It is not surprising that one of the largest markets in the world of health and beauty is anti-ageing skin care products; when most of us can expect to live longer and have fuller, more active lives, this is hardly surprising. 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; approximately one quarter of the protein contained in skin is collagen. Collagen is related to other anti-ageing substances found in the body and other substances; we call them antioxidants, they aid the repair of cell damage associated with cell damage.
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.
Manufacturers are trying alternative skin care treatments to vitamin C that do not have this oxidization problem or cost as much 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 a fat-soluble antioxidant and is found in human blood, it helps build resistance against infection like cancer. Another, lipoic acid is in every cell of our body and is used to generate energy for us to live but also helps reduce and reverse the skin’s ageing process.
Phytochemicals form the other category of anti-ageing skin care products which are special chemicals that are extracted from plants with a variety of that are used in skin care today. Another benefit, like that of alpha-lipoic acid, is their ability to reduce the prevalence of certain cancers like prostate, colon and breast cancer.
It has also been discovered that there are anti-ageing benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. 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. Hopefully, these challenges will get resolved in due course and better and cheaper anti-ageing skin care products will be produced.
Fortunately there is a number of natural anti-ageing regimes that can be carried out that do not rely on science. 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.