A cleanse won't detox your body -- but here's what will | Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter | TED

Transcriber:

"Should I do a cleanse?"

翻译人员: Frank Xu 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

“我该做一次排毒吗？“

I hear people asking this question a lot.

我经常听到人们问这个问题。

If you're hoping it will remove toxins from your body,

如果你希望这能把毒素排出你的身体，

that's just not going to happen.

那是不可能的。

(Music)

（音乐）

[Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter]

[和珍·甘特医生学习人体知识]

Detoxes and cleanses are very popular.

排毒和净化十分受欢迎。

They come in many forms,

它们以很多种形式存在，

from charcoal-infused lemonades to detox teas,

比如说从加碳柠檬水到排毒茶，

and they often have a hefty price tag.

而且它们常常很昂贵。

The idea of cleansing isn't anything new --

排毒这个理念并不是新鲜事——

it's been around for thousands of years.

它已经存在了几千年了。

For centuries, medicine and religion were deeply intertwined,

多个世纪以来，医学和宗教 两者深深交织在一起，

and there was a lot of focus on ridding the body

让身体摆脱与坏的或失衡体液相关的 脏东西和疾病，

of impurities and sickness related to bad or imbalanced humors.

曾受到过很多关注。

Bloodletting, purging, fasting --

放血、催吐、节食——

they were all well-regarded treatments.

它们都曾是广受好评的疗法。

Today, the wellness industry

在当下，健康产业

has picked up on our desire to rid ourselves of things.

已经嗅到了我们对摆脱某些东西的渴望。

They've taken the word "detox,"

他们将“排毒”这个词，

the medical treatment for people with drug and alcohol addictions,

这个用在帮助人们对药物和酒精上瘾的 医学疗法的词，

and used it to apply to market cleanses.

应用在对排毒的市场推广上。

They make it sound like pouring liquid cleaner down plumbing,

健康行业把它说得像往下水道里灌清洁剂一样，

getting rid of all the dirty stuff.

把所有的脏东西都排掉。

But the reason that sounds right to us

但是对我们来说看似有理的原因

is it's a rooted in a lack of understanding

其实是扎根在我们缺乏

of how our liver works.

对自己肝脏运作的理解中。

The liver is located in our upper right abdomen.

肝脏位于我们腹部的右上方。

It's somewhere around half the size of a football --

它大概有半个橄榄球那么大——

an American football --

美式橄榄球——

and weighs three pounds.

而且重有 3 磅（1.36 千克）。

It does many, many jobs that keep our bodies running,

它为保持我们身体的运行做很多很多工作，

from assisting the immune system,

从协助免疫系统，

to creating proteins for blood clotting,

到为血液凝结生产蛋白质，

to sending out the cholesterol we need to produce hormones.

再到放出我们产生荷尔蒙所需的胆固醇。

The liver is also a key organ for dealing with harmful substances.

肝脏同时是对抗有害物质的一个重要器官。

You can think of it almost like a factory.

你可以把它大概想象成一间工厂。

It takes nutrients from substances that we consume,

它从我们摄取的物质中抽取营养，

food, drinks, medicines,

食品、饮料、药物、

breaks them down

把它们分解

so they can either be packaged in a way that's usable --

来把它们以一种有用的方式改变——

like cholesterol and protein, for instance --

比如说合成胆固醇和蛋白质 --

or removed as waste in the bile or via the kidneys,

或者作为胆汁中的废物，或是通过肾脏，

usually in the form of urine.

通常以尿液的形式排出。

Let's look at what happens

让我们来看看

when the liver encounters some specific substances.

当肝脏遇到一些特定物质会发生什么。

What about alcohol?

说说酒精怎么样？

That’s a substance that’s fine in smaller, moderate amounts

那是一种少量或中量无害的物质，

but becomes poisonous in excess.

但是过量就会变得有毒性。

When we drink, alcohol passes through our liver,

当我们喝酒时，酒精通过肝脏，

and the liver breaks it down in three steps.

而肝脏用三步将它分解。

First, enzymes convert the alcohol to acetaldehyde,

首先，酶把酒精转化为乙醛，

a substance that can damage cells over time.

