Name: 不吃肉就會營養不良？如果永遠不吃肉會怎樣？ (What If You Never Ate Meat?)
Uploaded: 2022-07-13T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 3 min 45 s

These days, it seems like everyone has an opinion on whether eating meat is good or bad for you.

最近，似乎每個人都在討論吃肉對你的身體是好還是壞。

After all, it's thought that meat is what helped you humans evolve into, well, humans.

畢竟，吃肉幫助你演化成人類。

Still, vegetarians swear by tofu, veggie burgers and whatever tempeh is, but can your body function properly without meat?

即使如此，素食者相信可以藉由攝取豆腐、素食漢堡、丹貝，但你的身體能在沒有吃肉的情況下正常運作嗎？

Humans first started eating meat about two and a half million years ago.

人類從兩百五十萬年前開始吃肉。

But before then, they were eating lots of fruits, leaves, flowers and roots, but it's believed that the addition of animal protein and the accompanying calories helped their early brains and bodies evolve and grow larger.

在那之前，他們吃很多水果、葉子、花、植物的根部，但大家相信，額外攝取動物蛋白和卡路里幫助人類的早期大腦和身體演化發展得更大。

But nowadays, is meat really that necessary?

但在現今，吃肉類真的是必要的嗎？

Meat is packed full of nutrients like protein, iron, calcium, and vitamins D and B12, that are all super important to keep your body functioning properly.

肉類富含很多營養像是蛋白、鐵、鈣和維他命 D 及 B12，這些營養素對身體機能的運作相當重要。

Deficiencies in these areas can lead to things like increased risks of developing certain cancers and autoimmune diseases, decreased energy levels, headaches and loss of muscle mass, just to name a few.

營養素的缺乏可能導致特定癌症及自體免疫性疾病的風險增加，體能降低，頭痛和喪失肌力，只是舉些例子。

But you apparently don't really need meat.

Most vegetarians can keep those levels in check with lots of beans, leafy green veggies, soy, dairy, nutritional yeast, and whole grains.

大部分的素食者可以靠吃大量的豆子、葉菜類、大豆、乳製品、營養的酵母以及全麥來補充。

Dietary supplements can also come in handy, too, and making sure your body is getting everything it needs.

我們隨時都可以補充飲食，以確保身體攝取所有需要的營養素。

Cutting out meat from your diet will have some effects on other aspects of your health.

飲食中若沒有肉類將會對你的健康有一些影響。

One of the first things that'll happen is the bacteria in your gut will change to account for a new type of diet, which may result in a little bloating but nothing serious.

其中一個影響是你內臟裡的細菌將會改變成適應新飲食的型態，可能導致腹脹但並不嚴重。

As time goes on, you'll actually feel happier, more energetic, and healthier all around.

隨時間過去，你會感覺更開心、更有活力，甚至更健康。

It's found that just cutting out meat and changing nothing else can cause people to lose about four or five kilograms.

有人發現，在其他條件不變的情況下單靠不吃肉，可能會讓人減去四到五公斤。

And your risk of developing heart disease drops pretty significantly, as much as 25%.

而你罹患心血管疾病的風險大幅下降，降幅約為 25%。

Plus, processed meats have recently been classified as carcinogens by the World Health Organization, meaning they're known to cause cancer.

再加上，加工肉類最近已被世界衛生組織歸類為致癌物質，代表它們會導致癌症。

If you cut those and other types of meat out, your risk of getting cancer drops.

如果你減少食用這種肉類，你罹癌的風險會下降。

While almost everyone's body is built to handle a moderate amount of meat, some people suffer from meat allergies.

雖然幾乎所有人的身體都能消化適量的肉類，有些人卻對肉類過敏。

Which I know that some of you might sound made up, but the science says it's a real problem!

我知道你們有一些人可能會懷疑，但科學家說這是真實存在的問題！

These allergies can be pretty serious and come from a few sources.

這些過敏原可能會非常嚴重，主要來自於一些來源。

First, when your body becomes overly sensitive to meat, maybe from not eating it for ten years, your body considers it a threat.

首先，當你的身體對肉類開始變得過度敏感，或許因為你十年都沒有吃肉了，你的身體會把肉類視為一種威脅。

So, when you eat meat, your system releases huge amounts of histamine to try to protect you.

所以，當你吃肉，你的身體釋放大量組織胺來保護你。

This influx of histamine can cause a huge array of reactions, ranging from hives, to eyelid swelling, to abdominal, respiratory and cardiovascular distress.

當組織胺匯聚時可能導致一連串的反應，包括蕁麻疹、眼瞼腫脹，和腹部、呼吸道、心血管疾病。

In some extreme cases, you may experience a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis, causing your airways to close up.

在一些嚴重的例子中，你可能會經歷生死關頭的反應，稱為過敏性反應，導致你無法呼吸。

Another, quite unusual, source of meat allergies is the Lone Star tick.

另一個不尋常的肉類過敏原來源是美洲鈍眼蜱。

One bite from this insect can rewire someone's immune system and cause them to develop an allergy to red meat!

被這種昆蟲咬到會破壞人的免疫系統，導致他們產生對紅肉的過敏原！

Whether someone stops eating meat voluntarily or because of an allergy, it can have a big impact on their health and overall well being.

不管一個人是自己選擇不吃肉或是因為帶有肉類過敏原，那都會對健康跟身體產生很大的影響。

Statistics vary, but it's thought that about 3% of Americans are vegetarians.

統計數據各有差別，但約有 3% 的美國人是素食者。

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