Peoples' preoccupation with anti-aging skin care products that claim to make you look younger is not surprising; reducing the visible signs of aging is the goal for many people as they grow older, and why shouldn't it be? 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; almost 25 percent of the protein in skin is actually collagen. Collagen is related to other anti-ageing substances found in the body and other substances; 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, no-one body involved can decide just exactly how much our body should consume on a daily basis. 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.

More stable skin care treatments are now available that are almost as efficient and actually cost less to manufacture. 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.

Found in human blood, vitamin E is not only an antioxidant but is designed to boost the immune system's resistance to illness; it helps build resistance against infection like cancer for example. Lipoic acid is also an energy making component of the body, found in every cell; it is also known to combat the signs of aging very effectively by repairing skin damage caused by the aging process.

The use of plants has not been overlooked either with many types able to provide essences called phytochemicals which have proved successful in anti-aging skin care products. Like lipoic acid, phytochemicals help reduce the occurrence of cancers; for instance:

<ul> <li>Cancer that attacks the Prostate</li> <li>Cancer that attacks the Breast</li> <li>Cancer of the Bowel</li> </ul>

These three types of cancer are also becoming a global problem.

For some time now it has also been known that the vitamins B5, B6 and B12 also have anti-ageing skin care properties. The field of anti-ageing skin care products is vast and needs a great deal more research. Gradually, new discoveries will be made to advance our understanding of the aging process; there is still a long way to go however, before methods that successfully reduce the effects of age are commonplace.

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-aging methods; 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 aging - 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.