Beetroot for Blood Pressure

Beetroot - cooked or raw - can help reduce blood pressure and associated risks such as heart attacks and strokes as it produces a gas called nitric oxide which widens blood vessels and arteries.

Eat as part of a healthy diet but you may still need to take medication precribed by your doctor.

Smoothies

Smoothies are marketed as a healthy drink, but take care.

• They are (especially commercially manufactured ones) high in sugar - and therefore calories.
• They are very concentrated.

The same goes for fruit juices, as 'no added sugar' on the packaging does not mean 'no sugar' - fruit juices contain a lot of natural sugar.

It is better to eat raw fruit, as this will give you fibre in addition to minerals and vitamins.

Converting Files

To convert a file to a different format, try the free website www.zamzar.com . Upload the file and choose the file type you want to convert it to, and zamzar will email you the converted file. Your original file is deleted from the zamzar site after 24 hours.

Limes and Lemons

Sometimes it is difficult to get juice out of lemons and limes, so here are a couple of tips to try.

• Roll the fruit several times across a board and you'll get more juice out when you hand squeeze or use a lemon juicer.
• Heat a lemon in the microwave till it is warm, and the juice flows out easily. (Mary Berry in the Radio Times, February 2014)

Reducing Air pollution

Our houses are often set on busy roads, where traffic can cause air pollution. New research indicates that planting silver birch trees along the pavement, or planted at the edge of a front garden, reduces the pollution inside the houses behind by 60%.

Silver birch trees have hairy leaves, which pick up road traffic soot particles from the air. Silver birch are very tolerant of this, and rain washes off the particles, cleaning the leaves.

TV programme in 2013