THYROID TUMMY
代謝型肚腩

What Does It Look Like?
外觀

It’s not just your tummy that’s fat, although that will be the biggest part of you. Your whole body is big, including your arms and legs, giving you a puffy, marshmallowy look.
有代謝型肚腩的人，不但肚子肥大，而且全身浮腫，手腳壯碩。

What Causes It?
成因

The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck which makes a hormone called thyroxine, which controls how fast you process the calories in food.
每個人的頸部都有一條蝶形腺體，叫做甲狀腺。其分泌的甲狀腺素是人體代謝的“控制器”。

However about one in 13 women have a condition called hypothyroidism which means they make less of this hormone.
然而，十三分之一的女性患有甲狀腺機能減退癥，體內的甲狀腺素明顯不足。

Although the causes are not completely understood, it may be caused by the ageing process or because the gland is attacked by the body’s own immune system.
甲狀腺機能減退癥的成因尚不得而知，但人們普遍認為其與機體衰老有關，另外，人體自身的免疫系統也有可能攻擊甲狀腺。

Endocrinologist Professor Ashley Grossman, of London’s St Bartholomew’s Hospital says: ‘The thyroid is responsible for your overall metabolism. If you have hypothyroidism, you’re not burning up all the calories consumed, so the extra is stored and gets deposited all over the body as fat.’
倫敦圣巴塞羅繆醫院的內分泌學家阿什利·格羅斯曼說：“甲狀腺與人體新陳代謝息息相關。患有甲狀腺機能減退癥的病人無法完全分解攝入的熱量。過多的熱量便儲存起來，轉化為脂肪，分配到全身。”

How To Target It
甩肚秘訣

For many women, the first step is proper diagnosis, because hypothyroidism is often confused with general mid-life weight gain.
由于人們常常混淆甲狀腺機能減退癥與一般性的中年發福，所以對多數婦女而言，第一步是認清病因。

Treatment may include drugs containing a synthetic version of the hormones to top up levels.
治療該病，一般會服用合成激素，以提升體內甲狀腺素水平。

Natural approaches include eating foods rich in iodine - which help support the thyroid - like shellfish, seafood and dark leafy green vegetables such as spinach.
另外，患者也可采用食療，多吃貝類、海鮮，或菠菜等綠葉蔬菜。這些食物富含碘元素，對甲狀腺有好處。

Vocabulary

cauldron: 大鍋
pot belly: 啤酒肚
cortisol: 皮質醇
oestrogen: 雌激素
endometriosis: 子宮內膜異位
uterus: 子宮
fibroid: 子宮肌瘤
linea alba: 腹白線
thyroid: 甲狀腺
thyroxine: 甲狀腺素
hypothyroidism: 甲狀腺功能減退
iodine: 碘

英文來源：每日郵報
譯者：郭汪韜略
審校&編輯：丹妮