吃苹果皮可强健肌肉 竟有减肥功效

An apple a day really could keep the doctor away – as long as you don’t throw away the peel. 有这样一句谚语：一日一苹果，医生远离我，常吃苹果的确有益健康，不过前提是得连皮一块儿吃掉。

The chemical behind the apple skin’s waxy shine is being credited with a host of health benefits from building muscle to keeping the lid on weight.

苹果表皮之所以具有蜡质的光泽全因其含有的某种元素，该成分有益于强健人体肌肉，并且维持健康体重。

Ursolic acid also keeps cholesterol and blood sugar under control, meaning an apple a day could do wonders for all-round health.

这种名为熊果酸的物质同时还可以控制胆固醇和血糖水平，这便可以解释“一日一苹果”所造就的“健康奇迹”。

Researcher Christopher Adams said: ‘Ursolic acid is an interesting natural compound. It’s part of a normal diet as a component of apple peels.

研究者克里斯托弗·亚当斯说：“熊果酸是一种非常有趣的天然化合物，它不仅是苹果皮中所含有的物质，同时也是人们每日健康饮食的一部分。”

The importance of apple peel was discovered after Dr Adams, a U.S. expert in how hormones affect the body, set out to find a drug that stops muscles from wasting, keeping pensioners strong as they age and cutting their risk of hard-to-heal fractures.

亚当斯博士在一项研究减缓肌肉萎缩并保持其强健性，同时避免骨折后愈合困难的试验中意外发现了苹果皮的重要性。

He said: ‘Muscle wasting is a frequent companion of illness and ageing.

他说：“疾病和衰老常常伴随着肌肉萎缩的发生。”

‘It prolongs hospitalisation, delays recoveries and in some cases prevents people from going back home. It isn’t well understood and there’s no medicine for it.’

“这回延长病人的住院时间，减慢身体恢复健康的速度，使得病人们很难回到正常的生活中。这并不太好理解，同时也没有药可以医治。”

In order to remedy the situation, Dr Adams, of the University of Iowa, studied the genetic changes that occur when muscles waste or atrophy.

为了扭转这样的情况，来自爱荷华州大学的亚当斯教授开始研究了肌肉萎缩的遗传变异。

He checked a pool of 1,300 chemicals for one that would counter the changes – and hit on ursolic acid.

他在先后研究1300种化学元素之后，他发现了熊果酸。

The researcher then supplemented a normal diet in mice with small amounts of the compound and subjected them to a battery of health tests. The creatures’ muscles got bigger and their grip became stronger.

之后研究者又将熊果酸化合物添加到了小白鼠的饲料之中，以观察白鼠的健康变化。科学家发现白鼠的肌肉更为强壮，控制力也更强了。

The benefits didn’t end there. The mice fed the apple peel chemical had lower levels of cholesterol and other blood fats blamed for clogging up the arteries and damaging the heart, and had around a third less body fat.

不过由此带来的益处并非这有这些，苹果皮使得白鼠的胆固醇和引起血管阻塞和心脏损伤的血液脂肪含量降低，并且减少了白鼠近三分之一的体脂肪。

It is thought that ursolic acid enhances the effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1, two hormones key to muscle growth.

熊果素被认为可以刺激胰岛素和类似于胰岛素的生长激素的分泌，这两种激素都是影响肌肉生长的关键所在。

It is particularly concentrated in apple peel but is also found in cranberries and prunes and in basil, oregano and thyme.Dr Adams said: ‘We know that if you eat a balanced diet like mom told us to eat you get this material. People who eat junk food don’t get this.’

熊果素主要存在于苹果皮之中，同时也可以在小红莓、梅子、花椒叶和麝香草中找到。亚当斯博士说：“人们知道要有健康均衡的饮食习惯一边摄入这种元素，而这时垃圾食品所做不到的。”

He added that the goal is to establish whether apple peel is as good for humans as it is for mice – and work out how many apples we might need to help make muscles bulge and waistlines shrink.

他还表示，接下来还需要研究苹果皮对于人体的健康效果是否如同对于白鼠那样，并且每天需要吃多少个苹果才能帮助我们强健肌肉和减小腰围。

If large amounts of ursolic acid are required, it is likely that people will have to take it in concentrated form, either as a supplement or a drug.

如果需要摄入大剂量的熊果素，那么很可能的是，人们会以补充品或药的形式来集中摄取。