NaturesTastyCure-alls草本植物妙用无穷.PDF

Nature’s Tasty Cure-alls 草本植物妙用无穷 Herbs add flavor to our food and muscle to our medicine. They’re as versatile as they are varied, and they’ve been used by every major civilization for thousands of years. Technically speaking, herbs can be defined as plants that are valued for some reason other than their worth as foods. It’s strange then, that they would be best known for their usefulness in cooking. 草本植物增添食物风味、增强药物效用。各式各样的草本也有多种用途。各大主要的文明社会几千年 前就已经开始使用草本植物。学术上来说，草本植物可被定义为不只具备食用功能的植物。奇怪地是， 草本植物最为人所知的还是其烹饪上的用途。 Taiwanese food is commonly seasoned with spices and soy sauce, but there are two herbs that feature strongly in local cuisine. Basil is often served with chicken dishes and with Taiwanese sausages, while coriander, or cilantro, is used to garnish many snack foods. 台湾的食物通常会用辛香料跟酱油加以调味，但有两种草本植物被广泛地使用在台湾的美食中。罗勒 常用于鸡肉料理跟台式香肠中，然而香菜则常用来点缀台湾的小吃。 Tasty food is obviously a good thing, but in terms of importance, herbs’ culinary virtues are overshadowed by their medicinal properties. The healing powers of herbs were written about as early as 1000 B.C., and ingredients for several modern medicines are still extracted from these plants. The reason why herbs are so effective is that they contain things called phytochemicals, which are believed to help the body’s immune system and which could even help combat life-threatening diseases such as cancer. 美味的食物固然是件好事，但说到草本的重要性，其可供烹饪的优点就远不及其医疗上的用途。草本 的疗效早在公元前1000 年就有记载，现今很多药物的成分就是从这些植物淬取而来。草本之所以会 如此有效的原因就在于含有植物化学物质，据称对身体免疫系统有益，甚至可以帮助对抗如癌症般致 命的疾病。 Amazingly, proper scientific research into the effects of herbs is still in its infancy, so it might be some time before your doctor prescribes you a bit of rosemary or thyme. However, herbs are already being used to enhance shampoos, toothpastes, body lotions, and throat lozenges. Now that you know herbs taste great and help keep you healthy, isn’t it about time you added some to your diet? 神奇地是，草本效用的相关科学研究仍未臻成熟，所以要从你的医生那拿到迷迭香或是百里香的处方 药还需要一段时间。然而，草本已被用来