第1578期:Convenience vs health: the takeaway dilemma

Feeling hungry? If you’re feeling peckish or famished, what’s the easiest way to satisfy your hunger? Many of us will reach for a takeaway menu and order some delicious – but possibly unhealthy – food.  And our increasingly busy and hectic lives add to our need to buy ready-made food on the go or delivered to home.

感觉饿了？如果您感到饥饿或饥饿，那么满足饥饿感的最简单方法是什么？我们中的许多人会伸手去拿一份外卖菜单，点一些美味但可能不健康的食物。我们日益忙碌和忙碌的生活增加了我们在旅途中购买现成食品或送货上门的需求。

Eating options are endless, and new technology means we can feed our cravings at the push of a button. Takeaway delivery apps make ordering food quick and convenient, and during the recent coronavirus crisis, it provided a lifeline to those stuck at home with nothing to cook or who lacked the skills to prepare a meal for themselves. It’s estimated that in the UK alone, people eat three million takeaway meals a day, and the three biggest delivery apps together offer a choice of 100 cuisines from 60,000 restaurants.  Amelia Brophy, Head of UK Data Products at YouGov, told the BBC that its research “suggests that the frequency of takeaways ordered is expected to increase in the future.”

饮食选择无穷无尽，新技术意味着我们只需按一下按钮就可以满足我们的渴望。外卖应用程序使订购食物变得快捷方便，在最近的冠状病毒危机期间，它为那些被困在家里无事可做或缺乏自己准备饭菜技能的人提供了一条生命线。据估计，仅在英国，人们每天吃掉 300 万份外卖，三大外卖应用程序一起提供了来自 60,000 家餐厅的 100 种美食选择。YouGov 的英国数据产品负责人 Amelia Brophy 告诉 BBC，其研究“表明，未来订购外卖的频率预计会增加”。

It’s no wonder we are tempted to skip the grocery shopping, bypass the kitchen, and tuck into something that someone else has prepared.  But ordering a deep crust pizza, a spicy curry or a box of noodles, can come at a price both financially and to our health. Eating too much processed and unhealthy fast food has some effect on obesity and the risk of developing certain metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. A few years ago, The BBC Good Food Nation Survey found that most people ate fast food on average two days per week. But, in the 16 to 20-year-old category, one in six ate fast food at least twice a day.

难怪我们很想跳过杂货店购物，绕过厨房，吃别人准备的东西。但是，点一份厚皮披萨、一份辣咖喱或一盒面条，无论是在经济上还是对我们的健康都是有代价的。吃太多加工和不健康的快餐对肥胖和患某些代谢和心血管疾病的风险有一定的影响。几年前，BBC 美食国家调查发现，大多数人平均每周吃两天快餐。但是，在 16 至 20 岁的人群中，六分之一的人每天至少吃两次快餐。

Of course, reducing salt, sugar and fat is one way to make takeaway food healthier, as well as offering smaller portion sizes. But the best advice you might want to take away from this Takeaway English is to find a recipe book and try making your own nutritious meal. And if you haven’t got time, try ordering a healthier alternative from the menu.

当然，减少盐、糖和脂肪是使外卖食品更健康以及提供更小份量的一种方法。但是，您可能想从这本外卖英语中获得的最佳建议是找一本食谱书并尝试自己制作营养餐。如果您没有时间，请尝试从菜单中订购更健康的替代品。

词汇表

peckish 有点饿的，微饿的
famished 非常饥饿的
hunger 饥饿感
menu 菜单
ready-made 现成的，预先做好的
craving 难以抑制的渴求
cook 做饭
meal 餐食，一顿饭
cuisine 美食
grocery 食品杂货
tuck into 尽情地吃，痛快地吃
deep crust pizza 深盘比萨
spicy 辣的
curry 咖喱
noodles 面条
processed 经过加工的
obesity 肥胖
fast food 快餐
portion （食物）一份
recipe book 食谱
nutritious 有营养的