每日跟讀#721: About Science: Chemical found in spinach has the same effect as steroids and should be banned for athletes, scientists say
Maybe Popeye was onto something when he ripped open a can of spinach for beating up the bad guys.
當大力水手卜派為了痛毆壞人而打開一罐菠菜時，或許知其所以然。
Scientists in Germany say, ecdysterone, a chemical found in spinach is close to steroids and has a similar effect on humans. Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin ran a 10-week test on nearly 50 athletes and found athletes who took capsules of ecdysterone increased their strength by up to three times.
德國科學家表示，菠菜中發現的化學物質「蛻皮甾酮」（ecdysterone）與類固醇相近，對人體有類似作用。柏林自由大學研究人員對近50名運動員進行歷時10週的測試，發現服用蛻皮甾酮膠囊的運動員，體力最多增加3倍。
The capsules the athletes were given were the equivalent of about nine pounds of spinach but researchers say the capsules could be used as a performance enhancing drug. The study has called on the World Anti-Doping Authority to dig further into ecdysterone and wants the chemical added to the list of banned substances for athletes.
給那些運動員服用的膠囊，約等同於9磅重的蔬菜。但研究人員表示，這些膠囊可能會被用來做為提高成績的藥物。該研究呼籲「世界運動禁藥管制組織」近一步研究蛻皮甾酮，希望將這種化學物質加入運動員禁用物品清單裡。
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Genes, yes, but obesity pandemic mostly down to diet：study
研究：基因有影響，但肥胖流行病主因在飲食
A three-fold jump since 1975 in the percentage of adults worldwide who are obese has been driven mainly by a shift in diet and lack of exercise, but genes do play a role as well, according a large-scale study published Thursday.
根據週四發表的一份大型研究，1975年以來全球成年人口中，肥胖者所佔比例大增3倍，主要由飲食習慣改變和缺乏運動造成，但基因確實也有影響。
For people genetically predisposed to a wider girth, these unhealthy lifestyles compounded the problem, resulting in an even higher rate of weight gain, researchers reported in The BMJ, a peer-reviewed medical journal.
研究人員在同儕審查醫學期刊「英國醫學期刊」發表報告指出，對於基因上易胖的人而言，這些不健康的生活方式加重問題，導致體重更大幅度增加。
To tease out the relative impact of environment and genes on obesity, scientists led by Maria Brandkvist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology combed through data on nearly 120,000 people in Norway whose height and weight were regularly measured between 1963 and 2008.
為了瞭解環境和基因對肥胖的相對影響，挪威科技大學的布朗克韋斯特領導的一群科學家，探究挪威從1963年到2008年間定期測量身高、體重的近12萬人資料。
Adults began tipping the scales at significantly higher weights in the 1980s and 1990s, they found. Those born after 1970 were far more likely to have a substantially higher BMI as young adults than earlier generations.
他們發現，1980和1990年代成年人的體重顯著增加。1970年以後出生的人，更有可能在年輕時就有比前幾世代人高得多的BMI值。
Source article: https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1312177 ; https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1313703