全文精译
粉色高亮：翻译思路中讲解的例句
黄色高亮：精读板块中讲解的单词和词组
绿色高亮：句式语法中讲解的例句
Science & technology | Well informed
Illustration: Cristina Spanò
Mar 7th 2025
BUTTER IS HAVING a moment. In 2024 American consumption per person hit its highest in almost 60 years. Long-standing fears about fat’s impact on heart health seem to be dissipating: today, fat is in and it is carbohydrates, sugars and processed foods that are out. But a new scientific study reports that butter-eating is associated with an early death. So: is butter really bad for you?
黄油现在真是风头无两。2024年，美国人均摄入量达到60年来新高。对脂肪危害心血管健康的恐惧，过了这么久，似乎正在消散。如今，油脂开始流行，碳水、糖分、精细加工食品遭到唾弃。但是，新的科学研究却表明，吃黄油与短寿有联系。那，吃黄油对身体到底好还是不好？
Reaching an answer involves understanding that not all fats are alike. At a chemical level, fats can be thought of as chains of carbon atoms; some are saturated, meaning every carbon atom clings to two hydrogen atoms, and others are unsaturated, meaning some carbon atoms bond to only one of hydrogen. Those structural differences can dramatically affect how those fats interact with the body. Saturated fats, for example, raise levels of cholesterol, a fatty molecule that gathers in arteries and can contribute to cardiovascular disease. They do this, in part, by partially disabling receptors in the liver which cause excess cholesterol to be extracted from the bloodstream and dumped into bile. Unsaturated fats, by contrast, actively reduce the levels of cholesterol by activating these same liver receptors.
要回答这个问题，首先要知道，各种油脂也都不尽相同。从化学的角度，脂肪是由碳原子链组成的分子。如果碳原子与两个氢原子结合，那就构成饱和脂肪；如果一部分碳原子只与一个氢原子结合，那就构成不饱和脂肪。结构上的不同会显著改变脂肪对人体的影响。比如，饱和脂肪会导致胆固醇升高，胆固醇会在动脉血管中积累，引发心血管疾病。之所以会这样，一部分是因为饱和脂肪多少抑制了肝脏中的受体，导致从血液中提取的胆固醇增加，进入胆汁。相较之下，不饱和脂肪则能激活肝脏里的受体，从而降低胆固醇，
Most of the fat in butter is of the saturated variety. It, therefore, stands to reason that butter should have a negative effect on heart health. Indeed, randomised-controlled studies offer good evidence that replacing butter with plant-based oil can reduce cholesterol.
黄油中的油脂主要是饱和脂肪。因此，可以合理推断，黄油不利于心血管健康。而且，随机对照实验也提供了有力的证据，表明植物油替代黄油可以降低胆固醇。
There is more bad news for butter-lovers. The new study, published on March 6th in JAMA Internal Medicine by authors in Massachusetts and Denmark, relied on data from three long-run trials of American medical professionals. For almost 33 years 220,000 nurses and doctors have been regularly surveyed about their lifestyle, diet and health. Many have died in this time. The authors found that, after controlling for such things as age, sex, diet and lifestyle, those people who ate the most butter (averaging around one tablespoon per day) were 15% more likely to have died during the course of the study than those who avoided the stuff. By contrast, people who consumed the most plant-based oils, such as canola, soyabean or olive oil—all of which have low levels of saturated fat—were 16% less likely to die than those who consumed the least.
如果你爱吃黄油，坏消息还不止这一个。3月6日，《美国医学会内科学》杂志上发表了一项新研究，马萨诸塞州和丹麦的研究人员对美国医疗人员进行了三个长期试验。近33年时间里，他们对22万名护士和医生定期进行调查，内容包括他们的生活方式、饮食和健康状况。实验期间，许多被试都相继离世。研究者发现，控制年龄、性别、饮食和生活方式等变量后，吃黄油最多的人（平均每天约一汤匙）在实验期间死亡的概率比不吃黄油的人高出15%。相比之下，吃植物油最多（如菜籽油、豆油或橄榄油等较低饱和脂肪）的人，在试验期间死亡的概率比吃植物油最少的人低16%。
And, though the study could not show that butter increased the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, consuming more plant-based oils did lower that particular risk. Butter-eating was, instead, linked to more deaths from cancer. The authors found that replacing ten grams of butter daily with the same amount of plant-based oil appeared to reduce the cancer mortality risk by 17%.
虽然研究结果并不能证明吃黄油增加了死于心血管疾病的风险，但是却可以肯定吃植物油能降低这个风险。而吃黄油和更高的癌症病死案例也有关系。研究者发现，每天把10克黄油换成10克植物油，患癌症死亡的风险降低了17%。
Observational studies like this one are rarely cut and dried, however. George Davey Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of Bristol, points out that there exist other differences in health-related behaviours between the groups: the voracious butter-eaters contained twice as many smokers, for example, as the butter-avoiders. He argues it is not possible to fully control for such differences, which means some non-dietary factors could also be at play.
其实，像这样的观察性研究很少能得出明确结论。布里斯托尔大学的流行病学家乔治·戴维·史密斯（George Davey Smith）指出，在养生保健的行为上，两组被试之间还存在其他差异：例如，相较于不吃黄油的人，大量食用黄油的人群中吸烟者的数量是两倍。他认为，完全控制这些差异是不可能的，也就是说，饮食之外的因素也可能在起作用。
If you do bin your butter, choose your alternatives wisely. Margarine has less saturated fat than butter (and modern varieties tend to be free of hydrogenated or trans-fats, which also negatively affect cholesterol levels), but it has been linked to higher levels of type-2 diabetes. If you want a sure swap, though, olive oil is probably your best bet.
