想吃巧克力缓解经期综合症?要怪就怪社会

You know that crazy-intense choclate bar craving that hits you hard around the time your period is due? You're in good company in the candy aisle; almost 50% of women in the United States say they crave chocolate during their PMS week as well.

你知道吗？快来大姨妈的时候，你会超级想吃巧克力棒。很多人和你一样也喜欢吃糖，近50%的美国女性说她们在经期综合症那一周，也会特别想吃巧克力。

Scientists have hypothesized that hormonal fluctuations or nutritional deficiencies may play a role. But new research suggests that a period-related hankering for chocolate is more about the cultural norms of where you live than anything going on in your body.

科学家们假设：激素波动或营养缺陷可能是造成这种馋瘾的原因之一。但新研究表明：经期对巧克力的渴望更多的是由生活环境中的文化规范造成的，而不是由身体内部发生的变化引起的。

The new study, published in PLOS ONE, compared survey responses about chocolate cravings, culture, and PMS from 275 undergraduate women at the University at Albany, the State University of New York. The woman were from more than 25 different countries and had diverse backgrounds; researchers specifically recruited participants who were born outside the United States, had parents born outside of the United States, had spent time living in other countries, or primarily spoke a language other than English while growing up.

这项新研究刊登在PLOS ONE期刊上，研究对比了纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校的275名女研究生对巧克力的渴望、文化背景和经期综合症的调查反应。这些女生来自25个不同的国家，拥有不同的背景。研究人员专门招募了出生地非美国的受试者、父母的出生地不在美国的受试者、在其它国家生活过的受试者或是在成长的环境中，主要交流语言不是英语的受试者。

When it came to the women's responses, that diversity made a difference. Foreign-born women weren't any less likely to say they experienced chocolate cravings in general-but they were significantly less likely than U.S.-born women to believe their menstrual cycle had anything to do with them.

在这些女生的反应中，这些多样性导致了很大的差别。总体来说，在他国出生的女生不太可能说她们特别想吃巧克力--但与出生在美国的女生相比，她们不大相信自己的经期与巧克力有任何关系。

Specifically, 41% of U.S.-born women who grew up speaking another language, and 33% of U.S.-born women who grew up speaking English, reported experiencing chocolate cravings at specific times during their menstrual cycle, compared to only 17% of foreign-born women. What's more, the foreign-born and second-generation Americans who did report PMS-related chocolate cravings also tended to feel more immersed in U.S. culture than those who did not.

具体而言，41%出生在美国但成长的过程中说另一种语言的女生和33%出生在美国且在成长的过程中说英语的女生称，她们会在经期的特定阶段特别想吃巧克力，而只有17%出生在他国的女生有这种渴望。此外，相比没有特别想吃巧克力的女生，那些声称自己在经期想吃巧克力的出生在他国的美国人和第二代美国人往往更沉浸于美国文化。

"We are learning more and more that cravings, or at least certain elements of them, may be unique to North America," says lead author Julia Hormes, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

"我们正在了解更多关于馋瘾的事，或者至少了解一定的成分，也许这是北美地区独一无二的，"纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校心理学助理教授、首席作者茱莉亚·福尔摩斯博士说道。

This isn't the first study to suggest that PMS-related food cravings are a product of American living, either. Previous research has found that only 28% of Spanish women crave chocolate around the time of their periods, and that only 6% of Egyptian women crave chocolate at all.

该项研究并非提出经期馋瘾是美国生活产物的第一个研究。先前的研究发现：只有28%的西班牙女性在经期时想吃巧克力，而埃及只有6%的女性想吃巧克力。