人和一个有着看起来不健康肚子的人产生不同？原因不一定在于后者更加“身型走样”或者疏于自我管理。

—————  文章来源 / 彭博社

重点词汇

waistline

/ˈweɪstlaɪn/

n. 腰围

e.g.

I started jogging recently to try to reduce my waistline.

a slender waistline

He has a bulging waistline.

coherent

/koʊˈhɪrənt/

adj. 连贯一致的，条理清楚的

e.g.

incoherent

That man was almost incoherent with fear.

sweeping

/ˈswiːpɪŋ/

adj. 影响广泛的，全面的

e.g.

sweeping reforms / changes

picture

/ˈpɪktʃər/

n. 描述

e.g.

The writer paints a gloomy picture of the domestic economy.

variation

/ˌveriˈeɪʃn/

n. 变化；变异

omentum

/oʊˈmɛntəm/

n. 网膜

wrap around

用...裹住；环绕，抱住

e.g.

Lala wrapped a scarf tightly around her face.

downside

/ˈdaʊnsaɪd/

n. 负面，缺点，缺陷

e.g.

The downside of living here is that it is expensive.

inflammation

/ˌɪnfləˈmeɪʃn/

n. 发炎，炎症

coronary

/ˈkɔːrəneri/

adj. 冠状动脉的

enviable

/ˈenviəbl/

adj. 令人羡慕的

e.g.

I envy her ability to talk to people she's never met before. (v.)

He is in the enviable position of having two job offers to choose from.

visceral

/ˈvɪsərəl/

adj. 内脏的；本能的，出自内心的

e.g.

visceral love / hatred

the visceral nervous system

subcutaneous

/ˌsʌbkjuˈteɪniəs/

adj. 皮下的