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A Spoonful of Immunity?
一餐免疫力？
FIRST there was vegetarianism, which begot veganism, macrobiotic adherents, raw foodists and something known simply as “the cleanse.” Now make way for immunity-enhancement, via your chopped salad and salmon tartar.
首先，素食主义促生了绝对素食主义，长寿信徒，生食主义者和简单的称为“干净”的东西。现在，又通过切碎的沙拉和鲑鱼酱为增强免疫力开辟了一条道路。
California has long led the country in the creation and fortification of urban food ways. The state was on the forefront of restaurants devoted to raw food and was the birthplace of the organic produce movement. In Los Angeles, vegan restaurants are nearly as prevalent as hamburger joints.
加利福尼亚在都市食物食用方法的革新和保留上一直走在这个国家的前列。该州一向处在生食餐馆的前沿阵地，并且是有机生产运动的诞生地。在洛杉矶，素食餐馆和汉堡包便利店一样盛行。
Now, restaurant menus here are marrying the broader commercial movement of “functional” foods — those stuffed with heavy doses of vitamins and antioxidants — and a national fixation on immunity boosting (a fizzy gulp of Airborne is as much a part of the pre-flight experience as a baggage check).
现在，这里的菜单都带有许多“功能”食品的商业活动并给自己一个增强免疫力的国家定位。那些填充了大量维他命和抗氧化剂的食品既是“功能”食品。大饮一口Airborne就像飞行前领取的行李托运牌一样。
In Beverly Hills, Crustacean, a modern Vietnamese restaurant, has attached an icon to the left side of several menu items letting diners know that those dishes supposedly boost immunity. At M Café de Chaya in Hollywood, a macrobiotic restaurant often dotted with celebrities, the chef, Shigefumi Tachibe, has “items that offer both immune boosting and healthful benefits for everybody,” said his spokeswoman, Cindy Choi.
在比佛利山庄，一家现代名为甲壳虫的越南餐厅将菜单的左边附上图标，以便让前来就餐的顾客想象到这些菜肴是能增进免疫力的。在好莱坞的M Café de Chaya，一家长寿餐馆经常接待名人。厨师Shigefumi Tachibe，“能为各位提供既增强免疫力又有益于健康的菜谱”——他的女发言人Cindy Choi说。
Down Melrose Avenue a bit from M Café is Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden and Herbal Emporium, where immunity enhancement is always part of the menu, said Dr. Tea, a k a Mark Ukra. “We work a lot with cancer patients to bring their immunity up, and lots of people come in to get our tonics to get rid of the flu,” he said.
离M Café不远的道梅尔罗斯大道是茶博士的茶花园和中药商场。茶博士说，增强免疫力在那里已是菜单的一部分，“我们为提高癌症患者的免疫力做了很多工作，其中很多都来买我们的强壮药以治疗流感。”
Foods that its makers claim enhance the immunity system have become increasingly mainstream over the last several years. Jamba Juice led the charge years ago, and has spawned many competitors serving juices sprinkled with supplements that claim to strengthen the body’s ability to prevent illnesses. Airborne, drinkable vitamin blends that claim to be armor against germ-filled environments, have flooded drug stores over the last several years.
生产者们主张食品要能增强免疫系统，在过去的几年这种食品已经逐渐成为主流。然巴果汁几年前带头冲击，激发了许多果汁供应竞争者也加上添加物，这样也就可以宣传自己的产品能增强体制，抵御疾病。Airborne是一种可饮维他命的混合物，宣传能够抵抗充满颗粒的外界环境，在过去的几年有着过量的药品储存。
There is supplement-infused Spava coffee, which offers an immunity formulation with rose hips and echinacea. Green Giant, the food manufacturer, has something in the marketplace called Immunity Boost, which are microwaveable frozen vegetables. Yoplait Essence Immunity Boost has “probiotics with zinc and iron,” also meant to charge up the system.
