We already are at the end of July…the national race from Limoges yearlings has been raced and the famous national Bourges is coming soon.
The yearlings of  BLUE HEAVEN LOFT succeeded well in their ultimate test. When you can score with 18 yearlings out of 28 on Limoges National, which is at a distance of 658 km, can’t complain. We even had the first announced pigeon in  OBRAFO TIENEN, which is one of the strongest clubs of the province of Brabant with more than 730 members. Our old birds and yearlings have done a race from Nanteuil, in preparation of the national race from Bourges. We put them in the basket without any kind of motivation or without stimulating them. Result : 20 pigeons in 10 minutes time at a speed of  1200 m/m over a distance of 252 km. Wind at the head. What we liked most was that they all came out of the ideal direction, without one exception. Now they have to prove their capacities on Bourges but we have faith in them.
And our youngsters 2012 also have had a bad Toury (373 km.), with two nights in the basket. Wind at the head and many clouds made this race so difficult. They also must be ready for their first hard assignment this Saturday July 28th, the national race from BOURGES, a race that we already won twice.
Those who can’t get their youngsters as it should, could use concentrated juice of red beets. We already heard a lot about this product but we didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. Till recently, when we read an article about it, which changed our vision. We think it’s too important to just give you a short version so we give you the whole article.  Read it carefully…

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Juice of red beets, the miracle drink for athletes
We’ve had enough of all those health claims.  You get beautiful eyes by eating carrots, your blood pressure goes down by drinking green tea and by eating nuts the cholesterol will disappear.  But sometimes, not often, it works.  They proved now that by drinking juice of red beets, when you use it well, can do miracles when you want to improve your endurance.
Actually it isn’t the juice itself but especially about the high content of nitrate.  This makes sure that the body will use the concentration of oxygen more efficient.  Red beets, celery, rucola, some kinds of salad, radish and parsley all have high content of nitrate.  And strange enough, the winter vegetables, are even better.  It’s because the plant changes nitrate into albumin under the influence of light.  So less light, less albumin and more nitrate.  But the nitrate isn’t all.  In fact it hasn’t a direct effect on our body.  75% of the nitrate leaves our body in our urine.  To be short: 5 till 8% of the nitrate we receive by our food, is changed into nitrite in the saliva and only a little part of this is changed into nitrogen monoxide (NO).  The rest is absorbed and reduced to NO in blood and tissue. 
Vasodilatation
Now we’re almost there.  About 30 years ago, they discovered that nitrogen monoxide doesn’t only lower the blood pressure because it opens the veins (vasodilatation) but it’s also very important to protect the body against bacterial infections.  By our food, we can raise the NO-content and that’s important for athletes who want to improve their endurance.  Of course, several scientists started to do some research.  In 2009, a research proved that by drinking the juice of red beets, the use of oxygen during an effort, is reduced and so the athlete can hold on much longer. 
Athletes
What about the trained athletes?  And on heights?  Last year, the test was done with well trained bikers.  The bikers (4km and 16 km), get to drink the juice 3 hours before the race.  They scored 2, 8 and 2, 7% better than those that didn’t drink the juice.  It doesn’t seem a lot 2, 8% but it can make the difference in winning the race or not.  The compartment of Physical Activities and Health of the University of Leuven even got further and they tested the result of the juice on high heights.  There the oxygen that’s available is lower and so less oxygen for the muscles.  This could have a negative effect on the results of the athletes.  By the influence of the juice of red beets (0,5 l), the use of oxygen on heights decreases by 5% and the muscles seemed to have more oxygen during an effort.  Both effects took care of better results of +4%.
Optimal effect
Do athletes have to drink this juice all day long?  Absolutely not!  As Johan Cruyff said: “Each advantage has a disadvantage”. The scientists don’t approve if too much nitrate, can do damage.  To avoid all risks, the experts are careful.  All research showed that you don’t have to drink many litres of the juice to get the effect.  It’s ideal to drink half a litre of the juice every day, 6 days before competition (last drink 3 hours before the race).  PS: Don’t be afraid: when you drink the juice, your excrements are red and your urine is rose.
    

After we read this article, we started to look for this juice. We mentioned it to our vet Raf Herbots and he already has this product among his by-products.

"Concentrated Red Beet juice" "For more oxygen in the blood."

Our opinion :  We used the juice for about 5 days with our youngsters. They completely changed! The muscles around the breastbone became pink. They became more vital and the colour of their feathers improved too.  We also saw more little feathers than before and this probably is because the juice provides them with more oxygen in the blood (about 16%).  And what we like even more is that our youngsters like to drink it.   We like it very much.  Try it yourself.
I will talk about vitamins and a lot more the next time.  I regularly get into a discussion with my daughter Linda, first year student of Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Leuven. But science, practice and experience often don’t agree. We should find the middle of the road…
See you soon.

Your servant

THE LOST SON