绿茶：甘之如饴的“毒药”

爱思英语编者按：绿茶一直以健康食品的形象出现，喝茶益处良多，绿茶在外国的销量也是节节攀升。然而在几百年前，西方可是闻绿茶色变。这都是一些荒谬的谣言惹的祸。不过有些茶商为了迎合消费者的喜好，人工给茶叶染色，这确实造成了很大的安全隐患。

It’s a staple on menus, from boutique teahouses to Starbucks: green tea. But the brew, which is experiencing a resurgence of popularity, once fell out of favor in the West. 

从精品茶馆到星巴克，绿茶都是菜单上的基本选项。不过这种强势回归的冲泡饮品曾经可不怎么受西方人待见。 

Green tea is believed to have originated in China millennia ago, where it was  recognized for its health benefits. And scientists continue to discover new uses for the beverage. Some studies suggest it can help reduce cholesterol, protect against cancer and perhaps even fight cavities. 

相传绿茶几千年前发源于中国，在中国它被称为健康食品。科学家也不断地发现它的新功效。有研究显示，绿茶能降低胆固醇，抗癌，甚至还有可能预防蛀牙。 

Bolstered by the health food craze, green tea sales are currently soaring. The Tea Association of the USA reports that green tea sales jumped more than 60 percent in the last decade. And in Canada, government data shows that profits for green tea imports more than quadrupled. 

在健康食品风潮的助推下，现在绿茶的销量也一路走高。美国茶叶协会报道称，过去十年间，绿茶的销量增长了60%。加拿大政府的数据显示该国绿茶进口盈利增长至四倍多。  

Nowadays, green tea seems to be everywhere. In shops, you can buy green tea leaves prepared in a myriad of ways: fried, aged, powdered or steamed. 

现在绿茶随处可见。你可以在商店买到各种工艺加工的茶叶：烘炒的，陈化的，粉末化的，或蒸煮的。 

The irony is, despite green tea’s healthy reputation, the drink was once condemned as dangerous. Where did this nonsense come from? Blame the Victorians, of course.

讽刺的是，尽管绿茶以健康闻名，它曾经却被误认为是危险食品。这种谬论从何而来？罪魁祸首当然是维多利亚时代。 

The Victorians lived in a period of English history around Queen Victoria’s reign, in the 19th century. That’s when some of the silliest theories about green tea arose.

维多利亚时代指19世纪英国历史上维多利亚女王统治的时期。有关绿茶最愚蠢的谣言也发源于此。 

One 1882 book described bizarre experiments to illustrate the perils of green tea. Apply a dose of green tea below a frog’s abdomen, and you could cause paralysis in its hind legs, the book claimed. And injecting the beverage into a dog would cause it to lose control of its bladder, legs and tail.

1882年的一本书描述了一个证明绿茶有毒的奇葩实验。该书称，将一定剂量的绿茶涂抹在青蛙的腹部会导致它的后肢瘫痪。给汪星人体内注入绿茶会造成它膀胱、四肢和尾巴失控。 

The book went so far as to allege that green tea could kill someone, if it were applied to the sciatic nerve. 

该书还耸人听闻地宣称如果绿茶感染到了坐骨神经，人就会死。 

At the time, a green tea panic was sweeping England. Even Charlotte Bronte, an English literary icon, refused to touch the drink, fearing its diabolical effects it would have on her nerves. 

当时绿茶恐惧席卷了整个英国。英国文学巨匠夏洛蒂•勃朗特连触摸它都不敢，因为担心它致命的效果会影响自己的神经系统。 

Some of the fear was well founded, though. English consumers preferred brighter leaves, over dull olive-colored ones. As a result, tea vendors would artificially dye  their products, using anything at their disposal – including poisons like “Prussian blue” cyanide. 

不过有些担心也并非毫无依据。和橄榄色的深绿相比，英国消费者更偏爱颜色鲜艳的茶叶。结果就是茶商用一些他们可以获得的化学制剂，包括有毒的“普鲁士蓝”氰化物，给茶叶人工染色。 

Even today, mixing green tea with chemicals remains a problem. Just ask the British Medical Journal, which published an article on Sept 23 about a 16-year-old who contracted a virus after drinking contaminated green tea. 

时至今日，绿茶中混合化学物质仍然是个问题。看看《英国医学杂志》，它曾在9月23日刊登过文章，讲的是一个16岁年轻人在喝了被污染的绿茶后感染病毒的事儿。

But those rare instances aren’t stopping Westerners from raising their pinky fingers in salute to green tea and all its nutritional virtues. Bottoms up! 

不过这些罕见的事例并没有降低西方人对绿茶及其营养价值的狂热崇拜。让我们一起干杯吧！