补物浸制的Spava咖啡，能够提供带有玫瑰果和紫锥花的免疫成分。食品生产商绿巨人在市场上投放了一种称为提高免疫力的产品，其实就是微波冷冻的蔬菜。Yoplait 本质提高免疫力有“含有锌和铁的有益菌种”，也是意味着提高免疫力。
But in Los Angeles, the connubial relationship of farm and pharmacy in restaurants is on the march. The former unadulterated pleasure of simply dining has been replaced with the feeling of a very expensive clinic.
但是在洛杉矶，农业和药学的联姻关系正在艰难前行。前者那种纯粹的、简单的饮食快乐逐渐被昂贵的医疗情感所取代。
“People more and more are understanding the importance of good health, and how priceless it is,” said GT Dave, a former Beverly Hills High School student who started his company, Millennium Products, in his kitchen at age 16. He now distributes Kombucha juice, which claims to enhance immunity, in restaurants around Los Angeles and Whole Foods stores nationwide. “Previously, health foods and health products were a very niche product, like for Berkeley free-spirited tree-hugging people,” he said. “Now people realize that the immune system is the foundation of our lives.”
GT Dave说：“人们越来越懂得健康的重要，无论它有多么昂贵.” GT Dave曾是比佛利山庄中学的学生。他16岁时在厨房创立了自己的公司——黄金产品，现在在洛杉矶餐馆及全国食品店
销售宣称能够增强免疫力的红茶菌汁。他说：“在过去，健康食品和保健产品是非常稀有的，就像伯克利无精打采的人。但现在人们意识到了，免疫系统是我们生命的基础。”
At Crustacean, immunity-enhancing menu items do not have supplements. Instead, the chef and owner, in consultation with a nutritionist, went through the existing menu and plucked out offerings that they believed were already naturally helpful.
在甲壳虫餐馆，增强免疫力菜单项并不注明添加物。取而代之的是，厨师和店主在与营养专家审查点好的菜单后端上产品，他们相信这些产品具有天然的营养。
Each item is marked on the menu by a little leaf representing a Vietnamese herb, just as one might see a heart icon next to an egg-white omelet at a diner, indicating that the meal is low in cholesterol. “The hope is that this system could be used by other restaurants,” said Ashley Koff, the nutritionist who consulted on the menu.
菜单上的每一栏都用一小片叶子做了标记，代表了越南的中药。就像顾客见到餐桌上煎蛋白旁放着心脏图一样，表明这顿饭是低胆固醇的。参与菜单咨询的营养学专家Ashley Koff说：“希望这个制度也能为其他餐馆所用”。
For example, there is the Buddha roll, which has shiitake mushrooms (which have iron and Vitamin C, Ms. Koff said), lemongrass mushroom soup (lemon grass has folate, zinc and iron) and wild salmon tartar, which features cucumbers (vitamin C, folate and vitamin A), wild salmon (omega 3, selenium), garlic (selenium, phytochemicals) and red onion (vitamin C and copper, among other things).
例如，餐馆有佛卷，它包括蕈形香菇（含有铁和维他命C——柯夫小姐说）、芸香草蘑菇汤（芸香草含有叶酸、锌和铁）还有野生鲑鱼酱。野生鲑鱼酱又包括黄瓜（含维他命C、叶酸、维他命A）、野生鲑鱼（含奥米伽3和硒）、大蒜（含硒和植物素）还有红洋葱（含维他命C、铜及其他物质）
“What I looked for were ingredients that brought forward minerals and phytochemicals,” Ms. Koff said, referring to chemical compounds derived from edible plants and fruits that are believed to aid cancer prevention. So how did it taste to this reporter? The lemon grass soup has a nice bite, and the Buddha roll has a clean fresh flavor. The chicken roulade and roasted fillet of sole were dull to this tongue; all was far more delicious than standard health-food fare.
