Hello and welcome to Thursdays Levy Letter. I hope your days going well and youre having a good week. Coming up on Look North today, will the government give Lincolnshire Police the extra money it says it needs? We'll find out what happened at a critical meeting today.
If youve been watching the programme youll know weve been hearing all week just what a problem potholes are on our roads, well we'll be meeting the woman who says a pothole damaged her health. Gypsies and travellers are often at the receiving end of prejudice and even abuse, and now a teenage traveller in Lincolnshire has taken it upon herself to try and break down the barriers. We'll have her story. And Open all Hours was one of the country's favourite comedy shows, we'll be at a real life corner shop that hasn't closed for more than 4 decades. The owner must be very tired! Thats all coming up on Look North today at half past six on BBC One. I hope you can join me then, and of course for the detailed weather forecast as always. I have to say weve had a mass of responses to our stories this week. Thank you very much for all of those. Were still going through all the comments and information weve been sent about potholes and of course possible tax rises in Lincolnshire to fund the police force. Dont forget if youve got something you want to have your say on in the programme you can always reach us on [EMAIL PROTECTED] I look forward to reading your comments and if theres time I might read some of them out on the television today. Beetroot Theres good news for lovers of the red vegetable in the news today, but I have to say that youre going to have to like it a lot to get the full benefits. Drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce blood pressure, and could represent a low cost way to treat hypertension. Gulping down the juice has been shown to actually reduce blood pressure within one hour, and the effects continued to be observed for up to 24 hours. Thats quite impressive. Some incredible statistics here, More than 25% of the world's adult population are hypertensive, and it has been estimated that this figure will increase to 29% by 2025. Hypertension causes around 50% of coronary heart disease, and approximately 75% of strokes. So it looks like beetroot juice could become the drink of choice for many. It doesnt sound very appetising though does it? Even if you like beetroot I dont know how easy it is to swallow 500ml of the juice at a time. I certainly dont see lots of people popping out for a beetroot juice instead of a coffee, not in the Look North office anyway. Weights Well as youll probably know Im a big devotee to weight lifting and muscle building Not. But new research suggests that weight lifting could be as effective as endurance exercises like running in burning fat and avoiding diabetes. This is another piece of scientific research that makes extensive use of mice. I dont know what scientists have against rodents, but most of the medical research being done at the moment seems to make use of them in some shape or form. Mice genetically modified to have muscles similar to those produced by weight training have been shown to be better at burning fat than normal mice. Switching on the muscle gene in mice made them overcome liver disease and avoid diabetes. The muscle type which produced the positive effects is Type II, which comes from resistance training like weight lifting. Its different to the type of muscle produced by endurance training like running, which is called Type I funny enough. I suppose this means people will be taking off their running shorts and sweat bands and picking up the dumbbells. Its a tough choice youll admit, I think Ill need a cool refreshing glass of beetroot juice before I commit myself, but if youre a fitness fan you might want to reconsider your regime. Well thats it from me for today, I hope you have a very good afternoon, and dont forget to join me tonight at half past six on BBC One for Look North. In the meantime, if you have anything to let me know about, a story or picture for the programme or anything for the Levy letter, drop me a line and get in touch with me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Take care. Bye for now Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
