正文翻譯
With the coronavirus pandemic, school and work disruptions and a contentious election season contributing to countless sleepless nights, sleep experts have encouraged people to adopt a variety of measures to overcome their stress-related insomnia. Among their recommendations: engage in regular exercise, establish a nightly bedtime routine and cut back on screen time and social media.
由于新冠疫情，學校和工作的中斷，還有充滿争議的大選季導緻了無數個失眠之夜，睡眠專家鼓勵人們采取各種措施來克服壓力導緻的失眠。他們的建議包括：定期鍛煉、養成良好的睡前習慣、減少看手機螢幕和社交媒體的時間。
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But many people may be overlooking another important factor in poor sleep: diet. A growing body of research suggests that the foods you eat can affect how well you sleep, and your sleep patterns can affect your dietary choices.
但很多人可能忽略了導緻睡眠品質差的另一個重要因素：飲食。越來越多的研究表明，人們所吃的食物會影響睡眠品質，睡眠模式也會影響飲食選擇。
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Researchers have found that eating a diet that is high in sugar, saturated fat and processed carbohydrates can disrupt your sleep, while eating more plants, fiber and foods rich in unsaturated fat — such as nuts, olive oil, fish and avocados — seems to have the opposite effect, helping to promote sound sleep.
研究人員發現，糖分、飽和脂肪和加工碳水化合物含量高的飲食會擾亂睡眠，多吃蔬菜、纖維和富含不飽和脂肪的食物——比如堅果、橄榄油、魚和牛油果——似乎會産生相反的效果，有助于促進良好睡眠。
Much of what we know about sleep and diet comes from large epidemiological studies that, over the years, have found that people who suffer from consistently bad sleep tend to have poorer quality diets, with less protein, fewer fruits and vegetables, and a higher intake of added sugar from foods like sugary beverages, desserts and ultra-processed foods. But by their nature, epidemiological studies can show only correlations, not cause and effect. They cannot explain, for example, whether poor diet precedes and leads to poor sleep, or the reverse.
我們大部分關于睡眠和飲食的知識都來自流行病學研究，多年來，這些研究發現，長期睡眠不好的人往往飲食品質較差，攝入的蛋白質、水果和蔬菜較少，而從含糖飲料、甜點和精加工食品等食物中攝入的添加糖較多。但就其性質而言，流行病學研究隻能顯示相關性，不能說明因果關系。例如，它們無法解釋究竟是飲食不良導緻睡眠不良，還是睡眠不良導緻飲食不良。
To get a better understanding of the relationship between diet and sleep, some researchers have turned to randomized controlled trials in which they tell participants what to eat and then look for changes in their sleep. A number of studies have looked at the impact of a diverse array of individual foods, from warm milk to fruit juice. But those studies often have been small and not very rigorous.
為了更好地了解飲食和睡眠的關系，一些研究人員轉向了随機對照試驗，告訴參與者該怎麼吃，然後觀察他們睡眠的變化。許多研究考察了從熱牛奶到果汁等各種單獨食物的影響。但這些研究往往規模較小，不夠嚴謹。
Some of these trials have also been funded by the food industry, which can bias results. One study funded by Zespri International, the world’s largest marketer of kiwi fruit, for example, found that people assigned to eat two kiwis an hour before their bedtime every night for four weeks had improvements in their sleep onset, duration and efficiency. The authors of the study attributed their findings in part to an “abundance” of antioxidants in kiwis. But importantly, the study lacked a control group, so it is possible that any benefits could have resulted from the placebo effect.
其中一些試驗還得到食品行業的資助，這可能會使結果産生偏差。例如，世界上最大的猕猴桃經銷商Zespri國際公司資助的一項研究發現，被安排連續四周每晚睡前一小時吃兩顆猕猴桃的人，其睡眠的開始時間、持續時間和品質都有所改善。該研究的研究員們将其發現部分歸因于猕猴桃中“富含”的抗氧化劑。但重要的是，該研究缺少對照組，是以起到效果的可能純粹是安慰劑效應。
Other studies funded by the cherry industry have found that drinking tart cherry juice can modestly improve sleep in people with insomnia, supposedly by promoting tryptophan, one of the building blocks of the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin. Tryptophan is an amino acid found in many foods, including dairy and turkey, which is one of the reasons commonly given for why so many of us feel so sleepy after our Thanksgiving feasts. But tryptophan has to cross the blood-brain barrier to have any soporific effects, and in the presence of other amino acids found in food it ends up competing, largely unsuccessfully, for absorption. Studies show that eating protein-rich foods such as milk and turkey on their own actually decreases the ability of tryptophan to cross the blood-brain barrier.
