There is something about hitting the road that makes me act as if it’s my birthday or I’m on an arduous hike. I’m driven by forces I cannot fathomTim Spector, the doctor and diet bloke behind the Zoe nutrition app, has a lot to say about how different bodies process the food put into them in different ways. He comes out with some very clever stuff, as well as a smattering of the startlingly obvious. An example of the second is something he said at the Cheltenham literature festival, where he pointed out that drivers are prone to eating an awful lot of junk on long journeys. He says we don’t need to stop for snacks at service stations every couple of hours.Perhaps he drove himself there, gave into temptation en route and felt as if he had let himself down. I know I have on the same journey, from west London. Oh, the opportunities to eat filth! Beaconsfield services for breakfast; Oxford services for elevenses; early lunch at that big filling station where the A40 takes its leave from the Oxford ring road; late lunch at some garage or other on the often tricky last 20 miles into Cheltenham. Crisps, nuts, pastries sweet and savoury, chocolate, sweets, the lot. Continue reading...