Are bananas fattening?

　　吃香蕉会胖吗?

　　Those who claim they are argue that bananas cause the body to make lots of insulin, and insulin causes fat growth.

　　那些声称香蕉使人发胖的人辩称香蕉促进人体分泌大量胰岛素，胰岛素会使人发胖。

　　How much insulin we produce is related to how fast a food becomes sugar in our bloodstream. How can you know if a food makes a lot of sugar quickly? The glycemic index (GI) rating tells us. Foods with GI scores above 75 are considered high-GI foods. Bananas have a GI of 62, which is considered low.

　　人体分泌多少胰岛素与食物在血液中转化成糖的快慢有关，那我们怎么能知道一种食物是否会很快转化成大量糖分呢?这个可以从血糖指数等级得知。血糖指数高于75的食物被认为是高血糖指数食物。香蕉血糖指数为62，数值较低。

　　Weight loss can be a struggle for anyone, but it is especially hard for diabetics. A study looked at how the starch from unripe bananas affected the weight of a group of obese diabetics. After four weeks of a diet high in bananas, diabetics lost significantly more weight than on a control diet. They also saw improvements in insulin sensitivity from the banana diet.

　　对任何人来说，减肥都是一种挣扎，但对糖尿病人来说尤其困难。一项研究观测了未成熟香蕉中的淀粉如何影响肥胖糖尿病人的体重。糖尿病人每顿都吃很多香蕉，四周后他们明显比控制饮食的人体重下降更多。吃香蕉餐后，胰岛素敏感度也有所改善。

　　Bananas are a rich source of resistant fiber, which has been shown to help weight loss. Bananas that still have some green on the skin are even higher in resistant fiber.

　　香蕉富含抗性纤维，有助于减肥。皮仍然发绿的香蕉抗性纤维含量甚至更高。

　　Are bananas unhealthy?

　　香蕉不健康吗?

　　No. On the contrary, bananas have been shown to cut risks of stroke, diabetes and cancers.

　　错。恰恰相反，香蕉已被证明能降低患中风、糖尿病和癌症的风险。

　　Stroke risk:

　　患中风的风险：

　　A group of over 90,000 women, ages 50-79, was tracked for 11 years to see how their diets predicted their stroke risk. Those who had the potassium from an extra banana each day had a 25 percent reduction in their risk of stroke.

　　有研究追踪了超过90,000名年龄在50到79岁的女士，历时11年，想要看看她们的饮食如何影响患中风的危险。对于那些1天多吃1个香蕉从中吸收了钾元素的人，她们患中风的危险降低了25%。

　　Diabetes risk:

　　患糖尿病的风险：

　　Along with helping diabetics lose weight, bananas lower the risk of developing diabetes.

　　香蕉既有助于糖尿病人减肥，还能降低患糖尿病的风险。

　　Cancer risk:

　　患癌症的风险：

　　Bananas are the most powerful fruit for cutting the risk of kidney cancer. In a large study, 61,000 adult women were asked about their diets and monitored for kidney cancer for 13.4 years. Many types of produce were helpful, but bananas were the best fruit for lowering the risk of kidney cancer.

　　香蕉是降低患肾癌风险最强的水果。一项大型研究询问了61,000名成年女性的饮食情况，对她们进行肾癌检测，历时13.4年。很多农产品都有帮助，但香蕉是降低患肾癌风险最好的水果。

　　How can you use banana skins?

　　香蕉皮怎么用?

　　Skins from green bananas can be taken and, after removing the stem and dark tip, cut into small strips 2-3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. These strips can be made into a high-potassium tea or added to a stir fry. I love stir-frying them with onions, bok choy and mushrooms.

　　绿香蕉的皮可以剥掉，切掉茎和黑色的尖部之后，把皮切成2—3英寸长、1/2英寸宽的条，可以做成高钾茶或放入炒青菜里。我喜欢把香蕉皮和圆葱、白菜、蘑菇一起炒。

　　When you eat the skins, be sure you are eating organic bananas. The flesh of regular bananas are low in pesticides, but the skins are not.

　　吃香蕉皮一定要吃有机香蕉的，普通香蕉的果肉农药含量低，但皮上农药含量高。

（编辑：何莹莹）