櫻桃産業資助的研究發現，喝酸櫻桃汁可以适度改善失眠症患者的睡眠，據說這是通過增加色氨酸（調節睡眠的荷爾蒙褪黑素的成分之一）來實作的。色氨酸是一種氨基酸，存在于許多食物中，包括乳制品和火雞，這也是為什麼我們很多人在感恩節大餐後會覺得昏昏欲睡的原因之一。但色氨酸必須穿過血腦屏障才能起到催眠作用，而且由于食物中存在其他氨基酸，色氨酸在競争中往往不會被成功吸收。研究表明，單獨攝入蛋白質豐富的食物，如牛奶和火雞，實際上會降低色氨酸穿過血腦屏障的能力。
One way to enhance tryptophan’s uptake is to pair foods that contain it with carbohydrates. That combination stimulates the release of insulin, which causes competing amino acids to be absorbed by muscles, in turn making it easier for tryptophan to cross into the brain, said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the director of the Sleep Center of Excellence at Columbia.
哥倫比亞大學歐文醫學中心營養學副教授、哥倫比亞大學卓越睡眠中心主任瑪麗·皮埃爾·聖安琪表示，提高色氨酸吸收的一個方法是将含有色氨酸的食物與碳水化合物搭配食用。這種結合能刺激胰島素釋放，導緻競争的氨基酸被肌肉吸收，進而使色氨酸更容易進入大腦。
Dr. St-Onge has spent years studying the relationship between diet and sleep. Her work suggests that rather than emphasizing one or two specific foods with supposedly sleep-inducing properties, it is better to focus on the overall quality of your diet. In one randomized clinical trial, she and her colleagues recruited 26 healthy adults and controlled what they ate for four days, providing them regular meals prepared by nutritionists while also monitoring how they slept at night. On the fifth day, the subjects were allowed to eat whatever they wanted.
聖安琪博士多年來都在研究飲食和睡眠的關系。她的研究表明，與其強調一到兩種特定食物具有催眠作用，還不如把重點放在飲食整體品質上。在一次随機臨床試驗中，她和同僚們招募了26名健康成年人，對他們的飲食進行了四天的控制，為他們提供營養學家準備的正常膳食，同時監測他們晚上的睡眠情況。第五天，受試者可以想吃什麼就吃什麼。
The researchers discovered that eating more saturated fat and less fiber from foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains led to reductions in slow-wave sleep, which is the deep, restorative kind. In general, clinical trials have also found that carbohydrates have a significant impact on sleep: People tend to fall asleep much faster at night when they consume a high-carbohydrate diet compared to when they consume a high-fat or high-protein diet. That may have something to do with carbs helping tryptophan cross into the brain more easily.
研究者發現，攝入更多飽和脂肪，更少蔬菜、水果和粗糧等食物中的纖維，會導緻慢波睡眠減少，慢波睡眠是一種深度的恢複性睡眠。總的來說，臨床試驗也發現碳水化合物對睡眠有顯著影響：人們在晚上吃高碳水化合物食物時，往往比吃高脂肪或高蛋白食物時入睡更快。這可能與碳水化合物能幫助色氨酸更容易進入大腦有關。
But the quality of carbs matters. In fact, they can be a double-edged sword when it comes to slumber. Dr. St-Onge has found in her research that when people eat more sugar and simple carbs — such as white bread, bagels, pastries and pasta — they wake up more frequently throughout the night. In other words, eating carbs may help you fall asleep faster, but it is best to consume “complex” carbs that contain fiber, which may help you obtain more deep, restorative sleep.
但碳水化合物的品質也很重要。事實上，它們對睡眠可能是把雙刃劍。聖安琪博士在研究中發現，當人們吃更多糖和單一碳水化合物（如白面包、百吉餅、糕點和意大利面）時，夜間醒來的頻率會更高。換句話說，吃碳水化合物可以幫助你更快入睡，但最好是吃含有纖維的複合碳水化合物，這能讓你獲得更深的恢複性睡眠。
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“Complex carbohydrates provide a more stable blood sugar level,” said Dr. St-Onge. “So if blood sugar levels are more stable at night, that could be the reason complex carbohydrates are associated with better sleep.”
