PREVENTING SKIN AGEING WITH ADAPTOGENS

Adaptogens are useful to counter skin ageing.. Yet, what exactly is an adaptogen?

Though it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years with a meaning of “superior booster”, the term has been used in the Western world only since the mid-twentieth century. Typically plant-derived and described as remedies to boost energy, health and stamina, adaptogens allow the body to counte adverse physical, chemical and biological events by adapting to environmental stressors. A more recent scientific description defines them as "substances having the ability to normalise body functions and strengthen systems compromised by stressThey are reported to have a protective effect on health against a wide variety of environmental assaults and emotional conditions” (EMEA/HMPC/102655/2007).

Adaptogens do not work specifically on a certain body organ, but boost all physiological defences of the body, by strengthening them and promoting their active adaptation, to better manage periods of stress and change or challenging daily work, thereby avoiding the negative effects. In addition, this increase in the adaptive ability towards stress occurs regardless of stress type (be it chemical, physical, biological or psychological) and, since it does not target any specific body system, it works to favour the mechanisms our body has to regulate and preserve homeostasis..

To be defined as such, an adaptogen must have two key characteristics:
- An adaptogen must have a normalizing : effect, meaning it must have a rebalancing effect on body physiology, regardless of imbalance type, - An adaptogen must be non-specific, meaning it must work comprehensively both towards stressors and the target.