It is not surprising that one of the largest markets in the world of health and beauty is anti-aging skin care products; reducing the visible signs of aging is the goal for many people as they grow older, and why shouldn't it be? 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; collagen makes up approximately 25 percent of the total protein in the skin. This area of anti-aging treatments is connected to another group of products that help people to look young; known as antioxidants, they are the body's method of slowing down the aging process.

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

More stable skin care treatments are now available that are almost as efficient and actually cost less to manufacture. However, these anti-aging 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.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant and is found in human blood; one particular disease it may help to prevent is certain types of cancer. Another of these is lipoic acid which is found in every cell of our body to help generate energy for us to live; an additional function is to repair skin damage caused by the normal aging process.

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 phyto-chemicals is the effect they have on the prevention of some strains of cancer; for instance:

1. Prostate Cancer in Men

2. Breast Cancer in Women

3. Colon Cancer

These are all on the increase around the world.

It has also been discovered that there are anti-aging benefits to vitamins B5, B6 and B12. This is a vast area that has the potential for many new anti-aging skin care products and services in the future but research needs to continue. There is no doubt that what has been learned so far is only a small part of the jigsaw puzzle; 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-aging skin care products that are less expensive and available to more people. Scientific research into anti-aging products is still in the early stages but they should never be relied upon; it is doubtful if science can replace natural skin care remedies. Regular sleep patterns, exercise, a good healthy diet and less stress will all contribute to reducing the signs of aging, for instance!