Peoples’ preoccupation with anti-ageing skin care products that claim to make you look younger is not surprising; it is not unreasonable to want to continue looking youthful for as long as possible when you consider how much longer most of us are living! We achieve this with beauty products that synthesize the production of the protein collagen; with around a quarter of our skin protein being collagen, the importance of this substance has not gone unnoticed. Collagen is a member of another family of substances that aid in reducing the signs of ageing. called antioxidants, they help flush out toxins from the body and help reduce the signs of aging.

Although the benefits of vitamin C (an anti-oxidant) are well documented, it is still debated as to what our daily amount should be. Vitamin C formulated skin care treatments suffer with a particular problem of oxidizing on contact with the air which causes a problem for users and manufacturers.

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. Although these products are good, they cannot actually compare with vitamin C but fortunately vitamin E and alpha-lipoic acid are also anti-oxidants so can be used to gain the same effect.

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 ageing process.

Phytochemicals aren’t produced by the body but are extracted from a number of plants and used in many anti-ageing skin care products to combat the signs of ageing. Another benefit, like that of alpha-lipoic acid, is their ability to reduce the prevalence of certain cancers like prostate, colon and breast cancer.

Other vitamins from the B group are also used in anti-ageing skin care like vitamins B5, B6 and B12 for example. 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.

A great deal about the ageing process has already been learned and the products available today are already far more advanced than ten years ago but there is still a long way to go. With the research that is now taking place, many people are confident that in time, more effective, cheaper anti-ageing skin care products will be discovered.

In some respects the real way ahead lies in our own hands as there are many things we can do to reduce the signs of ageing naturally. 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.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 3:27 am and is filed under Exercise. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.