第1602期:Feel-good food

Warning! This article could be bad for your health! As many of us endure the long, cold winter, we are tempted to tuck into some filling and fattening foods. This is sometimes because it helps us to keep warm and to give us energy, but often it’s because we need something to cheer us up. And, for a short while at least, it makes us feel better – which is why we call it ‘comfort food’.

警告！这篇文章可能对您的健康有害！当我们中的许多人忍受漫长而寒冷的冬天时，我们很想吃一些填充和增肥的食物。这有时是因为它可以帮助我们保持温暖并给我们能量，但通常是因为我们需要一些东西来让我们振作起来。而且，至少在短时间内，它让我们感觉更好——这就是我们称之为“舒适食品”的原因。

The type of food that makes us feel good varies from person to person – it depends on your palate and the association you have with particular tastes, textures and smells. But probably the most universally popular edible comforter is the biscuit. It’s thought this go-to snack often brings back happy memories of childhood and family, as well as giving us that all-important sugary pick-me-up.

让我们感觉良好的食物类型因人而异——这取决于您的味觉以及您与特定口味、质地和气味的关联。但可能最普遍流行的可食用被子是饼干。人们认为，这种首选小吃通常会唤起童年和家庭的美好回忆，并让我们获得最重要的含糖提神。

Moving on from the sweet and sugary snacks, famous chef and food writer Mary Berry knows about the kind of meals that warm us up and give us comfort in the winter. She told BBC Food magazine: “I think it becomes natural to think about comfort food as soon as the weather chills and the nights become darker.” She suggests soup and warming foods as feel-good winter treats.

从甜食和含糖零食开始，著名厨师和美食作家玛丽·贝瑞 (Mary Berry) 知道哪些食物能让我们在冬天暖和起来，让我们感到舒适。她告诉 BBC 食品杂志：“我认为，一旦天气变冷，夜晚变得更黑，就会很自然地想到舒适的食物。”她建议将汤和热食作为冬季款待。

The other thing about comforting dishes like mac and cheese, noodles or pizza is they don’t require culinary skills in the kitchen; they are easy to make so you can get your fix of feel-good food quickly. However, we often feel so good that we eat too much, and even though we know the ingredients are high in carbohydrates, sugar or salt, we continue to pig out. Psychologist Shira Gabriel told the BBC: “We feel guilty because we don’t realise that what’s happening is our minds [are] finding a way to trigger a really positive emotion and they’re making us eat that food to do so.”

像通心粉和奶酪、面条或披萨这样的菜肴的另一件事是它们不需要厨房的烹饪技巧。它们很容易制作，因此您可以快速找到让您感觉良好的食物。然而，我们经常感觉很好，以至于吃得太多，即使我们知道这些成分中碳水化合物、糖或盐的含量很高，我们还是继续贪吃。心理学家希拉加布里埃尔告诉英国广播公司：“我们感到内疚，因为我们没有意识到正在发生的事情是我们的大脑[正在]找到一种方法来引发一种真正的积极情绪，而他们让我们吃这种食物来做到这一点。”

Maybe we should take comfort from the fact that eating certain food just makes us feel happy. But, for some people, eating any kind of food brings joy, warmth, happiness and comfort.

也许我们应该从吃某些食物会让我们感到快乐这一事实中得到安慰。但是，对于一些人来说，吃任何一种食物都会带来快乐、温暖、幸福和舒适。

词汇表

tuck into 痛快地吃，尽情地吃
filling 容易填饱肚子的，易使人饱的
fattening 使人发胖的
comfort food 安慰食物，开心食品
palate 味觉
taste 味道
texture （食品）质地
smell 气味
edible 可食用的
snack 零食
sugary 含糖的，甜的
sweet 甜的
chef 厨师
soup 汤
warming foods 温性食物
dishes 菜品
mac and cheese 奶酪通心面
noodles 面条
pizza 比萨饼
culinary skills 烹饪技术
carbohydrate 碳水化合物
salt 盐
to pig out 大吃大喝，狼吞虎咽