你能想象一种完全不吃蔬菜的饮食吗？纯肉饮食以肉、鱼、蛋和奶制品为主，不额外摄入糖分，这种饮食习惯会让人更容易饱腹，并可能在短时间内让人的体重下降。不过健康专家表示，纯肉饮食具有多种严重的健康风险，人们还是应该选择更加均衡的膳食。本文浅谈纯肉饮食带来的利与弊。

词汇：diet 饮食

1  When you hear the word 'carnivore', do you think of lions and bears and sharks, or humans? Steak for breakfast, chicken breasts for lunch and salmon and lamb for dinner. No veg and no carbs. This is just a typical day for someone on the carnivore diet. It's a meal plan that only allows meat, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, dairy products and water. It's animal-based opposed to plant-based. But why are some people following this diet? And what do nutritionists think about it?

2  The carnivore diet is a type of ketogenic diet. Normally the body uses glucose from carbohydrates as energy, but when there's a lack of this, the liver breaks fat down into ketones. This essentially means the body can fuel itself using fat instead of sugar. Followers of the diet may experience weight loss, especially early on. One reason for this is that protein is highly satiating, so you consume fewer calories. On top of this, cutting out sugary snacks and fizzy drinks has significant health benefits, and when our carb intake is reduced, our stored water levels fall, again helping to reduce weight.  

3  Nevertheless, the carnivore diet can't be described as 'balanced' by any stretch, according to health experts. In fact, the British Heart Foundation strongly opposes it, saying there is no scientific evidence that it helps weight loss in the long term, and it's lacking in essential nutrients. They say extreme diets which are low in fibre and high in fat can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Saturated fat increases levels of LDL cholesterol and processed meat is high in salt which can raise blood pressure. Fibre, they say, is necessary and counteracts all these issues, but it can only be found in 'banned foods' of the carnivore diet – fruits, vegetables, seeds, legumes and wholegrains, for example.

4  On social media you'll find plenty of people showing off their muscles and claiming their brain is working better than ever after weeks of fat and eggs and butter. Influencer Paul Saladino was an advocate of the carnivore diet until he started experiencing some persistent unpleasant symptoms. Speaking on a health and fitness podcast, he recounted heart palpitations, muscle cramps and sleep disturbances. He researched the diet more and concluded it was detrimental to his health and probably "not a great thing for most humans".

5  Most experts recommend balance, such as the Mediterranean diet, which is full of fruits, vegetables, wholegrains and seeds – it even includes meat, fish and eggs – but everything in moderation.

测验与练习

一、根据文章内容选择合适的标题。

1. What could be an alternate title for this article?
a. The risks of the carnivore diet
b. A new way to lose weight
c. Eat more meat

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. A person on a plant-based diet eats the opposite of someone on a carnivore diet.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. Where does someone on the carnivore diet get their energy from?
a. fat stored in the liver
b. ketones which come from fat
c. glucose in carbohydrates

3. What does 'it' refer to in the following sentence? In fact, the British Heart Foundation strongly opposes it…
a. weight loss
b. the carnivore diet
c. describing the carnivore diet as 'balanced'

4. The British Heart Foundation says the carnivore diet…
a. is lacking in fibre.
b. helps some people lose weight permanently.
c. is higher in salt than other weight loss diets.

5. Paul Saladino thinks the carnivore diet could reduce life expectancy.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

Only 1) _______, dairy and water are on the menu for followers of the 2) _______ diet. Eating a lot of meat, especially 3) _______, increases the amount of 4) _______ you have, which means you're more prone to strokes and heart attacks. It's best to eat everything 5) _______.

in moderation
LDL cholesterol
plant-based
balanced
carnivore
meat
saturated

（答案见词汇表后） 

词汇表

carnivore 食肉动物
poultry 家禽
plant-based 仅有蔬菜的
ketogenic diet 生酮饮食
glucose 葡萄糖
break down 分解
fuel 为…提供能量
satiating 高度饱腹的
cut out 戒除，不食用
by any stretch 无论如何，绝对不
fibre 纤维
LDL cholesterol 低密度脂蛋白胆固醇
processed 经过加工的
counteract 抵消，中和
show off 炫耀
advocate 拥护者，提倡者
persistent 持续的，反复出现的
recount 详细叙述
cramp 抽筋，痉挛
detrimental 有害的，不利的
in moderation 适度地，有节制地

答案

一、根据文章内容选择合适的标题。

a. The risks of the carnivore diet

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. a. True. It's a meal plan that only allows meat, poultry, eggs, fish, seafood, dairy products and water. It's animal-based opposed to plant-based.

2. b. Normally the body uses glucose from carbohydrates as energy, but when there's a lack of this, the liver breaks fat down into ketones. This essentially means the body can fuel itself using fat instead of sugar.

3. b. Nevertheless, the carnivore diet can't be described as 'balanced'byanystretch, according to health experts.  In fact, the British Heart Foundation strongly opposes it…

4. a. Fibre, they say, is necessary and counteracts all these issues…

5. c. Not given. He…concluded it was detrimental to his health and probably "not a great thing for most humans". However, he doesn't mention life expectancy.  

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

Only meat, dairy and water are on the menu for followers of the carnivore diet. Eating a lot of meat, especially saturated, increases the amount of LDL cholesterol you have, which means you're more prone to strokes and heart attacks. It's best to eat everything in moderation.