一种能随时间推移伤害细胞的物质。

But acetaldehyde is quickly converted into acetate,

但是乙醛很快被转变为醋酸盐，

a much more stable intermediate,

一种更稳定的中间物质，

before it breaks down into carbon dioxide and water.

之后它被分解成二氧化碳和水。

These are components our body can handle.

这些是我们身体能应付的成分。

Now let's look at a popular cleanse --

现在让我们来看看一种流行的排毒——

cayenne, pepper, lemon juice drink,

番椒、辣椒柠檬汁饮料，

to help your liver flush toxins.

用来帮助你的肝脏冲掉毒素。

You drink it, it gets digested,

你把它喝下去，它被消化，

nutrients get absorbed in the blood and arrive at the liver.

营养素被吸收到血液里然后到达肝脏。

The liver processes these nutrients the same way it processes everything else.

肝脏将这些营养素像它对其它所有东西一样进行处理。

It packages whatever's useful that came from the lemon and the pepper

它把柠檬和辣椒里任何有用的东西进行转变

and disseminates it throughout the body.

然后散布到全身。

Whatever it can't use becomes waste.

任何它用不了的都变成废料。

There's nothing particularly magical about mixing cayenne and lemon.

把番椒和柠檬混起来没什么特别神奇的。

Doing a cleanse doesn't "clean the pipes,"

做一次排毒并不会“疏通你的管道，”

and it doesn't make your liver work any better or faster.

并且它不会让你的肝脏运作得更好或更快。

At best, you might lose a few pounds on a cleanse,

最好情况下，你可能会在一次排毒时 减去几磅体重，

because you aren't eating much.

因为你吃得不多。

At worst, you could go into starvation mode.

最糟，你可能会进入饥饿模式。

You could throw off your electrolyte balance,

你可能会失去你的电解质平衡，

not to mention disrupt your intestinal flora and bowel function.

更不用说扰乱你的肠道菌群和排便功能。

Clearly, having a healthy liver is extremely important.

明显的，拥有一个健康的肝脏是极度重要的。

The best things you can do: don't smoke,

你能做的最好的事：别吸烟，

eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and get lots of sleep,

均衡饮食，经常锻炼，并多睡觉，

but there are some more liver specific things to do.

但还有更多的一些和肝脏有关的事能做。

Don't consume too much alcohol,

别喝太多酒，

as it can cause a variety of problems over time,

因为长期下来这能导致多种问题，

from fatty liver disease to cirrhosis of the liver,

从脂肪肝到肝硬化，

to liver cancer.

再到肝癌。

Read the warning labels on medications

读一读药物包装上的警告标签

as some can damage your liver when you don't take them as directed.

因为有些药在你不尊嘱服用的情况下 能伤害你的肝脏。

You've probably heard about hepatitis,

你多半听说过肝炎，

which can be caused by a viral infection of the liver

它可以是由肝脏的病毒感染引起的，

that can be very serious.

而且能变得非常严重。

Get the vaccine for hepatitis B, if you haven't already.

如果你还没有的话，去打乙肝疫苗。

And if you're an adult who hasn't been screened for hepatitis C,

而如果你是一个还没做过丙型肝炎的成年人，

consider talking to your doctor about testing options,

考虑去和你的医生讨论下检查选项，

as too many people don't realize they have it.

因为太多人意识不到自己得了丙型肝炎。

Finally, be careful with supplements and herbs,

最后，对营养品和草药小心，

particularly anything marketed as bodybuilding

尤其是任何作为健美

or a weight loss supplement,

和减肥营养品推销的，

as these are not nearly as well-regulated as you would think.

因为这些并不像你想的那么收到管控。

20 percent of liver injury due to medication in the United States

在美国百分之二十的因药肝脏损伤

is actually caused by these kinds of supplements.

实际上是由这些种类的营养品所致。

So talk to your doctor before you start them.

所以在你开始使用前和你的医生谈谈。

So many things are sold to us as self-care,

有太多东西被当作自我保健卖给我们，

and cleanses are no exception,

而排毒也不例外，

but I believe the best self-care is just learning more about our bodies.

但是我相信最好的自我保健 其实就是对我们的身体进行更多的学习。

That way, we can tune out all the noise

那样，我们能过滤掉所有干扰

and make informed decisions on what we really need.

并对我们的真正所需做出明智的决定。