如何抵御美食的诱惑？
You can practically taste the sweet, creamy goodness. You want it so badly you can't think of anything else. But is it really the taste you crave─or the pleasant associations it brings? Or do you crave it partly because you know you shouldn't have it? Will fighting the urge make it go away or only make it worse?
你几乎能尝到那香甜奶油的美味。你太想吃了，以至于都想不起其他任何东西。但你真的是渴望那个味道──还是它带来的快感？或者你这么想吃它是因为你知道自己不该吃？抑制欲望到底会让它消失还是会让它更强烈？
Scientists are exploring all these questions as they seek to understand food cravings. The research is taking on new urgency with the nation's obesity epidemic, since cravings are widely believed to influence snacking behavior, binge eating and bulimia.
科学家正在探索这些问题，力图了解嘴馋的现象。此类研究是基于解决美国肥胖症问题的紧迫性的基础之上的，因为人们普遍认为嘴馋会影响吃零食行为、暴饮暴食和暴食症。
Among the findings so far:
目前的研究结果如下：
Food cravings activate the same reward circuits in the brain as cravings for drugs or alcohol, according to functional MRI scans, tests that measure brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow.
研究人员用功能磁共振成像扫描来探测血流变化，从而测量大脑的活动。结果发现，嘴馋和对毒品与酒精的渴望一样，会激活大脑中的奖赏回路（reward circuits）。
Nearly everyone has food cravings occasionally, but women report having them more often than men, and younger people crave sweets more than older people do.
几乎所有人都会时不时地嘴馋，但研究显示，女性嘴馋的频率多于男性，年轻人比年纪较大者更渴望甜食。
In one study, 85% of men said they found giving in to food craving satisfying; of women, only 57% said they did.
在一项研究中，85%的男性表示屈从于对食物的渴望会带来满足感，而女性只有57%。
While many women report craving salt, fat or bizarre combinations of food during pregnancy, researchers can't find much scientific validation. They suspect folklore and the power of suggestion instead.
虽然很多女性表示会在怀孕期间想吃咸味食物、肥肉或奇怪的食物搭配，但研究人员找不到太多的科学依据。他们怀疑是民间风俗以及暗示的力量在起作用。
For decades, researchers surmised that food cravings were the body's subconscious effort to correct nutritional deficiencies. Longing for steak could indicate a need for protein or iron, according to this theory. Chocoholics might be low on magnesium or other mood-altering chemicals that chocolate contains, including phenylethylamine, a compound humans produce when they're in love.
几十年来，研究人员都推测嘴馋是身体想调整营养缺乏的潜意识在起作用。根据这项理论，想吃牛排可能暗示身体需要蛋白质或铁。爱吃巧克力的人可能体内镁元素或其他巧克力中所含的影响情绪的化学物质较少，比如苯乙胺，这是人类在恋爱时会生成的一种化合物。
But a growing body of research casts doubt on the nutritional-deficiency notion. After all, few people crave vitamin-rich green leafy vegetables and many other foods contain more phenylalanine than chocolate─including salami and cheddar cheese.
但越来越多的研究使这种营养缺乏的观点遭到了质疑。毕竟很少有人会渴望富含维他命的绿叶蔬菜及其他很多苯乙胺含量高于巧克力的食物──包括意大利腊肠和切达奶酪。
Instead, studies show that food cravings involve a complex mix of social, cultural and psychological factors, heavily influenced by environmental cues. While chocolate is consistently the most-craved food in North America, Japanese women are more likely to crave sushi, a recent study found. And only 1% of young Egyptian men and 6% of young Egyptian women reported craving chocolate, according to a 2003 survey. 'Many other languages don't have a word for 'craving.' The concept seems to be uniquely important in American culture,' says psychologist Julia Hormes at the University at Albany.
研究显示，对食物的渴望涉及众多复杂的社会、文化和心理因素，深受环境暗示的影响。最近的一项研究发现，在北美，巧克力一直是人们最馋的食物，而日本女性则更有可能馋寿司。2003年的一项调查发现，只有1%的埃及年轻男性和6%的埃及年轻女性表示会想吃巧克力。纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校（University at Albany）心理学家朱丽亚•赫尔墨斯（Julia Hormes）说，很多其他语言都没有专指“嘴馋”的词，这个概念似乎在美国文化中有独特的重要性。
In the U.S., about 50% of women who crave chocolate say their cravings peak around the onset of their monthly period. But researchers haven't found any correlation between food cravings and hormone levels, and postmenopausal women don't report a big drop in chocolate cravings, a 2009 survey found. Some psychologists suspect that women may be 'self-medicating,' because sweets and carbohydrates spur release of serotonin and other feel-good brain chemicals.
在美国，约50%馋巧克力的女性表示，对巧克力的渴望程度在来月经时最强烈。但研究人员并未发现嘴馋与荷尔蒙水平有任何关联，而且2009年的一项调查发现，绝经后女性馋巧克力的程度并没有明显减弱。有心理学家怀疑女性可能是在“自我治疗”，因为甜食和碳水化合物会刺激血清素及其他使人感觉良好的大脑化学物质的释放。
A study of 98 female students at the University of Pennsylvania last year found that those who reported the most cycle-related cravings also had a history of dieting, eating disorders and high body mass indexes. 'These seem to be women who think, 'I shouldn't have any chocolate at all,' but then they give in and have the whole bar,' says Dr. Hormes, who led much of the U. Penn research. 'The more they try to restrict it, the more they craved it.'