如果你决定替换黄油，那就要好好挑选替代品了。人造黄油的饱和脂肪含量低于黄油（新产品一般也不含氢化脂肪或反式脂肪，这类脂肪同样会升高胆固醇水平），却与二型糖尿病风险增加有关。想要健康的替换食用油，橄榄油可能是最佳选择。
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翻译思路
BUTTER IS HAVING a moment.
黄油现在真是风头无两。
讲解：这句话是全文的第一句，只有五个单词，目的是要一鸣惊人地镇住场子，用一个显而易见、无法辩驳的事实，得到读者认同，吸引读者注意力。所以，中文也要这种效果。那这句话想说明什么呢？
原文里用了一个英语中常用的俗语“be having a moment”，意思是“to be very popular or fashionable at a particular time”，是一种非正式的表达，相当于中文里的“火得不得了”。为了保持原文的斩钉截铁，我翻译成“风头无两”，也就是“名声名气大得不得了”的意思。
“现在真是”则主要为了突出时态和强调语气。
我一向觉得，英文原文简单的时候，中文译文就容易出彩。这算是一个例子。
Those structural differences can dramatically affect how those fats interact with the body.
结构上的不同会显著改变脂肪对人体的影响。
这句话的翻译就很好地展示了中文的简洁凝炼。英文33个字符（13个单词），被压缩成15个汉字，还保持了原文的所有重要信息。“Those structural differences can dramatically affect“与“结构上的不同会显著改变”应该很好理解了。重点是对宾语从句的处理。
一般而言，how引导的宾语从句会处理成“如何……的”和“……的方式”，比如这个宾语从句就可以处理成“脂肪是如何与人体相互作用的”或者“脂肪与人体相互作用的方式”，这两种翻法都是有长长的修饰部分，然后把句脚落在了虚弱的”的“字上和抽象的”方式“上，在余光中老师的《怎样改进英式中文？——论中文的常态与变态》中，受到了严厉批评，因为这样的句子啰嗦、软弱、累赘、无力。
虽然英文原文用了interact这个词，但是看后文，脂肪是因而人体是果，所以摒弃”如何“、”的“、”方式“这些虚字，用最直接的说法，又简单又有力量，掷地有声。
精读
- Dissipating - Disappearing or fading away. Example: "Fears about fat’s impact on heart health seem to be dissipating."
- Associated with - Linked or connected to. Example: "Butter-eating is associated with an early death."
- Saturated fats - A type of fat where carbon atoms are fully bonded with hydrogen atoms. Example: "Most of the fat in butter is of the saturated variety."
- Unsaturated fats - Fats with carbon atoms not fully bonded with hydrogen, allowing for healthier interactions in the body. Example: "Unsaturated fats actively reduce the levels of cholesterol."
- Randomised-controlled studies - A type of scientific experiment where participants are randomly assigned to different groups. Example: "Randomised-controlled studies offer good evidence that replacing butter with plant-based oil can reduce cholesterol."
- Plant-based oils - Oils derived from plants, which generally have lower levels of saturated fats. Example: "People who consumed the most plant-based oils were less likely to die."
- Observational studies - Research studies where researchers observe the effect of a risk factor, diagnostic test, treatment, etc., without trying to change who is or isn't exposed. Example: "Observational studies like this one are rarely cut and dried."
- Epidemiologist - A scientist who studies the distribution and determinants of health and disease conditions in populations. Example: "George Davey Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of Bristol."
- Voracious - Wanting or devouring great quantities; very eager. Here, it's used to describe butter consumption. Example: "The voracious butter-eaters contained twice as many smokers."
- Cholesterol - A waxy substance found in your blood, which is necessary for building cells but can lead to health issues when levels are too high. Example: "Replacing butter with plant-based oil can reduce cholesterol."
- Bin - A container for waste (n.); to throw something away (v.) Exampes: “a litter bin”; “Shall I bin these old shoes?”
句式语法
“Most of the fat in butter is of the saturated variety.”
“be of +名词“结构在英语中常用来表达事物的属性或特征，相当于形容词功能。这种结构通过介词“of“将抽象名词转化为表语，使表达更正式且具有书面语特点。以下从语法规则和例句分析两方面进行讲解：
基本语法规则
1. 结构组成
- be动词 + of + 抽象名词
- 常见抽象名词：importance, value, interest, use, benefit, significance等
2. 功能转换
该结构本质上是通过名词短语代替形容词作表语：
名词短语 | 形容词形式 |
be of importance | be important |
be of value | be valuable |
be of interest | be interesting |
3. 语法特征：
- 介词"of"后的名词前需加限定词（如冠词、物主代词等）
- 可用程度副词修饰：great, vital, particular等
4. 例句：
This discovery is of great significance.
The data is of no practical use.
例句解析
在句子"Most of the fat in butter is of the saturated variety."中：
- 结构拆解：
- 主语：most of the fat in butter
- 系动词：is
- 表语：of the saturated variety
- 语义转换：
- 原句可改写为："Most fat in butter is saturated"
- 使用"of"结构时：
- "saturated variety"作为抽象名词短语
- 强调脂肪的类别归属而非单纯性质描述，variety也可以理解为kind, type, form
- 体现正式语体特征
特殊用法
当表达数量关系时，该结构可与量词搭配：
- a type of
- a kind of
- a form of
例如："This metal is of a rare type"（这种金属属于稀有类型），通过名词短语"a rare type"替代形容词"rare"，使描述更具体化。
这种语法结构在学术写作和正式文本中尤为常见，能有效提升表达的精确度和专业度。掌握其用法需要特别注意名词前的限定词搭配，以及不同抽象名词与形容词的对应关系。
结语
看完这篇文章，你对黄油和健康的关系有了新的认识吗？欢迎在评论区分享你的想法！👋
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