节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-04-07
难易度:Medium
关键字:monitor, sweeten, excess, recommend, type 2 diabetes, triglyceride
OK. Welcome back from the break.
Now if someone loves to eat sweet things, we can say that person has a sweet
tooth.
If you have a sweet tooth, then this lesson is especially for you.
The fact is too much sugar is bad for our health.
It raises the risk of developing diabetes, and it increases the risk of heart
disease.
Let's read more about that on line 11.
(Music).
Sugar and Your Health.
A sugary diet can also increase your risk of heart disease.
When you consume more sugar than is needed for energy, the excess sugars form
triglycerides.
High levels of this type of fat are known to increase your risk of heart
disease.
Studies show that countries where people consume large amounts of sugar also
have many people who suffer from depression.
Sugar also changes brain-wave activity, which decreases your ability to think
clearly.
So when you need energy, put down that candy bar and reach for some protein
instead.
What is a safe amount of sugar to consume on a daily basis?
The American Heart Association recommends that women eat no more than 25 grams
of sugar per day.
Men should limit themselves to 38 grams.
(Music).
Earlier we were talking about having too much sugar in your diet,
that consuming too much sugar can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes up to 26
percent by just having two or three sugary drinks.
And that's just drinks!
Well, there's more than a sugary diet can do for you.
That's right.
A sugary diet can also increase your risk of heart disease.
Now heart disease is a disease that prevents your heart from working properly.
So not only is sugar a cause of diabetes, it can also cause heart disease.
And Brandon, do you know that heart disease is one of the number one leading
causes of death?
That is true.
Many people suffer from this disease.
That's right. There are all kinds of different types of heart disease.
But heart disease can increase the risk of getting that when you eat too much
sugar, when you consume too much, so you need to be aware.
And when you consume more sugar than is needed for energy, the excess sugars
form triglycerides.
Now we have the word "excess" here.
If something is an "excess," it's too much of something.
So it's too much sugar.
And if this happens, then we have this formation of triglycerides, Kaylah.
That's right.
Now "triglycerides" are a kind of fat in the body.
And the word "tri-" there at the beginning, that suffix, means that it is formed
from three parts.
And that's exactly what a triglyceride is.
It is made up of three different pieces and is a fat that is not good for your
body.
But Brandon, at the beginning of this sentence,
we saw that having "excess amounts," does that mean that having some sugar for
energy is actually a good idea?
That's right. You can have some sugar. That's OK.
But it's bad to have too much of it.
So that's why we have the word "excess" here.
You can have a cookie every now and then, but maybe you shouldn't have five or
ten cookies.
So you just want to watch how much sugar you're putting into your body.
Well, high levels of this type of fat - and we are talking about triglycerides -
are known to increase your risk of heart disease.
So we said that having too much sugar can increase heart disease, the risk of
it, and here we see how.
That's right.
And so again, we have to watch our intake, how much sugar we put into our
bodies.
We also see that studies show that countries where people consume large amounts
of sugar also have many people who suffer from depression.
Wow, Kaylah, this is interesting.
So people that... in countries where they consume lots of sugar, they're often
depressed because they take in too much sugar.
At least that's a part of the reason for their depression.
Now that's not something you would think.
You think: Oh, when I'm sad, I eat a cookie that makes me feel better.
Maybe that would cause me to not be depressed.
But that's actually the opposite.
We see that too much sugar has all these... negative effects:
It increases your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and now is
connected to depression as well.
And sugar changes brain-wave activity.
Now brain waves are just the electrical signals inside your brain, and sugar
affects this.
It changes your brain waves.
It changes the activity, which then decreases your ability to think clearly.
That's right.
Brain waves are how we're thinking.
It's the connecting pieces in your mind, in your brain.
So if it is interrupting or messing with those brain waves, you can't think as
clearly.
Now I actually... this one is easy to believe because if you think, Brandon,
about maybe a little kid who's had too much sugar or too much ice cream, and
they're just crazy.
They have no control; they're running around.
I would assume that that is partly because their brain waves have been affected
by the amount of sugar they've eaten.
That's right. And I think sometimes we think we want sugar because we want to
have some energy.
But if we have too much, it can affect us in a negative way, even in our minds.
So when you need energy, put down that candy bar and reach for some protein
instead.
Protein is something that's good for our bodies, right, Kaylah?
Yeah. Protein helps build muscles and also gives us good kinds of energy, not
fatty energy.
Well, what is a safe amount of sugar to consume on a daily basis?
Well, the American Heart Association has some suggestions for us.
That's right.
The American Heart Association tells us that for women, they should eat no more
than 25 grams of sugar per day.
And we see the word "recommends" here.
This is what they suggest.
That's right.
They suggest that women should only have 25 grams.
And men should limit themselves to 38 grams of sugar a day.
Well, I hope you've learned a lot about sugar and are careful and watch your
diet.
But we need to jump on over and visit Ken in the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan. How was lunch?
Good.
In fact, it was too good.
Oh. What did you have?
I went to the diner and had a double cheeseburger, a large fries, a milkshake
and a piece of apple pie for dessert.
Wow. That sounds like a big meal.
Yes, it was. And now I feel really guilty.
Oh, I should probably go on a diet.
Go on a diet?
Is that the same as watch your diet?
Um, not quite.
Why don't we go to Studio Classroom Editor-in-Chief Doris for an answer.
OK.
Your diet is the food you eat.
If you watch your diet, you are careful about the kinds of foods you eat.
But "going on a diet" means to limit the amount of food you eat or to eat only
specific foods.
People usually go on a diet to lose weight.
Oh, I see. So you'd like to lose weight.
That's right.
But dieting is not easy, and it takes determination.
Dieting? So "diet" is also a verb?
Yes. To diet is to eat certain kinds of food to lose weight.
A lot of people have to diet to stay slim.
But I think it's more important to eat a balanced meal.
It's better to eat a healthy diet than to be on a diet.
I can't argue with you there.
But for some people, it's a little late to start eating balanced meals.
Oh, come on, Bryan. You're still far from being overweight.
Just watch your diet from now on.
Thanks for the encouragement, Ken.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And I guess that's all the time we have for today.
I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
So remember, everyone, pay attention to the amount of sugar in your diet, both
in the things you eat and in the things you drink.
Your body will thank you.
Friends, be sure to stop by the Studio Classroom English Corner and chime in on
our discussion about sugar.
Do you have any ideas on how to cut back on the sugar you consume?
Well, tell us about it in the Chat Room at StudioClassroom.com.
OK, friends, I hope you have a great weekend.
Bye-bye.