Anti-Aging

The use of anti-aging skin care products has grown enormously over the last two decades; it is only natural that as people get older they want to continue looking young so will use products that help them achieve this. The skin care industry uses beauty products that increase the synthesis of the protein collagen, the main protein in skin which becomes less elastic as we age; collagen makes up approximately 25 percent of the total protein in the skin. Collagen is related to other natural substances which help to slow down the ageing process; called antioxidants, they help flush out toxins from the body and help reduce the signs of aging.

Vitamin C is probably one of the better known anti-oxidants in use today but the debate about the daily quota required is ongoing. The main problem when using any skin care treatments which use vitamin C is that oxidization can occur as soon as they have contact with the air.

To get around this some skin care treatments are based on derivatives of vitamin C, which are more stable and less expensive. However, these anti-ageing skin care treatments are not as effective vitamin C based products, although vitamin E and lipoic acid are also anti-oxidants and have similar effects.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant and is found in human blood, it helps build resistance against infection like cancer. Lipoic acid is also an energy making component of the body, found in every cell, it can also help reduce the ageing process which affects the skin.

The use of plants has not been overlooked either with many types able to provide essences called phytochemicals which have proved successful in anti-ageing skin care products. A further benefit of these phytochemicals is their ability to prevent the onset of breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer all of which are on the increase globally.

For some time now it has also been known that the vitamins B5, B6 and B12 also have anti-ageing skin care properties. Although the area of anti-ageing skin care products is huge, more is being learnt about the whole ageing process and about natural products that can reduce the effects it has on our bodies as well as our skin.

There is no doubt that what has been learned so far is only a small part of the jigsaw puzzle but research is moving forward rapidly and it is only a matter of time before a new generation of products becomes available. There may be many challenges still to overcome but in time scientists believe they will succeed in producing more effective anti-ageing skin care products that are less expensive and available to more people.

At the moment though, science is still behind the field of natural anti-ageing methods and it might take some time to replace them. Simple things that can make a difference in slowing the signs of ageing; these include physical activity, restful sleep, maintaining good dietary habits and removing stress from your life.