如果我們對一個吸煙的人說：吸煙會讓你短壽，他可能不會太在意，因?yàn)槔先ヒ院蟮氖虑樗坪鹾苓b遠(yuǎn)。可如果我們說，你每吸一支煙，壽命就會縮短15分鐘，他可能會就會有點(diǎn)緊迫感了。把生命分成很小的計算單位來看，或許我們才會學(xué)會珍惜。

Dr. David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, says that it’s not the occasional indulgence but consistent over-eating of certain foods that can impact your longevity. Calculating that the average life spans about 80 years, he divided that time up for adults 35 and older into nearly a million half hours, and assigned each 30 minute period to be 1 microlife. Each microlife is about one millionth of life expectancy after age 35.

劍橋大學(xué)統(tǒng)計學(xué)家大衛(wèi)?斯皮格爾特博士表示，真正影響你長壽的不是偶爾過量食用某些食物，而是長期過量食用。在預(yù)計平均壽命約為80歲的前提下，他把35歲及以上人群的余下壽命分成了約100萬個30分鐘時間段，然后把每個30分鐘稱為一個“微生命”。也就是說，35歲以后，每一個微生命就是你壽命的一百萬分之一。

Smoking eats up approximately 10 microlives for every 20 cigarettes smoked — or about 15 fewer minutes of life expectancy per cigarette.

吸煙時，每吸20支煙就會大概消耗10個微生命；或者說，每支煙會讓壽命減少15分鐘。

Averaged over a lifetime, the following habits are linked to the loss of one microlife: smoking two cigarettes, eating a burger, being roughly 11 pounds overweight, chugging a second or third alcoholic beverage, and watching two hours of television.

按一生的平均水平來算，以下行為會導(dǎo)致一個微生命的喪失：吸兩支煙，吃一個漢堡，超重11磅，喝下第二或第三杯酒飲，以及看兩小時電視。

On the positive side, behaviors that can add half hours of life expectancy include: drinking 2-3 cups of coffee or taking statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs (one microlife), eating fruits and vegetables (four microlives), and working out 20 minutes per day (two microlives). (Source: time.com)

從另一方面來看，能夠幫助增加微生命的行為有：喝2到3杯咖啡或吃降低膽固醇的他汀類藥物（1個微生命），吃水果蔬菜（4個微生命），每天鍛煉20分鐘（2個微生命）。

相關(guān)閱讀

一起來downshifting（為生活減速）吧

休閑“農(nóng)家樂”

比recycle更環(huán)保的upcycle

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Helen）

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