Fruit, Glorious Fruit!

"Fruit is the panacea for good health", Sir Ranulph Fiennes tells us in his excellent book, "Fit for Life". And let's face it, someone who managed to run 7 marathons in 7 days must know a thing or two about keeping in shape.

In the interests of my fellow cyclists' good health, I'm sure Sir Ranulph won't mind me quoting a little more information vis-a-vis fruit from my well thumbed copy of said book. Here goes:

"The human body system, from hands and teeth to digestive juices, was designed to cope superbly with fruit and not meat, or even cereals. ....nothing fulfils our vitamin, mineral and toxin-cleansing water needs more effectively than fruit. The quicker and easier food is to digest, the better it is for our health. ....the typical digestion time for most fruits is 30 minutes, as opposed to 35 hours for red, fatty meat.... ".

35 hours?! Indeed. Not alot of people know that, as Mr Caine might say. It certainly surprised me. So, what are some of Sir Ran's top fruits? Perhaps No. 1, and the cyclist's favourite, it's the banana. Need I say more? Filling, packed with goodness and they come in their own little yellow jacket. A is for Apple - keep one handy. Oranges - always a firm favourite. Figs, raisins, dates to name but a few - the list goes on. In short, fruit is "the Daddy!".

Of course, a fit, active cyclist needs a little more than just fruit to get by on. Good quality protein for one. But, suffice to say, if your fruit intake currently consists of the odd apple or orange here and there, you should think seriously about remedying that as soon as possible.

Right, must dash, I think I can smell my sirloin steak burning.....

Until next time.

Yours

TPR