【每日翻译】Sweat it out – in a bath!

You might think that to lose weight you need to do strenuous exercise – pedalling furiously on an exercise bike, for example, or doing lengths in your local pool. Well, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that lying in a steaming bath can bring the same benefits as exercise, without the need to sweat profusely in the gym!

你可能认为想减肥你必须去做那些费劲的锻炼——例如脚踏自行车的运动或者在游泳池里来回游泳。好了，你可能会感到惊奇，你躺在蒸汽浴室里可以带来同样的受益，而不需要在健身房里挥汗如雨!

These were the findings of an experiment comparing the relative benefits of exercise and hot baths that was carried out by Dr Steve Faulkner of Loughborough University. The volunteers first lay in a hot bath and then ate a light meal, while their blood sugar level was monitored and the number of calories they burnt was measured. The experiment was then repeated, but instead of having a bath, the participants did an hour’s vigorous exercise on a bike. The results from both activities were compared with unexpected results.

这是拉夫堡大学的斯蒂芬博士进行的一项实验，他比较了运动和热水浴的相对好处，志愿者首先躺在一个热水池里，然后吃一顿便餐，再监控他们的血糖水平，测量他们燃烧的卡路里数据，接着，实验再次重复，取代热水浴，参与者进行一个小时的自行车剧烈运动，从这两组数据中进行比较，结果不可思议。

“What we found”, said Dr Faulkner, “was an 80% increase in energy expenditure, just as a result of sitting in the bath for the course of an hour”. You burn 140 calories – not as many perhaps as if you had worked out on an exercise bike, but the same number as if you had been on a brisk walk. The real surprise, however, came in the blood sugar level results. The peak glucose output, the amount of blood sugar in the blood after a meal, was on average10% lower after the bath compared to that after exercise.

福克纳博士说：“我们所发现的是能量消耗增长80%，与躺在热水浴缸里一小时结果一样”，你燃烧140卡路里——也许你进行完自行车运动后并没有消耗那么多，也许和你快步走消耗的一样。然而，真正让你吃惊的是，血糖指数的结果，血糖峰值的输出，饭后血液中血糖数量，热水浴与运动之后的比较平均下降10%。

Dr Faulkner’s explanation for this phenomenon is that when you are in a hot bath, proteins, known as ‘heat shock proteins’ are released, which help divert the sugar from the bloodstream to the muscles. It’s important to keep blood sugar levels down to avoid damage to the arteries and nerves.

福克纳博士对这种现象的解释是当你躺在热水浴时，被称为“热休克蛋白”的蛋白质被释放，有助于将糖从血液里转移到肌肉。保持血糖下降避免对动脉和神经产生损伤，这是很重要的。

Don’t think, though, that you can hang up your trainers just yet! You should aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. But, if you are one of those people who need to control their blood sugar levels – if you have type-2 diabetes for example or find it hard to exercise – why wait? Grab a towel and start running the hot tap!

不过，不要认为你可以把你的运动鞋挂起来！你应该每周进行至少150分钟的中等强度训练。但是，如果你是需要控制血糖水平的人员之一，并且你有二型糖尿病或者你觉得运动很艰难——那还等待干嘛呢？拿起毛巾，打开热水龙头开始热水浴吧！