How many(1) calories we eat appears to be(2) more important than what we eat when we eat too much(3).
That was the finding(4) of a new study that should be(5) satisfying(6) to anyone(7) who counts calories for weight control(8).
More than one billion adults are overweight(9). The World Health Organization calls(10) obesity a global epidemic.
Government researchers(11) have just reported(12) their latest estimates for the United States.
The good news: obesity rates(13) have not increased(14) much in recent years. The bad news: they have not decreased(15) either(16).
More than one-third(17) of adults were obese(18) in two thousand nine and two thousand ten.
Anyone who has ever tried(19) to lose weight knows there are all kinds of(20) conflicting(21) diet plans. Some tell people not to eat carbohydrates.
Others say not to eat fats(22). Still others say to eat more protein(23). Or to eat less(24) protein.
Dr. George Bray at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana led(25) the new study. He wanted to know if protein affects weight gain(26).
Twenty-five healthy(27) adults were in the study. They were overfed(28) by almost(29) a thousand calories a day(30) over(31) an eight-week period.
Calories in food are a measure(32) of energy. The people followed(33) diets with low(34), normal or high levels(35) of protein. Normal was defined as fifteen percent of energy from protein.
Dr. Bray says all of them(36) gained weight: “Fat storage(37) was exactly the same(38) with all three levels of protein. It was the calories that they ate(39) that affected the body fat that they stored(40).” Those who ate a higher(41) percentage of protein gained more lean(42) body mass(43).
Dr. Bray says the opposite happened(44) on a low protein diet: “If your protein intake(45) is low, you’ll actually(46) lose body mass even though(47) you’re eating an excess amount(48) of calories.”
He tells his patients to weigh themselves(49) regularly so they can(50) know quickly(51) if they gain weight.
His study appeared(52) in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian at the Harvard School of Public Health studies the relationship(53) between diet and conditions like heart disease(54) and diabetes. He says, “We don’t need to go down a list of ‘avoid(55) this, avoid that’ – become(56), you know, food police. It’s really actually mostly(57) foods that should be increased. It’s fruits, vegetables(58), whole grains(59), fish, vegetable oils and nuts(60).”
He says increasing these six foods by about(61) one serving each day(62) would reduce obesity and help slow(63) the epidemic of obesity-related diseases(64).
For VOA Special English, I’m Alex Villarreal.You can find a video about the study at voaspecialenglish.com.
- How many = quantos(as)
- appears to be = parece ser
- too much = demais
- finding = descoberta
- should be = deveria
- satisfying = satisfazendo
- anyone = qualquer um
- weight control = controle de peso
- overweight = acima do peso
- calls = chama
- researchers = pesquisadores
- have just reported = acabaram de relater
- obesity rates = indices de obesidade
- have not increased (Pres. Perfect)= não aumentaram
- have not decreased (pres. Perfect) = não diminuiram
- either = tampouco, também
- one-third = um terço
- obese = obeso
- Anyone who has ever tried = qualquer um que já tentou alguma vez
- all kinds of = todos os tipos de
- conflicting = conflitantes
- fats = gorduras
- protein = proteínas
- less = menos
- led = liderou
- weight gain = ganho de peso
- healthy = saudável
- overfed = alimentado em excess
- almost = quase
- a day = por dia
- over = durante
- measure = medida
- followed = seguiram
- low = baixo(a)
- high levels = altos níveis
- all of them = todos eles
- Fat storage = armazenamento de gordura
- exactly the same = exatamente o mesmo
- ate = comeram
- stored = armazenaram
- higher = mais alto(a)
- lean = magro(a)
- mass = massa
- the opposite happened = o oposto aconteceu
- intake = ingestão
- actually = na verdade
- even though = mesmo que
- amount = quantidade
- weigh themselves = pesarem-se
- so they can = para que eles possam
- quickly = rapidamente
- appeared = apareceu
- relationship = relacionamento
- heart disease = doença cardiac
- avoid = evitar
- become = tornar-se
- mostly = a maior parte de
- vegetables = legumes
- whole grains = grãos integrais
- nuts = castanhas
- by about = em aproximadamente
- each day = cada dia
- slow = desacelerar
- obesity-related diseases = doenças relacionadas à obesidade