Vital fluid lady drained with speed (5)

I believe the answer is:

lymph

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'vital fluid' is the definition.
'lymph' can be an answer for 'fluid' (I have seen 'Bodily fluid ' mean 'lymph' so perhaps 'fluid' could also mean 'lymph'). I am not certain of the 'vital' bit.

'lady drained with speed' is the wordplay.
'drained' suggests removing the centre.
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'speed' becomes 'mph' (miles per hour).
'lady' with its middle removed is 'ly'.
'ly'+'mph'='LYMPH'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lymph that I've seen before include "Fluid containing antibodies" , "Bodily fluid" , "Watery fluid containing white blood cells" , "White blood cell fluid" , "Body fluid" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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