How does your body know you're full? - Hilary Coller

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: Chen Chi-An

Hunger claws at your grumbling belly.

飢餓刮得肚子咕嚕咕嚕響

It tugs at your intestines, which begin to writhe, aching to be fed.

腸子開始翻騰疼痛 吵著要被餵食

Being hungry generates a powerful, often unpleasant physical sensation

飢餓會產生強烈 往往令人不快的身體感受

that's almost impossible to ignore.

幾乎不可能忽視

After you've reacted by gorging on your morning pancakes,

在吃了早晨煎餅止飢後

you start to experience an opposing force, fullness,

會開始體驗到相反的力量：飽足

but how does your body actually know when you're full?

身體如何知道吃飽了？

The sensation of fullness is set in motion as food moves from your mouth

當嘴裡的食物被嚥下食道時

身體會刺激產生飽足感

down your esophagus.

一旦到了胃，空間逐漸被填滿

Once it hits your stomach, it gradually fills the space.

That causes the surrounding muscular wall to stretch,

導致周遭的肌肉壁伸展

expanding slowly like a balloon.

像氣球一樣緩慢擴展

A multitude of nerves wrapped intricately around the stomach wall

胃壁包裹著許多錯綜複雜的神經

sense the stretching.

感受到拉伸

They communicate with the vagus nerve up to the brainstem and hypothalamus,

它們由迷走神經傳遞訊息 直至腦幹和下視丘

the main parts of the brain that control food intake.

那是大腦控制食物攝入的主要區域

But that's just one input your brain uses to sense fullness.

但那只是大腦感覺飽足的輸入之一

After all, if you fill your stomach with water,

畢竟，如果用水填滿胃

you won't feel full for long.

飽足感撐不了多久

Your brain also takes into account chemical messengers

大腦還考慮其他的化學訊息

in the form of hormones produced by endocrine cells

以荷爾蒙的形式呈現

由整個消化系統的內分泌細胞所產生

throughout your digestive system.

這些荷爾蒙會對腸道和血液中的 特定營養素反應

These respond to the presence of specific nutrients in your gut and bloodstream,

which gradually increase as you digest your food.

那些特定營養會隨著 食物逐漸被消化而增加

As the hormones seep out, they're swept up by the blood

滲出的荷爾蒙被血液帶走

and eventually reach the hypothalamus in the brain.

最終到達大腦的下視丘

Over 20 gastrointestinal hormones are involved in moderating our appetites.

超過 20 種胃腸荷爾蒙 參與胃口的調節

One example is cholecystokinin,

一個例子是「膽囊收縮素」

是上部小腸細胞因應食物的分泌物

which is produced in response to food by cells in the upper small bowel.

When it reached the hypothalamus,

當它到達下視丘時

it causes a reduction in the feeling of reward you get when you eat food.

會導致吃東西時得到的滿足感減少

發生這種情況時會開始呈現飽足感

When that occurs, the sense of being satiated starts to sink in

and you stop eating.

而停止進食

Cholecystokinin also slows down the movement of food

膽囊收縮素也減緩

食物從胃進入腸道的速度

from the stomach into the intestines.

That makes your stomach stretch more over a period of time,

會讓胃的伸展期持續久一些

讓身體註記快要吃飽了

allowing your body to register that you're filling up.

This seems to be why when you eat slowly, you actually feel fuller

這似乎是為什麼慢慢吃

會比以閃電般的速度進食 覺得更飽的原因

compared to when you consume your food at lightning speed.

When you eat quickly, your body doesn't have time to recognize the state it's in.

快速進食時

身體沒有時間去認知它所處的狀態

Once nutrients and gastrointestinal hormones are present in the blood,

一旦血液中有了營養和胃腸荷爾蒙

they trigger the pancreas to release insulin.

會觸發胰腺釋放胰島素

胰島素刺激人體的脂肪細胞 製造另一種稱為「瘦素」的荷爾蒙

Insulin stimulates the body's fat cells to make another hormone called leptin.

Leptin reacts with receptors on neuron populations in the hypothalamus.

瘦素影響下視丘神經元群的受體

The hypothalamus has two sets of neurons important for our feeling of hunger.

下視丘有兩組神經元對飢餓感很重要

One set produces the sensation of hunger by making and releasing certain proteins.

一組通過製作和釋放某些蛋白質 產生飢餓的感覺

The other set inhibits hunger through its own set of compounds.

另一組透過自己的化合物制止飢餓

Leptin inhibits the hypothalamus neurons that drive food intake

瘦素抑制下視丘刺激食慾的神經元

and stimulates the neurons that suppress it.

並活化抑制食慾的神經元

By this point, your body has reached peak fullness.

此時身體已經到達飽脹的高峰

Through the constant exchange of information between hormones,

不斷的訊息交流發生於

the vagus nerve,

荷爾蒙、迷走神經、腦幹

the brainstem,

and the different portions of hypothalamus,

和不同的下丘腦區域之間

your brain gets the signal that you've eaten enough.

大腦得到已經吃夠了的訊號

Researchers have discovered

研究人員已經發現

that some foods produce more long-lasting fullness than others.

有些食物產生的飽足感 比其他的更為持久

For instance, boiled potatoes are ranked

例如，煮馬鈴薯

在滿足飢餓的排行榜上名列前茅

as some of the most hunger-satisfying foods,

while croissants are particularly unsatisfying.

而羊角麵包特別令人不飽足

一般來說，高蛋白質 高纖和富含水量的食物

In general, foods with more protein, fiber, and water

tend to keep hunger at bay for longer.

往往更能持久不覺得餓

But feeling full won't last forever.

但飽足感並不持久

After a few hours, your gut and brain begin their conversation again.

幾個小時後，腸道和大腦又開始對談

空腹產生其他的荷爾蒙 例如「飢餓肽」

Your empty stomach produces other hormones, such as ghrelin,

that increase the activity of the hunger-causing nerve cells

使下視丘裡引起飢餓感的 神經細胞增加活動

in the hypothalamus.

Eventually, the growling beast of hunger is reawakened.

最後，飢餓的野獸被再次喚醒

Luckily, there's a dependable antidote for that.

還好有個可靠的解決之道