Eating too much sugar is being increasingly blamed for the Western world’s obesity epidemic, but there is one type of sugar – honey – that is actually really good for your health, according to a study published in the Journal Of Agriculture And Food Chemistry. Subjects who were given honey had higher levels of antioxidants in their blood plasma – and the higher your level, the better your body can combat the cell-damaging free radicals that are behind ageing as well as many diseases. With people consuming an average of more than 70kg of sugar and artificial sweeteners a year, adding honey to tea or porridge instead of sugar could provide multiple health benefits, said the scientists behind the research.
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Honey’s score on the glycemic index, making it a medium GI food unlike other sugars. This makes honey a smart source of post-workout carbs because it doesn’t lead to a big blood sugar spike.
Watermelon has been described as “nature’s Viagra” thanks to its ability to increase libido and enhance blood flow to you-knowwhere. That’s down to its high concentration of citrulline, an amino acid that relaxes blood vessels.
2 Dodge disease
When you eat watermelon some of the citrulline is converted into another amino acid, arginine, which both improves heart health and helps maintain a stronger immune system, meaning you’ll spend less time on the sidelines.
3 Healthy heart
Drinking watermelon juice can decrease your risk of developing atherosclerosis –a build-up of fat in your arteries that’s a contributor to heart disease – according to an animal study by the University of Kentucky.
4 Recover faster
Necking some of the fruit’s juice after a hard weights session could help reduce the severity of post-workout muscular aches and pains, according to the American Chemical Society. That means you’ll be back under the bar sooner.
Finding the motivation to work up a real sweat, whether that’s going for a morning run or an after-work gym session, can be tough at this time of year when it’s still dark most of the day. The good news is that spring is just around the corner and you can start that season in better shape if you treat yourself to some new workout kit right now. Why? Wearing new exercise clothing can give you the added willpower you need to start moving, and simply putting on your fresh clobber gets you in the right frame of mind for exercise and increases the chances of you training that day, according to research from Northwestern University in the US. So treat yourself to a new top and shorts or leggings – bright colours are good, especially if you’ll be running outside – and put them on first thing Saturday morning to boost your chances of increasing your activity levels.
What’s the biggest obstacle blocking your path to a fitter, healthier and happier life? For many of us, at least some of the time, a shortage of motivation to make small but significant changes to our daily routine keeps us stuck in a vicious circle.
A friend explained his lapsed gym membership to me like this: every morning he wakes up with ten Enthusiasm and Motivation Units (EMUs). He’ll lose one EMU on his commute, a couple more during meetings, one in the queue for lunch and so on every time his patience is tested. He only ever gets to the gym after work if he has at least one EMU left. If not, the only bar he’s going near is his local.
His motivation model makes a lot of sense – we all wish we could instantly summon up extra EMUs when we need them. Like when we know we should go to the gym or for a run (because we always feel amazing afterwards) but going straight home or to the pub requires far less effort. Now, thanks to our guide to maximising your motivation levels with minimal effort (p56), you’ll be able to make the right call every time and build a stronger, leaner and healthier body. So I’ll see you at the bar. You know which one.
I don’t quite yet have a fully rebuilt and dyno-tested engine, but the good news is that the Peugeot internals have passed crack testing and there are, so far, no horrible surprises. I’m still itching to see — and hear — it up and running. I have never been in a dyno room with a V10 Formula 1 engine on full song. People who have tell me it’s one part awesome and one and a half parts terrifying.
In the meantime, we have started to put the final touches to the chassis build of my ex-Rubens Barrichello Jordan 195. The first job was fitting the fuel tank. The physical fitting is not a simple job, because the aperture through which it must pass to fit inside the monocoque is very small. All the foam inside must be removed then painstakingly refitted into the tank, along with the pump hardware. This means the guys at Tour-de-Force Power Engineering are essentially working blind most of the time.
The uprights have been stripped, crack-tested and rebuilt. Visually they appeared to look fine and non-destructive testing proved this to be the case. It’s only when they are apart that one can appreciate just how much design and manufacturing skill has gone into these components. The uprights on the car are fabricated from titanium with a machined centre. They are beautifully made.
I have been incredibly lucky to find another pair of front uprights to use as spares, but interestingly these are fabricated from steel. I can only guess that these were possibly off a test car. Before rebuilding the uprights, we re-greased the bearings, which themselves were in such good condition that they did not need replacing.
The radiators have also now been serviced. They were sent to an F1 radiator specialist at Silverstone to be ultrasonically cleaned and pressure tested. Apart from a minor repair needed to one small part of one radiator, everything else was perfect and they have now been mounted back on the car with fresh fittings and fasteners.
The Brembo brake callipers were in great condition and have been stripped, cleaned and rebuilt with new seals and fittings. Suitable carbon-carbon discs and pads were sourced. Carbon-carbon is an incredible material, but the braking system used in 1995 was relatively simple, certainly compared with the brake-by-wire and energy recovery systems of modern F1 cars.
The modern electronics have been mounted in the original box locations on the car, including the ECU above the fuel cell. New brackets were produced for the mounts in the tub and all components fit into the original recesses with the period closing panels. We can now move on and begin to build the wiring loom. We are also testing the original dash and cockpit electronics to ensure these are fit for purpose.
New front and rear dampers are being manufactured and should be on the car very soon. Engine permitting, we aim to give the car its shakedown test in the early spring at Snetterton, and I am hopeful that it may get one of its first public outings at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, followed by some demo runs at Brands Hatch in August and Jarama later in the summer.
Next month: final pre-testpreparations – and will Warren’s ears be ringing?
Thanks to: Tour-de-ForcePower Engineering, Bedford; Engine Developments, Rugby
