想健康何必吃粗糧 日本新型白米受捧大綱

It could be the answer for the millions who find brown rice hard to swallow - healthy white rice。

若你也覺得糙米難以下嚥的話，新型的健康白米或許是你不錯的選擇。

Scientists have refined the milling process to create a rice that has all the taste of white rice but many of the health benefits of brown rice。

科學家們發現，在生產健康白米的研磨過程中，不僅使其具有了普通白米的口感，同時還保留了糙米中所含有的健康元素。

What is more, experiments suggest it is good for the heart, helping keep a lid on blood pressure and protecting the arteries from narrowing。

另外，實驗還指出，食用這種大米有助於控制血壓，以及防止動脈硬化的發生。

And those who find brown rice tough and chewy will be glad to know that the taste is said to be indistinguishable from white rice。

對於那些苦於糙米口感不佳的人來說，健康白米的味道與普通的米飯幾乎別無二致。

Brown and white rice both come from the same plant – but white rice is more highly processed, with more layers stripped away。

糙米與白米均產自於同一種作物，只是白米經過了精加工，研磨掉了更多的外殼。

The subaleurone layer, the thin skin responsible the heart benefits, is shaved off at the end of the process, when the milled grain is polished to a shine。

對於心臟健康大有好處的亞糊粉層在加工大米的最後一階段，拋光階段被研磨掉。

But it is left intact in the ‘healthy’ white rice, which is sold under the brand Kinme Mai in Japan。

而這種在日本市場面市的名爲“Kinme Mai”的大米中，米粒表面健康的一層被保留了下來。

When heart expert Satoru Eguchi tested this layer in his lab, he showed it could be good for the heart。

日本心臟專家江口田中經過試驗，發現其對於心臟大有好處。

His experiments focused on a hormone called angiotensin II, which raises blood pressure by contracting the arteries. It also plays a role in hardening of the arteries by making the cells that line the inside of blood vessels grow。

一種叫血管緊張素Ⅱ的激素會促使動脈收縮，從而使得血壓上升，它同時還促進了血管硬化情況的發生。

Dr Eguchi, of Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia in the US, showed that the subaleurone layer blocked angiotensin II’s harmful effects in blood vessel cells in a dish。

江口田中的研究表面，亞糊粉層對於血管緊張素Ⅱ有顯著的抑制作用。

Brown rice, in which only the hard outer husk is removed, is traditionally seen as the healthier choice because the lack of processing leaves it rich in fibre, vitamins and brown rice fans should not be too smug, as some experts now believe that it is so hard to digest that many of the extra nutrients simply pass right through the body。

糙米僅剝掉了堅硬的外殼，保留了大米所富含的膳食纖維、維生素與礦物質，所以被不少人視爲健康飲食的不二選擇。不過也有人認爲糙米過硬，很多營養難以被吸收，從而被白白的排除體外。