Jessica’s asking about aging: It seems to me that the best way to keep my skin looking great and wrinkle-free would be to prevent as much aging as possible, as opposed to trying to reverse the process when I’m older. Other than sunscreen, what kinds of products should I be using at this point (I’m 25) to keep my skin looking young?

    The Left Brain’s rejuvenating reply:

    This is a great beauty question and one that we see asked more and more. The proliferation of anti-aging products has gotten so extensive, you’d think cosmetic marketers want us all to revert to 3-year olds. And with some of the claims made, they certainly treat us like that is the age of our intelligence.

    The Anti-Aging Secrets for your Skin

    You want to know what’s been proven to work? Here it is…

    Sun Protection

    First, protect your skin from the sun. This is the number one environmental cause of skin aging. Do this by minimizing your sun exposure and using sunscreen.

    Eat Well

    Next, eat a balanced diet. While everyone is different, this meta-review study on skin health and diet concluded that people who had higher intake of Vitamin C and linoleic acid and lower intakes of fats and carbohydrates had younger looking skin. You get linoleic acid by eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains and seeds.

    Exercise

    Finally, exercise. Nothing keeps you looking and feeling young like regular exercise. Thousands of studies have shown that physical exercise is a highly effective way to treat all all signs of aging.

    Anti-aging Treatments

    Most scientists are skeptical of anti-aging treatments. This is because there is little published evidence from controlled clinical trials to show most anti-aging products have any benefit. You could say this is because private companies don’t want to make their research public, but if they did have meaningful, positive results you can be sure the PR arm of the company would crow about this where ever they could.

    We’ve seen previously that price is not indicative of the effectiveness of an anti-aging skin treatment. The conclusion was that none of the products were as effective as claimed.

    Does any treatment work?

    The only thing that scientists and reputable dermatologists agree on is that application of topical retinoids can repair sun damaged skin and prevent future collagen damage. Oh yeah, and they all say using sunscreen is a good thing.

    Beyond that, forget about it. Yes, that includes the $95 Perricone Restorative Cream. Vitamin C works when you eat it, not when you slather it on your skin.

    Lasers for your skin?

Recently, lasers and LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) have been shown to effectively rejuvenate photoaged skin. Cosmetic surgeons have been making lots of money from these treatments and the big cosmetic manufacturers like P&G and L’Oreal are trying to bring you this same treatment at home. But the technology isn’t quite ready. Products you can buy right now like the Beurer Softlaser will likely disappoint.

    The Beauty Brains bottom line

    Scientists in the anti-aging field (who are not trying to sell you products) agree, anti-aging products are over-priced and under-deliver. For a 20-something, the best thing you can do is eat right, exercise and avoid long sun exposure. If you’re a bit older, start using skin products that contain vitamin A derivatives. They’re the only thing that has yet been proven to be effective.

    杰西卡詢問抗老化問題： 對我來說，保持我的肌膚細膩且沒有皺紋的最好辦法似乎是盡力抵抗老化，而不是去嘗試著返老還童。除了防曬霜之外，在我這個年齡（我現在25歲）應該用什么產品來保持年輕肌膚呢？

    左腦對駐容的理性回答：

    這是個被越來越多的人所詢問的重點美容問題。抗老化產品數量的劇增在各地已經十分廣泛，你簡直要認為化妝品商家們企圖把我們都變回3歲。看看他們做的那些承諾，絕對是想把我們的智商變3歲。

    你肌膚抗老化的秘密

    你想要知道那些被證實有用的方法嗎？這里就是......

    防曬

    首先，你要避免太陽對皮膚的損害。這是自然環境作用于肌膚老化的第一天敵。盡量減少在太陽下暴露肌膚并且要使用防曬霜。

    良好的飲食

    其次，均衡飲食。盡管每個個體的情況不同，但是薈萃皮膚健康和飲食關系的案例研究表明：攝入較多的維他命C和亞油酸而且攝入較少的脂肪和碳水化合物的仍人更能夠維持肌膚年輕。吃蔬菜，水果，堅果，谷物和種子能夠補充亞油酸。

    運動

    最后，運動。沒有什么比得上有規律的運動更能讓你保持年輕和感受青春活力了。成千上萬的研究表明運動身體是對付所有老化征兆的最有效的方式。

    抗老化治療

    大多數的科學家都對抗老化治療持質疑態度。這是因為臨床試驗被管制，大多數的抗老化產品是否有益就很少得到公開證實。你可以認為這是因為私企不愿將研究結果公布于眾，如果這些產品真的有重要或積極的作用，你想也想得到那些公司的公關部門早就得意洋洋得到處大肆宣揚。

    我們早前就已經洞察那些昂貴的價格并不暗示這些抗老化治療是有效的。結論就是：沒有任何此類產品是像其承諾般有效。

    那些治療有用嗎？

    科學家們和著名皮膚學者們唯一認同的是涂抹相關維甲酸可以修復受損肌膚，防止將要發生的膠原質受損．的確，他們都認為使用防曬霜是種好方法。

    除此之外的東西，正如９５美元的抗衰老醫生尼古拉的PERRICONE的修復乳液，就都別去理會了。維他命C只在你食用時才起效，而不是你將它厚厚地涂抹在皮膚的時候。

    皮膚激光治療

    最近，雷射和LED（發光兩級管燈）已顯示能使干黃，粗糙起皺的皮膚恢復年輕。整形外科醫生已從中獲得暴利，化妝用品制造商巨頭，例如保潔和歐萊雅正努力使您將這項服務帶回家享受。但是這項技術尚不成熟。你目前可以花錢享受的此產品就像beurer溫柔療法那樣，很可能使你失望。

    最保險的美容密招

    研究抗老化的科學家們（他們不會說服你去買產品）一致認為：抗老化產品標價過高而且效用不濟。對于一個20幾歲的年輕人來說，最好的抗老化就是正確地飲食，適當運動，避免陽光日曬。如果，你年齡稍長，可以開始食用含有維他命A衍生物的產品。他們是唯一一種已被證實有效的藥物。