Anti-aging products are fast becoming all the rage. Perhaps you’ve heard of them. Who are we kidding? Of course you have. Whether in advertisements or articles, there are names that have been thrown around more and more over the last year. There’s a long list of ingredients: sirtuins, hyaluronic acid, peptides, DMAE, and alpha lipoic acid to name a few. But what do they actually do? And, more importantly, do they work?

Here is a quick rundown of five of the top anti-aging ingredients:

Sirtuins are protein enzymes that naturally occur in your body. Their main function is to help repair damage to cells, making those cells live longer. In fact, without sirtuins, your cells would die. So the quick answer is that yes, sirtuins work – because that’s their job. By including them in anti-aging products, manufacturers are hoping they will help skin cells to live longer. The issue is that most anti-aging products work by speeding up the life cycle of skin cells to get the old ones out of the way of the new ones, so the science of keeping the old ones alive is still in its infancy.

Bottom line: promising, but more testing needed.

Hyaluronic acid is the compound that gives babies’ skin that softness and plumpness. Hyaluronic acid helps proteins and nutrients move quickly and easily between skin cells and also helps to keep the skin hydrated. In fact, hyaluronic acid can hold up to 1000 times its volume in moisture. It does work as a tremendous aid to moist skin. When applied topically, hyaluronic acid not only holds in the skin’s natural moisture, but also attracts water vapor from the air and delivers it to your skin cells.

Bottom line: great ingredient in moisturizer.

Peptides are chains of amino acids that work much like hyaluronic acid in aiding in communication between skin cells. Rather than delivering nutrients, however, peptides encourage your skin cells to produce more collagen and elastin – the compounds that keep your skin looking (and feeling) young. According to dermatologists, some peptides are better than others. For instance, pentapeptides stimulate hyaluronic acid, so you get even more results.

Bottom line: peptides can be effective in topical wrinkle fillers.

DMAE , or dimethylaminoethanol, is an organic compound found in fish that is being billed as a collagen building agent. Studies have seen encouraging results. According to some researchers, DMAE induces “microtrauma” – tiny wounds to each cell that cause your cells to produce collagen. Other researchers believe that DMAE helps stabilize cell membranes to help skin stay younger looking.

Bottom line: researchers have seen good results, but still don’t agree on what exactly DMAE does. More research is definitely needed.

Alpha lipoic acid (or ALA) is an antioxidant that helps keep skin looking younger by protecting it from the environmental damages that lead to wrinkles. ALA can be effective both inside and outside the cell, making it one of the more effective anti-aging ingredients. Research shows that ALA can not only protect skin form future damage, but also help repair existing damage – even helping eliminate fine lines.

Bottom line: most dermatologists agree that ALA is a good bet.

Related Articles
	Amino Acids for Anti-Aging In recent years, Amino Acids have been increasingly developed and researched, bringing them to the forefront of the fight against premature aging. Their emergence into the anti-aging and skin care industry has brought with it the introduction of new and emerging amino acids that claim   ...Read more		H2O To Fight Aging? Yes! It`s true. It is been scientifically researched and proven that an adequate consumption of water on a daily basis helps ward off the signs of aging, not to mention the fact that it optimizes the functioning of our muscles, joints, and digestive system, which in turn, also contributes   ...Read more