第1447期:Sweat it out – in a bath!

You might think that to lose weight you need to do strenuous exercise – pedalling furiously on an exercise bike, for example, or doing lengths in your local pool.您可能会认为要减肥，您需要进行剧烈运动——例如，在健身车上疯狂地踩踏板，或者在当地的游泳池里做长度。 Well, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that lying in a steaming bath can bring the same benefits as exercise, without the need to sweat profusely in the gym!好吧，您可能会惊喜地发现，躺在热气腾腾的浴缸里可以带来与锻炼一样的好处，而无需在健身房大汗淋漓！These were the findings of an experiment comparing the relative benefits of exercise and hot baths that was carried out by Dr Steve Faulkner of Loughborough University.这些是拉夫堡大学的史蒂夫福克纳博士进行的一项比较运动和热水浴的相对益处的实验的结果。 The volunteers first lay in a hot bath and then ate a light meal, while their blood sugar level was monitored and the number of calories they burnt was measured. 志愿者先洗个热水澡，然后吃一顿便餐，同时监测他们的血糖水平并测量他们燃烧的卡路里数量。The experiment was then repeated, but instead of having a bath, the participants did an hour’s vigorous exercise on a bike. 然后重复实验，但参与者没有洗澡，而是骑自行车进行了一个小时的剧烈运动。The results from both activities were compared with unexpected results.将这两项活动的结果与意外结果进行了比较。“What we found”, said Dr Faulkner, “was an 80% increase in energy expenditure, just as a result of sitting in the bath for the course of an hour”. “我们发现”，福克纳博士说，“只是在浴缸里坐了一个小时，能量消耗增加了 80%”。You burn 140 calories – not as many perhaps as if you had worked out on an exercise bike, but the same number as if you had been on a brisk walk.你燃烧了 140 卡路里——可能不像你骑自行车锻炼那样多，但就像你快走一样。 The real surprise, however, came in the blood sugar level results.然而，真正令人惊讶的是血糖水平结果。 The peak glucose output, the amount of blood sugar in the blood after a meal, was on average10% lower after the bath compared to that after exercise.与运动后相比，沐浴后的峰值葡萄糖输出（即餐后血液中的血糖量）平均降低了 10%。Dr Faulkner’s explanation for this phenomenon is that when you are in a hot bath, proteins, known as ‘heat shock proteins’ are released, which help divert the sugar from the bloodstream to the muscles. 福克纳博士对这种现象的解释是，当你泡热水澡时，被称为“热休克蛋白”的蛋白质会释放出来，这有助于将糖分从血液中转移到肌肉中。It’s important to keep blood sugar levels down to avoid damage to the arteries and nerves.重要的是要降低血糖水平以避免对动脉和神经造成损害。Don’t think, though, that you can hang up your trainers just yet! You should aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. 但是，不要认为您可以立即挂断您的培训师！您的目标应该是每周至少进行 150 分钟的中等强度运动。But, if you are one of those people who need to control their blood sugar levels – if you have type-2 diabetes for example or find it hard to exercise – why wait? Grab a towel and start running the hot tap!但是，如果您是需要控制血糖水平的人之一（例如，如果您患有 2 型糖尿病或难以锻炼），为什么还要等待呢？拿一条毛巾，开始运行热水龙头！词汇表strenuous 费劲的lengths 泳程，来回（游泳池的长度）profusely 大量地to monitor 监控，监测vigorous 剧烈的expenditure 耗费，消耗to work out 锻炼身体brisk 轻快的（步伐）glucose 葡萄糖phenomenon 现象divert 转化arteries 动脉intensity 强度diabetes 糖尿病