How does colostrum help athletes?
初乳对于运动员的益处
By Joanna Moorhead
作者：Joanna Moorhead；译者：译锐医学专业译者Joyce Ye（B级） 审阅：译锐质控部
When Team GB member Zoe Smith was described by a newspaper as being "on a special diet of colostrum", the weightlifter was outraged. "I assure you it's not true," she tweeted. "I'm a normal person who eats normal food and the occasional protein shake. Stop making me sound like a colostrum drinking freak!"
当看到某家报纸媒体报道“自己将初乳作为特殊食品进行食用”时，Zoe Smith，这位英国奥运代表团的举重选手难以遏制自己的怒火。她发推特称，“这简直就是无稽之谈。我是一个正常人，我的饮食也很正常。我只有在很少的情况下才会喝一些高蛋白奶昔。所以，别再把我说成一个饮用初乳的怪物！”
Perhaps Smith's reaction reflects a misplaced distaste for ingesting milk created straight after a cow gives birth, but while she isn't takingbovine colostrum, plenty of other British Olympic athletes will be – and with good reason.
Smith的态度也许体现了她本人对牛初乳莫名的反感与厌恶。尽管她本人不会饮用牛初乳，但这并不代表其他英国奥运选手也不会饮用。其实，饮用牛初乳的英国奥运选手并不在少数，而且理由充分。
"It's not a wonder food," says Dr Glen Davison, a sports scientist at the University of Kent, "but it can be very useful in boosting the immune system, especially during periods of intense physical training and when someone is under a lot of stress."
肯特大学一位研究运动的科学家Glen Davison博士表示：“牛初乳并非什么神奇的食品，但是它对于增强人体的免疫系统，特别是在高强度体能训练期间或高压力状态下，则具有非常明显的作用。”
Colostrum is produced by all mammals in the first few days after giving birth. This first milk is packed with a huge amount of goodies, including immunoglobulins, anti-microbial peptides and other bioactive molecules including growth factors – a nutritional armoury designed to get a newborn through the critical first few days of life. Its properties have been revered for thousands of years across many cultures: in ancient Chinese medicine it was regarded as a vital health-giving potion, and for the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania it has long been regarded as an important part of a healthy diet.
所有的哺乳动物在分娩后的最初几天内都会分泌乳汁，这种乳汁被称之为初乳。初乳中含有大量有益成分，如免疫球蛋白、抗菌肽以及诸如生长因子等其他生物活性分子。这些营养成分能够帮助新生生命安然度过生命最初的关键几天。几千年来，初乳的营养特性在许多文化中一直受到推崇。古代中医认为，初乳是一种非常有益于健康的食品。而肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚的马赛人则长久以来一直将初乳视作为健康饮食不可或缺的一部分。
Over the past five years it has become an increasingly popular dietary supplement for many athletes. It is converted into a powder, and added to other drinks and shakes.
在过去五年多的时间里，初乳作为一种补充食品正受到越来越运动员的欢迎。初乳被加工成乳粉，然后被添加到其他饮品和奶昔当中。
"Most of the commercially available bovine colostrum here comes from organic cows in New Zealand," says Davison. "It's not clear yet what the optimum amount to take per day is, but some studies show benefits from as little as two grams."
Davison博士表示：“绝大多数能够从市面上购买到的牛初乳都来自新西兰的有机奶牛。牛初乳每天最佳的摄入量具体是多少目前还不得而知。但已经有一些研究表明，牛初乳的摄入量只要超过2克，就会对健康有益。”
Gastroenterologist Professor Raymond Playford of Plymouth University has researched the benefits for athletes of taking colostrum. "When they are in intense periods of training, many athletes develop gut problems –'runners' trots' – which can have a serious effect on their performance," he says. "They're caused by a combination of stress and by the raising of their body's core temperature by about two degrees, which seems to increase the permeability of the gut wall and that in turn allows toxins into the bloodstream.
来自普利茅斯大学的胃肠病教授Raymond Playford以运动员为对象，针对摄入初乳对健康所带来的益处展开研究。他表示：“在高强度的训练期间，许多运动员的消化道都会出问题--‘跑步性腹泻’--会严重影响参赛者的比赛表现。腹泻的原因主要是比赛压力以及肛温升高（大约会比赛前升高2度左右）。在这种情况下，肠道壁的渗透性可能会升高并从而导致毒素进入到血液当中。”
"My studies show that this tendency to leakiness increases two- to three-fold during intense exercise, such as the training athletes are undergoing now to get ready for the Olympics. But if they take bovine colostrum for two weeks prior to exercise, the change in gut leakiness is almost completely prevented."