柯夫小姐说：“我要找的是带有矿物质和植物素的成份。”这种化合物来自于食用植物和水果，而且人们相信食用植物和水果能够帮助预防癌症。这样的话，这位报告者尝起来该是何种味道？芸香草汤有很好的口感，佛卷有纯净新鲜的风味。鸡肉卷和烤鳎鱼鱼片又是那么绵软可口。所有这些都比标准健康食品要美味的多。
The immunity enhancement does not end at the table — you can sit at the bar and pickle yourself while ostensibly warding off disease and calamity. There are martinis made with vodka and goji berries (antioxidants) or cucumbers. Taste note: both have a strong vodka top and fruity finish.
增强免疫力不只是在餐桌上——你也可以坐在酒吧一边自己腌制泡菜一边假装去除疾病和灾难。
还有马提尼酒，由伏特加酒和goji浆果（一种抗氧化剂）或者黄瓜混合制成。品尝贴士：都具有强烈的伏特加酒香而后终止于水果的圆润。
Experts on microbiology are decidedly mixed on the value of such menu designations. Michael Starnbach, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School, said the heart icon might help diners, because it would warn of foods proven to be bad for your cardiovascular system.
微生物专家断然地混合了这种菜单命名的价值。哈佛大学医学院微生物学与分子遗传学副教授Michael Starnbach指出，心脏图有可能会帮助就餐者，因为它会提醒人们注意对心血管系统有害的食物。
But, he said, there is not enough hard evidence to prove that any food can enhance the immune system. “There is no doubt these menu items have these nutrients,” Mr. Starnbach said. “But that is different from the claim being made on the menu.” Unlike many health-food restaurants, Crustacean, a family business, started out as a Vietnamese restaurant, without overt health claims. The An family’s first restaurant, Thanh Long, opened in San Francisco in the ’70s in an old deli purchased by the family, still in Vietnam at that time, as a foothold into the United States. The restaurant remains there today.
但是他又说，并没有确凿的证据证明某些食物可以增强免疫系统。“毫无疑问，这些菜谱都有相应的营养，但是这与菜单上宣传的并不相同。”Starnbach先生说。与其它健康食物餐馆不同，家族型的甲壳虫是以越南餐馆的名义起家的，并没有明显的健康宣传。70年代，An一家人的第一家餐馆Thanh Long在圣弗兰西斯科开业，是他们在一间老熟食店买下的。那时他们还在越南，这里便作为他们进入美国的立足地。这家餐馆今天还在那里。
The An sisters, eager for a hipper place to go with their friends in the city (four out of five girls are in the business) pushed for Crustacean, which opened in 1991. Then came the Beverly Hills outpost in 1997.
想要和朋友进入城市高端地方的An姐妹（五个女孩中有四个在这个行业）推动了甲壳虫的建立，该店也于1991年开业。然后就是1997年建立比佛利山庄。
The Ans were always health conscious. “I was born into a family where we care about health,” said Helen An, the matriarch of the family, who is also head chef. “I learned Eastern medicine from my grandparents.”
An一家一直以来都关心健康。“我们生在一个关心健康的家庭，我从我的祖父祖母那里学会了东方药学”，海伦.安说，她现在是一家之长而且还是主厨。
Whether the immunity-marking trend has legs remains to be seen, but given the packed scene at M Café every lunch hour eating “the big macro burger,” and kale salad with peanut dressing, it certainly is hot.
免疫标签是否会继续传播仍需要观察，看看M Café每天午餐时拥挤的人群吧，吃着“各种巨大的夹饼”和花生酱甘蓝色拉，当然都还是热的。
Whether patrons are warding off illness will remain a subject of debae. “I would have a positive reaction to seeing that menu,” said Linda Gooding, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Emory University School of Medicine. “But as a scientist I would say that’s a personal preference. That’s not a scientific fact. Eating is a lifelong experiment. I think that’s all you can do.”
顾客是否在阻挡疾病依旧是争论的主题。“我本应该抱着积极的态度去看这份菜单，但是作为一位科学家，我必须说，那是个人的喜好并不是科学事实。吃是一生的实验，我想这就是你可以做的。”Emory大学药学院微生物学和免疫学教授Linda Gooding说。 |
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发表于 2008-2-26 07:35:31