Home cooking may not be as healthy as you think.

自己動手做飯未必像你想的那么健康。

The longer people spend preparing meals, the worse their health becomes, a study found.

一項研究表明：烹調的時間越長，身體就越不健康。

The result contradicts the popular public health message that it is better to cook from scratch than rely on ready meals.

該研究結果推翻了一直以來存在大眾心中的健康認知，即自己動手做飯要比吃現成的食物更健康。

And it suggests that food isn’t healthy just because it is cooked at home.

而且研究表明食物并不會因手工加工而更健康。

Possible reasons include home chefs being extra generous with unhealthy ingredients such as butter and salt and feeling they have to eat more because of the time and effort that went into preparation.

一項合理的原因為在家烹飪時掌廚的人會過多使用不健康的配料，比如說黃油和食鹽。而為了不辜負烹調食物的過程中花費的心血，他們就會吃的更多。

Frequenting tasting of food as it is being prepared can lead to pounds creeping on over time.

而長此以往，自然而然體重也就跟著增加了。

It is also possible, say the researchers, that convenience foods have become healthier.

而據研究者稱，方便食品也可能更健康。

The researchers, from Rush University in Chicago, analyzed 14 years of data provided by more than 2,755 women in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

芝加哥拉什大學的研究者們對2755名女性在她們40,50和60歲三個階段的數據進行了分析。

This included information on how long they spent cooking and the results of annual health checks for something called metabolic syndrome.

這些數據包括：她們烹調食物的時長以及她們每年體檢中代謝綜合癥的檢查結果。

This is the medical term for when someone has three out of five risk factor that raise the odds of heart disease and strokes.

代謝綜合癥指的是一個人五分之三的風險因素超標，這意味著罹患心臟病和中風的幾率上升。

Warning signs include high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

而這些疾病的三個預警信號就是高血壓，高膽固醇和肥胖。

The women who spent the longest cooking and clearing up meals were more likely to develop metabolic syndrome, the journal Preventive Medicine reports.

根據期刊《預防醫學》的報告顯示，女性花費在烹制食物和洗碗上的時間越長，就更易患上代謝綜合征。

Similarly, if a woman started to spend more time cooking, her odds of metabolic syndrome rose more quickly than average.

這也就是說，一旦一個女人做飯的時間變長，那么她患上代謝綜合癥的幾率將比一般人增長的更快。

However, females who did less cooking as time went on cut their odds of health problems.

不過，隨著女性做飯時間的減短，這些患病幾率也會相應地隨之下降。

Researcher Dr Brad Appelhans said that we may have to rethink public health policies that make home cooking a ‘cornerstone’ attempts to improve health.

研究員布拉德·阿佩爾漢克斯博士說，我們必須反思公眾對健康常識的認知了，而這次對“在家做飯更健康”的辟謠就是一個良好的開端。

He said:‘In the past three or four decades, the proportion of our food that we prepare at home has decreased, and the prevalence of obesity has increased. Noting this, public health experts frequently promote home cooking as a way to curb the obesity epidemic and reduce risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. However, our research with over 2,700 women that greater time spent preparing food each week is actually linked to increasing odds of having risk factors for heart disease and diabetes over time.

他說：“在過去三四十年里，我們越來越少在家做飯吃，但肥胖卻變得越來越普遍。養生專家們一直頻繁宣傳鼓勵在家做飯，以期能夠降低肥胖癥、心臟病和糖尿病的發病率。然而，通過對兩千七百多女性的調查發現，每周做飯的時間增多才是這些疾病發病率升高的罪魁禍首。

‘While the reasons underlying this association are still unclear, we think these findings indicate the need to revise our public health messaging, including the need to emphasize healthy cooking methods and to consider the potential benefits of healthy convenience meals.’

“不過，這些猜想尚未明朗，但是這些發現讓我們認識到修正公眾的健康觀念，包括重視健康的飲食方法以及意識到健康便利的餐飲的有益之處是當務之急。”

He added that it is important to cook healthily, not just frequently.

他同時強調，健康烹調比經常下廚更為重要。

（翻譯：無事此靜坐 編輯：陳丹妮）