“複合碳水化合物能讓血糖水準更穩定，”聖安琪博士說。“是以，血糖水準在夜間更穩定，可能就是複合碳水化合物與更好的睡眠相關聯的原因。”
One example of a dietary pattern that may be optimal for better sleep is the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes such foods as vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, seafood, poultry, yogurt, herbs and spices and olive oil. Large observational studies have found that people who follow this type of dietary pattern are less likely to suffer from insomnia and short sleep, though more research is needed to confirm the correlation.
地中海飲食可能是提升睡眠品質的理想飲食模式之一，它包括蔬菜、水果、堅果、豆類、全谷類、海鮮、家禽、酸奶、草藥、香料和橄榄油等食材。大量觀察性研究已經發現，遵循這種飲食模式的人患失眠和睡眠時間短的可能性較小，不過還需要更多的研究來證明這種相關性。
But the relationship between poor diet and bad sleep is a two-way street: Scientists have found that as people lose sleep, they experience physiological changes that can nudge them to seek out junk food. In clinical trials, healthy adults who are allowed to sleep only four or five hours a night end up consuming more calories and snacking more frequently throughout the day. They experience significantly more hunger and their preference for sweet foods increases.
但不良飲食和糟糕睡眠之間的關系是雙向的：科學家發現，當人們缺乏睡眠時，會出現生理上的變化，進而促使他們去尋找垃圾食品。在臨床試驗中，每晚隻允許睡四到五小時的健康成年人最終會消耗更多卡路裡，并在一天中更頻繁地吃零食。他們的饑餓感明顯增加，對甜食的偏好也有所增加。
In men, sleep deprivation stimulates increased levels of ghrelin, the so-called hunger hormone, while in women, restricting sleep leads to lower levels of GLP-1, a hormone that signals satiety,
對男性來說，睡眠不足會刺激被稱為“饑餓激素”的胃促生長素水準的上升，而對女性來說，睡眠不足會導緻GLP-1的水準下降，這是一種标志着飽腹感的激素。
“So in men, short sleep promotes greater appetite and desire to eat, and in women there is less of a signal that makes you stop eating,” said Dr. St-Onge.
“是以，對男性來說，睡眠時間短會促進更強烈的食欲和進食欲望，而對女性來說，則是讓停止進食的信号變少，”聖安琪博士說。
Changes also occur in the brain. Dr. St-Onge found that when men and women were restricted to four hours of nightly sleep for five nights in a row, they had greater activation in reward centers of the brain in response to pepperoni pizza, doughnuts and candy compared to healthy foods such as carrots, yogurt, oatmeal and fruit. After five nights of normal sleep, however, this pattern of stronger brain responses to the junk food disappeared.
他們的大腦也會發生變化。聖安琪博士發現，當男性和女性連續五晚的睡眠時間被限制在四個小時，他們大腦對帕帕羅尼披薩、甜甜圈和糖果的反應，會比對胡蘿蔔、酸奶、燕麥和水果等健康食品的反應更活躍。但在五晚的正常睡眠之後，大腦對垃圾食品的反應就消失了。
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Another study, led by researchers at King’s College London, also demonstrated how proper sleep can increase your willpower to avoid unhealthy foods. It found that habitually short sleepers who went through a program to help them sleep longer — resulting in their getting roughly an hour of additional sleep each night — had improvements in their diet. The most striking change was that they cut about 10 grams of added sugar from their diets each day, the equivalent of about two and a half teaspoons.
由倫敦國王學院的研究人員上司的另一項研究也證明了适當的睡眠如何能增強避免攝入不健康食品的意志力。研究發現，習慣性睡眠不足的人在完成幫助延長睡眠的項目後——結果是他們每晚大約能多睡一小時——飲食都有所改善。最顯著的變化是，他們每日飲食減少了約10克的添加糖，相當于兩茶匙半的量。
The takeaway is that diet and sleep are entwined. Improving one can help you improve the other and vice versa, creating a positive cycle where they perpetuate one another, said Dr. Susan Redline, a senior physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School who studies diet and sleep disorders.
布萊根婦女醫院進階醫師、在哈佛大學醫學院研究飲食及睡眠紊亂的睡眠醫學教授蘇珊·雷德琳表示，這說明了飲食和睡眠是密切相關的。提升一方可以幫助你改善另一方，反之亦然，這創造了一個良性循環，讓提升互相延續下去。
“The best way to approach health is to emphasize a healthy diet and healthy sleep,” she added. “These are two very important health behaviors that can reinforce each other.”
“獲得健康的最好辦法，就是強調健康飲食和健康睡眠，”她補充道。“這兩個非常重要的健康習慣是可以互相促進的。”