去年由赫尔墨斯博士主导的对宾夕法尼亚大学（University of Pennsylvania）98名女学生的研究发现，那些最多地表示自己嘴馋与月经周期相关的人同时有过节食、饮食失调和高身体质量指数的历史。赫尔墨斯博士说，这种人似乎会想“我根本不应该吃巧克力”，但接着会屈服，然后把一整块巧克力都吃掉，她们越想抑制渴望，就会越想吃。
Typically, people crave foods they enjoy─but not always. 'It's possible to like a food without craving it, and crave a food without liking it,' says Marcia Pelchat, a food psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, a research facility in Philadelphia.
一般来说，人们会馋自己爱吃的东西──不过也不一定。费城蒙内尔化学感觉中心（Monell Chemical Senses Center）食物心理学家马西亚•佩尔莎（Marcia Pelchat）说，人们有可能会喜欢一种食物却不会馋它，不喜欢某种食物也有可能会觉得馋。
In one 2004 study she conducted, a group of subjects consumed only vanilla-flavor Boost, a protein drink, for five days to assess their cravings for other food. She was amazed to find many of them craved Boost after returning to a regular diet: 'We thought they'd never want to see it again.'
在佩尔莎博士2004年所做的一项研究中，一组研究对象连续五天只吃香草味的蛋白质饮料Boost，从而来评估他们对其他食物的渴望程度。她惊奇地发现很多人在恢复正常饮食后会想喝Boost：“我们还以为他们会再也不想看到这种饮料了。”
The same phenomenon occurs with movie-theater popcorn, Dr. Pelchat says: 'Most people will admit it's not the world's best popcorn, but if the line is long and you're not able to buy it, you may well crave it.'
佩尔莎博士说，关于电影院的爆米花也有这种现象，大多数人会承认那不是世界上最好吃的爆米花，但如果队伍太长，你买不到的话，就很有可能会馋它。
Functional MRI scans by Dr. Pelchat showed that sensory memory food cravings activate the same parts of the brain that drug and alcohol cravings do, including the hippocampus, which helps store memories; the insula, involved in perception and emotion; and the caudate, which is important for learning and memory. The circuit is driven by dopamine, the neurotransmitter responsible for reward-driven learning.
佩尔莎博士所做的功能磁共振成像扫描显示，对食物的感官记忆渴望会和对毒品和酒精的渴望一样激活大脑的某些部位，包括帮助储存记忆的海马体，还有与感知和情感有关的脑岛，以及对学习和记忆起重要作用的尾状核。这一奖赏回路由负责奖赏学习机制的神经传递素多巴胺驱动。
Experts say that cravings are fine on occasion─say, for pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, gingerbread at Christmas or for healthy choices year-round. But indulging too often can send cravings spiraling out of control.
专家说嘴馋在有些时候是没问题的──比如在感恩节想吃南瓜派，在圣诞节想吃姜饼，或者平时想吃健康食品。但太频繁的放纵会导致对食物的渴望失控。
Brain researchers have documented that when people continually bombard their reward circuits with drugs, alcohol or high-fat, high-sugar foods, many of the dopamine receptors in the system shut down to prevent overload. And with fewer dopamine receptors at work, the system craves more and more, insatiably. 'Pretty soon, one cupcake doesn't do it anymore. You have to overstuff yourself and you still don't get that reward,' says Pam Peeke, a physician and author of the new book, 'The Hunger Fix.' She notes that food addiction creates changes in the prefrontal cortex, which normally override impulsivity and addictive urges.
脑研究人员已经证明，当人们持续用毒品、酒精或高脂高糖食物刺激奖赏回路时，大脑系统中的许多多巴胺受体会为了预防超负荷而关闭。由于活动的多巴胺受体减少，系统就会不断地渴望更多。新书“The Hunger Fix”的作者、内科医生帕姆•匹克（Pam Peeke）说，要不了多久，一个纸杯蛋糕就不够了，你不得不让自己吃撑，但还是没有感觉得到奖赏。她指出，嗜吃会使前额皮质发生变化，这个部位通常会帮助人体抑制冲动和成瘾的欲望。
What is the best way to fight food cravings? Many studies have shown that the more subjects try to restrict a food, the more they may crave it. So some experts suggest embracing and controlling the urge instead.
对抗嘴馋的最佳方法是什么？许多研究显示，研究对象越想控制某种食物就会越想吃。所以有些专家建议应该接受和控制这种欲望。
One 2003 study at University College in London found that subjects who ate chocolate only in the middle of a meal or just after were more successful at giving it up than those who ate it on an empty stomach.
英国伦敦大学学院（University College in London）2003年的一项研究发现，只在就餐期间或就餐后吃巧克力的研究对象比在空腹时吃巧克力的人更有可能放下想吃巧克力的欲望。
Cognitive behavior therapy can also be helpful. Researchers in Adelaide, Australia, gave 110 self-professed chocolate cravers each a bag of chocolates to carry around for a week, and instructed half of them in 'cognitive restructuring'─challenging their thoughts about chocolate─while the other half learned 'cognitive defusion'─accepting and observing their thoughts without acting on them. At the end, the defusion group had three times as much chocolate left than the other group.
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