Researchers found that athletes who drank beet juice about two-and-a-half hours before exercise saw some serious benefits. In one study, football players generated about 11% more peak power during sprint tests and reached their top output faster than those who drank a placebo. The body converts the nitrates into nitric oxide, which helps improve oxygen delivery to your muscles. Arugula, spinach, Swiss chard, celery, lettuce, and radishes are also packed with nitrates…………..About 20 years ago, Blake Heller, a Wisconsin dairy farmer, turned part of his cornfield into a half-mile-long lake so his kids would have a place to water ski. Ever since, Blue Moo Lake has hosted barefoot water-skiing events . . . and Blake’s daughter, Elaine, went on to win two world championships and earn induction into the USA Water Ski & Wake Sports Hall of Fame. (Here’s a news report.)………………..And finally…………….
An Italian woman almost lost a lottery ticket worth over a million dollars after she mistakenly threw it away. Apparently, the ticket scanner at a local shop said it was “non-payable,” so she assumed it wasn’t a winner . . . not realizing that could also mean that the prize is too large to be redeemed in the shop. A family member recognized her usual numbers and let her know . . . but she had already thrown the ticket out with the trash. Luckily, with the help of local garbagemen, she searched an entire truckload of garbage, and hours later, the ticket was found, “miraculously still in one piece.”