“我的研究表明，在诸如为备战奥运会而进行的高强度训练期间，毒素渗透到血液当中的可能性将增加二到三倍。如果运动员在训练开始前的两周摄入牛初乳，那么肠道渗透的情况则几乎可以完全避免。”
For athletes who fear gastrointestinal problems such as cramps, diarrhea and nausea, says Playford, pharmacological options to reduce the problems are limited – so there is a lot of interest in a natural product such as colostrum. However, it's not just gut problems that colostrum helps to relieve. Some of Davison's studies show that athletes who take it are as much as 20% less likely to get infections of the upper respiratory tract. "Last-minute illness is a real fear for athletes, and colostrum seems to give the immune system a boost that can reduce the risk," he says.
Playford认为，对于担心比如肠痉挛、腹泻以及恶心等肠道问题的运动员们来说，目前药物治疗方案还十分有限，因此人们开始将注意力投向诸如初乳等天然食品。其实，初乳不仅可以帮助减轻肠道问题。根据Davison的一些研究，初乳的摄入使运动员发生上呼吸道感染的几率最多可以降低20%。据Davison介绍，“运动员最担心的就是在赛前最后一刻生病，而初乳则似乎可以增强运动员的免疫系统并使身体不适的风险有所降低。”
Away from the Olympic stadium, other people could benefit from taking colostrum too. "It could be really useful to people who have to do physical exercise in hot conditions, such as soldiers in Afghanistan," says Playford. "They are susceptible to heatstroke because of all the gear they have to wear and carry, and taking colostrum could reduce that very serious risk. Another group who could benefit are older people with arthritis who develop serious gut problems because of the strong painkillers they use, and those with ulcerative colitis. "These patients are at risk of damage to their gut lining and the colostrum helps it to heal and reduces its permeability."
除了在奥运赛场上拼搏的运动员，摄入初乳对于其他类型的人群同样大有裨益。Playford说：“对于那些需要在酷热的环境下从事体力活动的人群，比如阿富汗的士兵们，初乳确实能够发挥有益的作用。因为这些士兵们需要全副武装，因此他们极有可能中暑。而摄入初乳则可以使中暑的几率大大降低。另外一群能够从摄入初乳中获益的人群则是患有关节炎的老年患者和溃疡性结肠炎患者。由于服用的止痛片具有极强的药效，因此这些老年患者都患有非常严重的肠道类疾病。”这类患者都面临着肠道壁受损的风险，而初乳则可以帮助肠道壁恢复并减少渗透。
Colostrum is sometimes referred to as a "nutriceutical" – half-nutrition, half-pharmaceutical. Crucial for Olympic hopefuls is the fact that – as far as scientists can tell – it doesn't introduce substances into the body that will give positive results in drugs tests. The International Olympic Committee is monitoring its use.
初乳有时被称作是“营养性药品”，也就是既是营养品，也是药品。据科学家的判断，初乳不会将会使药检结果呈阳性的物质带入人体。这一事实对于奥运会种子选手们而言至关重要。国际奥委会对于药物的使用有着非常严格的规定。
Jeni Pearce, a nutritionist for Team GB says she is aware that some athletes will have used or are using the substance. "Athletes are often on a nutrition programme that has been worked out uniquely for them," she says. "And within that, colostrum could be useful – especially for those who might be at risk of leaky gut conditions."
Jeni Pearce是一位为英国奥运代表团服务的营养师。她表示，她知道有些运动员打算或已经开始摄入初乳。她说：“运动员经常会按专门为他们量身定制的营养方案安排饮食。在这些营养方案中，初乳可能会发挥非常有益的作用，特别是对于那些可能会遇到肠道泄漏问题的选手们而言，则更是如此。”
"It seems pretty clear that there are no performance benefits. Colostrum isn't going to make a competitor go faster or stronger or longer. And it isn't something they would take as a one-off – it would be part of their diet for a while, to help them cope at times when they were really stressed."
“现在，有一点似乎已经非常清楚，那就是初乳对于运动员的发挥没有任何提升作用，他们不会变得更快、更强或更远。而初乳的摄入也并非一次性。初乳将作为日常饮食的一部分需要运动员饮用一段时间，这样才能够在他们真正感到“压力山大”时发挥作用。
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