A Guide To Anti-aging Skin Care Products

The use of anti-aging skin care products has grown enormously over the last two decades; reducing the visible signs of ageing is the goal for many people as they grow older, and why shouldn't it be? This is done using skin care products that encourage the growth of the protein collagen which happens to be the main source of the protein used in the connective tissue of skin; with around a quarter of our skin protein being collagen, the importance of this substance has not gone unnoticed. Collagen is related to other natural substances which help to slow down the ageing process; this group is called antioxidants and apart from their cell repairing ability, they may be able to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

One of the best known anti-oxidants is vitamin C and despite continual research, nobody involved can decide just exactly how much our body should consume on a daily basis. The problem with vitamin C derived skin care treatments is they can become oxidized when exposed to the atmosphere, often even before they are used.

Other skin care treatments which mimic the effects of vitamin C are being tried all the time which are hoped to be more stable in the atmosphere and also cheaper to produce. Unfortunately the anti-oxidant products used to replace vitamin C are not as effective but as vitamin E and lipoic acid can both have the same effect; this is not too much of a problem.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and component of human blood whose purpose is to help increase the body's immune system against diseases including cancer. On the other hand, lipoic acid or alpha-lipoic acid is necessary for energy production which keeps us alive; it is in every human cell and another function is to repair skin damage caused by the normal aging process.

Other compounds called phytochemicals have proved to be beneficial in the formulation of anti-aging skin care products; they are removed from various plants. A secondary but more important use of phytochemicals is the effect they have on the prevention of breast, prostate and colon cancers.

It has also been discovered that there are anti-aging benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. Although the area of anti-aging skin care products is huge, more is being learned about the whole aging process and about natural products that can reduce the effects it has on our bodies as well as our skin.

Although current regimes are effective, there are still many challenges to finding better and more efficient ways to combat the effects of time. In time it is hoped that less expensive and more reliable anti-aging skin care products will become available for a larger number of people to use.

However, man-made skin care regimes should be used only as a supplement; they cannot replace natural skin care remedies. Drinking plenty of water, getting a good night's sleep, exercising regularly, maintaining healthy eating habits and keeping stress at bay are an essential means of delaying the aging process.