Peoples' preoccupation with anti-aging skin care products that claim to make you look younger is not surprising; there is nothing wrong with wanting to continue looking young as you get older, in fact it is quite a healthy aim. Skin is important so a great deal of effort goes into the preparation of beauty products especially those that increase the production of collagen, which is the primary protein in skin; with around a quarter of our skin protein being collagen, the importance of this substance has not gone unnoticed. This category of skin products is in fact related to another group of everyday products that help reduce the signs of aging; these are known as antioxidants which remove toxins from the body.

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. 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.

Manufacturers are trying alternative skin care treatments to vitamin C that do not have this oxidization problem or cost as much to produce. These new anti-oxidant products are not quite as good as vitamin C although other naturally occurring compounds, vitamin E and lipoic acid can achieve the same effect.

Found in human blood, vitamin E is not only an antioxidant but is designed to boost the immune system's resistance to illness; one particular disease it may help to prevent is certain types of cancer. Lipoic acid is also an energy making component of the body, found in every cell; an additional function is to repair skin damage caused by the normal aging process.

Another group of products used to reduce the visible signs of aging are phytochemicals which are compounds extracted from various plants and used in many anti-aging skin care products. A further benefit of these phytochemicals is their ability to prevent the onset of certain cancers; these include:

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

These are all on the increase around the world.

Some B-vitamins like B5, B6 and B12 are also in use for anti-ageing skin care products. The use of anti-ageing skin care products is a huge scientific field to research and has far greater potential than just producing goods that reduce the visible signs of age. Gradually, new discoveries will be made to advance our understanding of the aging process; more long term effective methods will eventually be found to reverse or slow down the effects of aging.

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. However, man-made skin care regimes should be used only as a supplement; it is doubtful if science can replace natural skin care remedies. You know all these things but how many do you practice? Regular exercise, restful sleep, drinking plenty of water, eating a healthy diet and keeping your stress levels low are all necessary.

It is quite normal to expect people to want to look attractive and this might explain why anti-aging skin care products are so successful; this is due primarily to the fact we are all living longer and want to continue looking younger as we age. 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. This area of anti-ageing treatments is connected to another group of products that help people to look young; 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.

Probably the best known of these anti-oxidants is vitamin C although no-one really knows just how much we should have each day. 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.

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. These new anti-oxidant products are not quite as good as vitamin C although other naturally occurring compounds, vitamin E and lipoic acid can achieve the same effect.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant and component of human blood whose purpose is to help increase the body's immune system; 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 can help reverse much of the damage caused to the skin by ageing.

Phytochemicals form the other category of anti-aging skin care products which are special chemicals that are extracted from plants with a variety of that are used in skin care today. A secondary but more important use of phytochemicals is the effect they have on the prevention of some strains of cancer; for example:

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

These types of cancer are also becoming some of the most prevalent worldwide.

For some time now it has also been known that the vitamins B5, B6 and B12 also have anti-ageing skin care properties. The use of anti-ageing skin care products is a huge scientific field to research and has far greater potential than just producing goods that reduce the visible signs of age. Gradually, new discoveries will be made to advance our understanding of the aging process; with the number of genetic discoveries made in recent years, it is only a matter of time before conquering the effects of age is commonplace.

The amount of research going on in this field will undoubtedly bring results in time, hopefully bringing down the cost of these anti-ageing skin care products in addition to increasing their reliability. At the moment though, science is still behind the field of natural anti-aging methods; man-made products may never replace those that are available naturally! Natural methods are known, but few people actually follow them; what proportion of the population actually eats healthily, takes plenty of exercise, drink sufficient water and obtain restful and regular sleep?