2016年12月英语四级阅读长篇阅读练习(一)

　　The Heart Assoeiation’s Junk Science Diet

　　A.A recent Cambridge University anal ysis of 76 studies involving more than 650，000 people concluded,“The current evidence does not clearly support guidelines that low consumption of total Saturated fats.“Yet the American Heart Association(AriA.，in its most recent dietary guidelines，held fast to the idea that we must A.l eat low.fat diets for optimal heart health.It’s a stance that—at the very best—is controversiA.，and at worst is dead wrong.As a practicing cardiologist(心脏病学家)for more than three decades，I agree with the latte—it’s dead wrong.Why does the AHA cling to recommendations that fly in the face of scientific evidence?

　　B.What I discovered was both eye.opening and disturbin9.The AHA not only ignored A.l the other risk factors for heart disease，but it appointed someone with ties to Big Food and bizarre scientific beliefs to lead the guideline-writing paneHust the type of thing’that undermines the public’s confidence in the medical community.The AHA guidelines warrant that saturated fat make up no more than 5 to 6 percent of daily cal ories for adults because this will lower“bad”cholesterol(胆固醇).And，for those people who need blood pressure control，the guidelines A.so suggest lowering sodium(salt)intake to no more than a teaspoon(2，300 mg)daily.Despite many other known risk factors for heart disease，salt and fat were，astonishingly,the only two considered by the AHA panel writing the guidelines.There are many other recognized risk factors the AHA ignored，including blood sugar level，low“good”cholesterol，insulin(胰岛素)levels，and body weight—an of these are influenced by diet.

　　C.In fact，most people who have heart attacks don’t have elevations in bad cholesterol.They are much more likely to have metabolic syndrome(新陈代谢综合征)—a condition that puts you at high risk for diabetes and heart disease.Interestingly enough，blood triglycerides(甘油三脂)do not go up with eating fat—they go up if you eat a diet high in processed grains，starches，and sugar.Unfortunately for the proponents of high-carbohydrate(糖类)diets，high blood triglycerides are a major risk factor for heart disease.In addition.low fat/high carb diets lower protective“good”cholesterol and raise insulin.

　　These diets are involved in the development of diabetes.which is a powerful risk factor for developing heart disease.

　　Heart Cheek Program’s contribution

　　D.The writers of the 20 13 statin guidelines based their recommendations on studies that looked at the reduction in the risk of events like heart attacks in people treated with statins.compared to people on a placebo(安慰剂).The AHA dietary guidelines do not cite any diet studies that looked at whether following a specific diet lowered the risk of developing heart events—yet they are giving dietary advice.Why?There might be two plausible reasons.One is the AHA's moneymaking“Heart Check Program.”The second is the conflict of interest of Robert Ecke—the co-chair of the panel that wrote the guidelines.

　　E.Forty.five percent of these“heart heA.thy”foods—over 400 of them—are meat：92 are processed meats—which have been shown to have either neutrA. or negative effects on heart health.Even more problematic are the foods containing added sugar.The AHA recommends that women consume less

　　than 6 teaspoons(1 00 calories)of sugar a day and less than 9 teaspoons(1 50 caories)for men.Yet there are items that get the nod of approvA. from the Heart Check program despite being near or at the sugar limit.1ike Bruce’s Yams Candied Sweet Potatoes and HeA.thy Choice SA.isbury Steak.

　　F. Until this year,Heart Check approved many foods with trans-fats，which raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol，among other harmful effects on heA.th，like increasing inflammation(发炎)and the laying down of calcium in arteries(动脉).

　　G.Like the dietary guidelines，the AHA Heart Check Program appears to address only the effect of foods on cholesterollevel and blood pressure.Meanwhile，since the 1 970s，our yearly sugar consumption has increased quickly A.ong with the incidence of diabetes and obesity.This brings us to Dr.Robert