Under the microscope

TV cook Dave Myers, 61, half of the Hairy Bikers, answers our health quiz

CAN YES. I YOU split my RUN time UP between THE STAIRS? my homes in in the France, Loire I do Valley 20 to and 30 Kent. km cycle When rides I’m a couple of times a week to keep fit. GET YOUR FIVE-A-DAY? YES, other I love half of vegetables. the Hairy Bikers) Si (King, and the I do try eat to healthily. practise I aim what for we five preach a day. and POP ANY PILLS? I TAKE daily eye drops for glaucoma [where pressure in the eye becomes too high], which I had diagnosed in both eyes seven years ago. I was lucky it got picked up early and the condition is stable. I have regular eye tests — I am very short-sighted and have worn spectacles since I was eight. EVER DIETED? YES. We did a TV series in 2012 called Hairy Dieters: How To Love Food And Lose Weight. Si was just shy of 20 st and I was 18 ½ st. We went on a 1,200calorie-a-day diet and each lost 3 st. Now, I keep carbohydrate portions under control and eat as much fish as I can. I’m 6ft and around 15 st. ANY VICES? I LOVE my booze. When Si and I are filming, we don’t drink a great deal, as you can’t film with a hangover. Food is my main vice, though — I love pizza, but that really is high in calories. MOST SERIOUS ILLNESS? THE glaucoma could be very serious. I was told I could lose my sight if I didn’t have it treated. In 1998, I had brain surgery to remove an arachnoid [fluidfilled] cyst the size of a small bread roll. I collapsed while working as a make-up artist on a film set in Aberdeen. They put a shunt in my head to drain the fluid and I was very ill for a time. I was told I’d had the cyst since birth. ANY FAMILY AILMENTS? MY MOTHER died aged 65 of multiple sclerosis and my father died of a stroke aged 75, but he was a lifelong smoker. HAD ANYTHING REMOVED? MY APPENDIX, when I was eight. IS SEX IMPORTANT? YES, of course. I am lucky to be married to a woman I love. I have a great marriage. EVER BEEN DEPRESSED? YES, but there’s always been a reason. I have never had proper depression. ANY PHOBIAS? COCKROACHES. When I was a child, I lived in a house that had cockroaches and, in those days, they seemed monstrously large. HANGOVER CURE? A BACON sandwich and a pot of hot tea or, if I am not doing anything, a Bloody Mary works wonders. WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? WORRYING. I have always been a worrier since being a boy. LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER? I WOULD if I could stay healthy. n DAve is ambassador for Specsavers’ Transforming eye Health campaign. visit specsavers.co.uk