17:55 Monday 1st July 2013
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
(MUSIC -START ME UP)
[C]HRIS MANN: Did you see the Rolling Stones last night?
KATE LAMBLE: I did.
CHRIS MANN: You did?
KATE LAMBLE: I did. Not live, unfortunately.
CHRIS MANN: Well, we’re asking why do so many people age so badly? The picture of the Rolling Stones you might have seen on the front page of many papers today, slaughtered on Twitter as “Walking mummys” and “very old Thunderbirds”. Well Kate Lamble from the Naked Scientists, they did look pretty grisly, didn’t they?
KATE LAMBLE: They did. They are starting to look their ages, even if they’re not acting it.
CHRIS MANN: I mean they are in their seventies.
KATE LAMBLE: Yes they are. Sixty nine for Mick Jagger. Yes, so they are looking old, although to be honest, at my age I’ve always imagined them as that age, growing up. But what happens is as we grow older, lots of things change. One of the most noticeable is that the fat layer just underneath our skin loses its volume. And that means our skin can look a bit loose, or saggy, and droops down. It also loses its elasticity, so we get wrinkles. Now some of these wrinkles are called animation link wrinkles, and they’re caused by facial muscles creasing the skin. So a lot of Mick Jagger’s could be pout induced, if I’m perfectly honest.
CHRIS MANN: That’s the lips.
KATE LAMBLE: That’s the lips, the famous lips as Mick Jagger’s prowling up and down the stage. But some of them are also caused by risk factors like ssun damage, or smoking. So Keith Richards might just spend too long on a beach with a cigarette falling out of coconut trees. And those are some of the damages that he could be a part of.
CHRIS MANN: It is a miracle that he’s still standing upright on a regular basis of course. Age plays a part, lifestyle, climate. In which particular part of the world would they look like that? Somewhere where they’ve been in the sun a lot, do you think?
KATE LAMBLE: Yes. So obviously genetics has a large part to play in it as well as these risk factors. But it’s a lot of staying out in the sun. And people suggest that the best thing you can do to protect your skin is to use sun cream every day. I’m a ginger, so I’m on factor 50 anyway, but for the rest of you guys, factor 30 is recommended at least. And that will hopefully protect your skin for a bit longer.
CHRIS MANN: OK. Now we’re going to talk about palm oil as well. Why is it causing problems in the rainforest? palm oil as in P-A-L-M.
KATE LAMBLE: So palm oil is a type of vegetable oil that’s made from the fruit of the oil palm tree. And it’s used in everything, margarine, bread, sweets, soap, pretty much everything. And our need for this is rapidly expanding, and it’s inviting a lot of countries to clear huge swathes of rainforest. In Indonesia alone six million hectares have already been cleared for palm oil use. And they’ve got plans for four million more by 2015. Now the problem for consumers who might not want rainforest clearance which is responsible for destruction of habitat, orang-utans being put in danger by this, it’s currently used as vegetable oil, so you don’t know whether it’s in the products you’re buying or not. So the Rainforest Foundation Uk have just brought out this survey this week, today actually, about the use of palm oil in biscuits,. So if you’re just getting home from work, sitting down with a cup of tea and a biscuit, they’re trying to tell you which ones are good and which ones aren’t. So the ones which have come out really really well are actually some of the British supermarkets. Co-op, M&S, Sainsburys and Waitrose all really really highly ranked, as well as, luckily for me, the makers of Jaffa cakes, because they’re my favourite
CHRIS MANN: Mine too actually.
KATE LAMBLE: Exactly. So luckily we’re in the clear.
CHRIS MANN: You can’t put on weight with Jaffa Cakes.
KATE LAMBLE: Not at all.
CHRIS MANN: I think there’s a rule there, an exception.
KATE LAMBLE: But the bad ones they’re suggesting are Asda, and also the makers of Snack-a-Jack and Oreo and Ritz biscuits. So if those are your favourites, you might be consuming a lot of palm oil and be paying into this fund for destroying the rainforest.
CHRIS MANN: Kate, thank you, as ever.
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