With more and more people living for longer periods, anti-aging is becoming big business. This article looks into what causes premature aging and gives advice on how to keep looking younger for longer.

The latest research shows that around seventy-five percent of skin aging is caused by an over exposure to the sun. This is a huge figure and one that has to be taken seriously for anyone who is looking at ways in delaying the aging process.

In my opinion this is actually common sense as when anything becomes burnt it tends to shrivel up and become all wrinkly. This is what can happen to peoples skin, it may not happen straight away but after maybe thirty years of this over exposure to the sun, wrinkles are likely to appear.

For people who enjoy spending time sunbathing as it makes them feel good and because they like looking tanned, I would advise a strong sun cream. This should be used regularly as per the instructions and if you start to feel your body burning up this is the time when you should be looking for some shade or to cover up.

It is also important to ensure we get enough sleep. Research suggests that people who only average around six hours sleep per night will age in looks far quicker than people who average eight hours.

Again this is very logical as if you have a period of a couple of weeks when you do not get enough sleep, bags can appear under your eyes. If you have a really good nights sleep you tend to wake up not only feeling fresh and awake but also looking fresh and healthy. My advice here for people who have developed these bags under their eyes would be to use a good eye cream or to gently massage their eyes every day.

Smoking can certainly speed up the aging process. To quit smoking is not easy however, but it is a must for people on a quest to delay the aging process. There are of course many other reasons to stop smoking, therefore be brave and look at ways to quit smoking today.

I have often heard people refer to somebody with a comment such as, he looks as if he has had a hard life. This is often referred to somebody who looks far older than they actually are. They look like they have not been looked after or that they have not had enough love in their lives.

What I think has happened is that they have had a stressful life. What we therefore need to do is to attempt to live as much of a stress-free life as possible. This of course is not that easy. What we need to do is to think in a more positive and pro-active way. We need to start to like ourselves and be happy with who we are and what we have. Thinking in this way will certainly in my opinion help you in your quest of anti-aging.