大力水手沒騙人！菠菜真含有類興奮劑成分，專家呼籲運動員禁吃…

Popeye was right! Experts call for athletes to be banned from taking a chemical found in SPINACH because it has a "steroid effect"

《大力水手》是對的！專家呼籲禁止運動員服用菠菜中發現的一種化學物質，因為它具有類固醇效應

來源：每日郵報 翻譯：世界播

It was the secret to Popeye』s super-human strength – but leading athletes look likely to be banned from following his lead.

這是大力水手擁有超人力量的秘密——但運動員們似乎被禁止追隨他的腳步。

Nearly a century after the creation of the cartoon sailor, and his love of spinach, scientists have realised he might have been on to something.

在卡通片《大力水手》問世近一個世紀後，科學家們意識到，他對菠菜的熱愛可能有些道理。

Researchers at the Free University of Berlin have found that ecdysterone – a hormone found in spinach – is so powerful that they want it considered a performance-enhancing drug.

柏林自由大學的研究人員發現，菠菜中含有的一種激素——蛻皮甾酮非常強大，以至於他們希望將其列入能提高成績的興奮劑名單中。

The research team found a significant spike in performance among those who took the supplement in large quantities. The team, whose study was funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), gave athletes capsules of ecdysterone during a ten-week strength training session.

研究小組發現，那些大量服用這種補品的人的表現顯著提高。這個由世界反興奮劑機構資助的研究小組，在為期10周的力量訓練期間給運動員服用了蛻皮甾酮膠囊。

They saw an increase in strength three times higher than a group given 『placebo』 capsules.

他們發現，這些運動員比服用「無效藥物」的對照組的力量增加了三倍。

Dr Maria Parr, a professor at the Institute of Pharmacy at the Free University of Berlin, said: 『The advertisements for dietary supplements (containing it) suggested muscle growth, so we decided to follow this in experiments. From the data, we hypothesised performance enhancement; however, we were surprised by the extent of the effect.』

柏林自由大學藥學院的教授瑪麗亞·帕爾博士說：「含有這種物質的膳食補充劑廣告暗示肌肉會生長，所以我們決定在實驗中遵循這一點。從數據中，我們假設性能增強；然而，我們對這種影響的程度感到驚訝。」

She said 8lbs 13oz of spinach would have to be consumed a day to get the same effect, so it is unlikely that eating the vegetable will be banned. But the findings had been sent to WADA with a recommendation that the capsules be restricted in professional sport.

她說，每天要吃8磅13盎司（約4公斤）的菠菜才能達到同樣的效果，所以不太可能禁止吃這種蔬菜。但該研究結果已提交給世界反興奮劑機構，並建議在職業運動中限制使用這種膠囊。

『Based on the data we acquired we suggested that they consider the inclusion of ecdysterone in the list of prohibited substances,』 Dr Parr said. A WADA spokesman confirmed the organisation would analyse the results with a view to a potential ban. He said: 『WADA maintains dialogue with scientific experts to obtain new evidence as it becomes available.』

帕爾博士說：「根據我們獲得的數據，我們建議他們考慮將蛻皮甾酮列入違禁用品名單。」世界反興奮劑機構發言人證實，該機構將分析結果，以考慮是否可能頒髮禁令。他說：「世界反興奮劑機構與科學專家保持對話，以獲取新的證據。」

Popeye was the creation of US cartoonist Elzie Segar, who first included him in the daily comic strip Thimble Theatre in 1929.

《大力水手》是美國漫畫家埃爾齊·西格的作品，1929年，埃爾齊·西格首次將大力水手這個角色引入連環畫《針頂戲院》中。

Initially the comic dealt largely with the adventures of Olive Oyl and her boyfriend Ham Gravy. Ten years later Popeye appeared – and a romance developed with Olive. Spinach helped Popeye see off his rivals.

最初，這部漫畫主要講述了奧莉薇和她的男朋友漢姆·格雷的冒險故事。十年後大力水手出現了，並與奧莉薇培養出了一段浪漫情誼。菠菜幫助大力水手打敗了他的對手。

Popeye became so closely associated with spinach that in 1937 a statue was erected in the central square of the USA』s spinach-growing capital, Crystal City in Texas.

大力水手與菠菜的聯繫非常緊密，以至於1937年在美國的菠菜產地——德克薩斯州的水晶城的中心廣場上豎立了一座大力水手的雕像。

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