The Anti-Aging Handbook

Some population - especially men - think American women are obsessed with how they look. However, studies have shown that when you feel attractive, you feel more positive and are more likely to be successful. As a result, working women use an mean of 20 or more personal care products (excluding make up and cosmetics) every day.

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While that may seem excessive, stop and think about it. For your hair, you probably use shampoo and conditioner, styling gel or mouse plus hair spray (5 products). Oral hygiene includes mouth wash, toothpaste, floss and maybe a whitener (4 products). For your body, you most likely use a shower gel, dry skin lotion, deodorant, hand cream and foot cream (5 products). And for your face, you probably have a regimen which might include cleanser, toner, exfoliant scrub, night cream, day cream, eye cream and lip safety (7 products). That's a total of 21 - and doesn't include self tanner, sun block, perfume, manicure, pedicure or hair coloring.

It's easy to see that we truly are invested in seeing great - and that includes anti-aging skin care. As the 78 million American baby boomers begin to turn 65 in 2011 at the rate of 10,000 a day, the availability of anti-aging products will continue to proliferate. More and more scientific resources will be devoted to helping you look younger to meet the growing demand.

However, seeing younger is about more than a "face lift in a jar" or expensive, dangerous, invasive procedures and injections. There are simple, reasonable things you can do to subtract years from your looks and keep old age at bay. They include:

1. Limit your time in the sun - and always wear broad spectrum (Uva/Uvb) sunblock of at least 30 Spf. Too much sun is responsible for as much as 75% of the wrinkles on your face and the age spots on your hands.

2. Avoid tanning beds. Agreeing to the Internal department for investigate on Cancer, the use of tanning beds greatly increases your chances for developing skin cancer.

3. If you haven't stopped smoking already, do it now! In addition to putting you at risk for lung cancer and heart attack, smoking is very damaging to your skin causing broken blood vessels, enlarged pores, age spots, lines colse to the mouth, crows' feet and a dull complexion with loss of elasticity.

4. Drink abundance of water - as much as 8 full glasses a day. Water hydrates your body and your skin and flushes away toxic substances. Think green - stop buying bottled water. It is high-priced and wasteful - and the nation's landfills are being drowned in plastic bottles. If you don't like the way your tap water tastes or smells, spend in an reasonable water filtration theory or a filtration pitcher.

5. Avoid too much caffeine and alcohol which raise your blood pressure and cause your capillaries to dilate. They also cause dehydration and destroy vital minerals needed for daily skin function.

6. Don't sleep in your make-up. While it sometimes seems like it is just too much trouble to take off your makeup before going to bed, that is a very bad habit to get into.

7. Exfoliate your skin 3 to 4 times a week to encourage the formation of new cells and help these cells rise to the skin's surface. Your complexion will be clearer, more radiant and fine lines and wrinkles will be diminished. You don't need a fancy, high-priced goods - use a handful of everyday baking soda applied to wet skin and gently scrub your skin in a circular motion. This will take off the outer layer of dead cells that have accumulated on the exterior of your skin and help your high-priced anti-aging skin care products work more effectively.

8. Get regular exercise! You don't have to join an high-priced gym or buy high-priced equipment, although that wouldn't hurt. You can "Sweat to the Oldies" with Richard Simmons in the privacy of your living room - or simply start walking colse to your neighborhood. But it can' be a unhurried stroll. You must raise your heart rate to do any good. And it must be a regular habit - 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week at a minimum. Practice also relieves stress, a major factor in premature aging.

9. Try to eat right - avoid junk food and empty calories. A easy rule of thumb: keep white foods to a minimum. These include white bread, rice, potatoes and pasta - all high in carbohydrates as well as calories. And you'll want to supplement your diet with requisite vitamins and minerals: anti-oxidants (vitamins A, C and E), vitamin B-6 to aid healing, fish oil and Co-Q-10 for heart health, flaxseed oil to hydrate skin and help equilibrium hormones and lecithin to increase skin elasticity and thickness and enhance hair and nails.

10. Get abundance of sleep, because your skin repairs itself over night when your body's power is not required to hold every day activities. But try not to sleep with your face touching the pillow. If you wake up in the morning with creases on your face from the pillowcase, be aware that over time those creases can come to be permanent dents. Therefore, try to sleep on your back.

11. See your physician for regular check-ups. If you don't have a house doctor, get one now! The worst time to try to find a physician is when you are very sick. You'll need to get a appropriate corporal so your physician can produce your baselines for blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, etc. Be sure to ask for a perfect blood work-up to check for hormone levels and imbalances and your thyroid level. Also ask the physician to check your bone density to resolve if you need a calcium supplement. If you produce a serious health later, your physician will be there with your vital statistics, ready to suggest you and guide you to the permissible specialists.

12. Make an exertion to stand and sit up right and say permissible posture. When you think old, do you envision someone bent over and shuffling along? Don't let that someone be you.

These twelve simple, reasonable habits will go a long way towards helping you look and feel younger. You'll produce a spring in your step - you'll learn to carry on your stress - and you will caress renewed power and a zest for life.