The big campaign to eat 5 fruits and veg a day was launched in 2003. Statistics showed that vegetarians developed less types of cancer than meat eaters and so the big bid began.

It has now been discovered that vegetarians, although less susceptible to cancers, are at no lesser risk than meat eaters from developing bowel cancer.

We’ve all seen things in the media; don’t eat pork, red meats are the worse. In fact I don’t think anyone is too sure what we can and can’t eat for the best and although it has been suggested that red meats are worse for causing bowel cancer, I must question this due to the fact that vegetarians are at the same risk from cancer than the rest of us.
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The UK has been surprised by unreported snow fall over the weekend which has sent the country in to turmoil due to the lack of preparation!

Heavy snow fall has caused congestion across our roads and at many airports…not to mention the channel tunnel we have all been hearing about!

The Daily Mail has reported this evening that blizzard like conditions hit some parts of the UK this afternoon again causing major disruption to the nation’s road and airports. Gatwick airport was forced to divert its flights this afternoon after it had to close its runways for de-icing and Luton airport shortly followed suit.
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We more often than not write our blogs about road traffic accidents involving cars but what about your cyclists out there? How much risk are you guys or gals on our roads?

A study released earlier this month revealed that for every 100 motorists whom are injured in road traffic accidents there are at least 68 injuries to cyclists and pedestrians. This is an alarming statistic given that there are fewer cyclists on our roads than motorists.

Extra care needs to be taken to ensure that there are no cyclists in your path before your proceed. Double check your blind spot before changing lanes and always check that there are cyclists to either side of the vehicle before you turn or set off from traffic lights.

We have given out a lot of advice over the last couple of weeks for motorists but are cyclists at risk too?
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I have authored a couple of articles on the MOD and the seemingly problem-filled compensation schemes in place for our injured war heroes – and Defence Chiefs have once again appeared on the wrong side of the news with a crazy compensation payout that you might not even believe!

According to sources from The Sun (source), a poultry farmer has been paid £42,000 in compensation because his chickens have “laid less eggs” due to noise from the Red Arrows scaring them! In fact, the MOD has paid out around £7.6 million in damages to people for noise related complaints… So why on are our brave injured soldiers receiving just a fraction of that sum?

According to the report, the Ministry of Defence spent the massive sum over a period of four years due to noise complaints from the Staffordshire poultry farmer, which came to light from a Freedom of Information request from The Sun. In fact there is more; see if you can match these sums to the victim:
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The football tournament the Africa cup of nations started last night with a pulsating 4-4 draw between the hosts Angola and Mali.  However, the tournament has been overshadowed by an attack on the Togo national team bus as the country’s players and football staff entered the country.

Within seconds of crossing from the Republic of Congo in to Cabinda in Angola, gunmen opened fire on the bus using machine guns, killing the bus driver and injuring many more. Sources have now confirmed that the death toll has risen to three in the days following the incident.

The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (Flec) has stated that it carried out the attack.
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Asbestos; a potentially hazardous silicate when its fibres are inhaled by humans, has been in and out of the press so many times over the past decades with court cases for compensation and stories of the illnesses it can lead to. According to BBC sources (source) UK insurance companies have been attempting to invalidate Scotland’s asbestos compensation act!

After a 22 day hearing at Court of Session, Lord Emslie ruled to reject the insurance companies bid to actually invalidate the law which gives victims the right to claim for the compensation they are entitled to!

The act allows sufferers of pleural plaques (which is not classed as a disease and has no symptoms, but does signify an increased risk of developing mesothelioma from the asbestos exposure) to claim for compensation, with insurers stating that it benefits a small number of people who have suffered no harm and is therefore a “disproportionate and excessive burden on insurers running into hundreds of millions, if not billions, of pounds”.
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Hope you had a lovely…incident free…New Year and are ready and raring to go for 2010!

Unfortunately, as you have all probably seen the cold weather is still upon us and appears to be worse than ever. Temperatures dropped below freezing and many of us seeing snow showers (some more than others!), it’s not the warmest welcome to 2010 I have to say.

I know it may seem that we keep ‘banging on’ about how dangerous the cold weather is but that’s because it is a daily reality and the ongoing cold weather can only lead to more problems on our roads. We want our blog readers to be as safe as they can be over the next few weeks.

Sky News have this evening reported on only a small handful of incidents around the country due to the snow and ice which is causing havoc on Britain’s roads.
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We all feel that we have been let down by our local health authority on some occasion whether it be the length of time you had to wait for your appointment or being told that you can’t have an appointment for ‘X’ number of weeks.

For some people they only know too well how it feels to be let down by the people whom you should be able to rely on the most.

The family of a patient under the care of Hywel Dda Health Board (Carmarthenshire Local Health Board) will be the first to tell you of their disappointment of the care provided to their severely injured son.

The young gentleman whom is only being referred to as ‘Mr B’ was left with serious brain injuries after being assaulted in July 2006. He was hospitalised for 10 months and required 24 hour nursing care.
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We have more on negligent drivers and near serious accidents on Britain’s roads – which all come during our big freeze which I am not going to write about, as I am sure you are all quite tired of the same press coverage on the issue, and my many recent articles on the subject!

Ashley Cole and a Swiss millionaire – two people I recently wrote about in my articles related to speeding offences. Well how do these new names grab you – Harriet Harman and Jermaine Defoe. One is the Labour Party Deputy Leader and the other is a well known striker for Spurs. Both have been recently convicted of driving offences:

According to The Sun (source) Harriet Harman has pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention – she has been fined £350 and ordered to pay £75 worth of costs, and a victim surcharge of £15. She has also received three points on her driver’s license. Not the heaviest of penalties; my only hope are these fines don’t turn up on her next MP  expense claim form!
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So the arctic conditions are continuing and the freezing temperatures have frozen the snow layered grounds causing what I am going to describe as ridiculously slippery conditions! Just this morning walking to my car (no more than 40 metres) was an epic battle as maintaining my footing and the pathway was difficult at best. The ice was around an inch thick alone, and not fun to walk (or should I say, skate) on.

So, what’s the best thing to do if you must use your vehicle? The BBC has very handily provided some solid advice for motorists on how to prepare for a journey out in to the snow:
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