又中又英｜An upside and a downside

Do you prefer sleeping more or exercising more? Which will you choose if sleeping more will result in you exercising less or vice-versa? Many people will scoff at this question. If you scoff at a question, it means you ridicule it as stupid or silly. Many will say exercising more doesn't cause less sleep and sleeping more doesn't cause less exercise. That's true but only if they don't drink coffee. A new study shows there is an upside and a downside to drinking coffee. If something has an upside and downside it means it has something good and something bad.

The study found that people who drink one to three cups of coffee a day are more active. They walk on average an extra 1000 steps a day. This may explain why drinking coffee can result in better health. But the study found that even one cup of coffee a day causes less shut-eye, which is a slang word for sleep. People who drink a cup of coffee a day lose about 36 minutes of nightly sleep. The more they drink, the less they will sleep. Many studies have shown coffee drinkers live longer, have lower rates of diabetes, cancer, and liver disease.

What I can't understand is why coffee drinkers live longer and have lower rates of serious diseases even though coffee makes them sleep less. Isn't sleep supposed to repair the body? But I won't beat my brains out on why coffee drinkers are healthier even if they sleep less. To beat your brains out means to try very hard to understand something.

你宁愿睡多一些还是做多一些运动？如果睡多些会令你做少一些运动，或反过来做多些运动令你睡少些，你会怎样选择？许多人会scoff at这道问题。若你scoff at一条问题，意即你藐视、嘲笑它是一条蠢问题。许多人会说，做多些运动并不会令睡眠减少，睡多一些也不会导致运动做少一些。这是真的——只有在他们不喝咖啡的情况之下。一个最新的研究显示，喝咖啡有 an upside and a downside——若某事有 an upside and a downside，意即它有好处亦有坏处。

研究发现，每天喝1至3杯咖啡的人较为活跃，他们平均每天多走1000步。这或许能解释为何喝咖啡可以带来好健康。但该研究又发现，即使1天只是喝1杯咖啡，也会导致少些shut-eye——这是睡觉的俚语。每天喝1杯咖啡的人，会失去大概36分钟晚间睡眠的时间；他们喝得愈多，睡得愈少。许多研究也显示，喝咖啡的人较长命，患上糖尿病、癌症和肝病的比率亦较低。

但我不明白的地方是，为何喝咖啡令人睡得更少，他们却可更长寿，患重病比率较低？睡眠不是理应用来让身体复元的吗？到底为什么即使喝咖啡的人睡少些，也能更健康，我不会beat my brains out—— to beat my brains out是指绞尽脑汁去弄明白一件事。