Anti-ageing with Japanese Knotweed and Resveratrol

Published on 22-02-2010 by Dr Paul Beckett

While most people are endeavouring to rid themselves of Japanese knotweed, some beauty product manufacturers are recommending that those of us of a certain age should put it on our faces to control the signs of ageing!  It seems a slight contradiction that Japanese knotweed, which has a reputation as being unpleasant and a financial nuisance, is now being used as a beauty product by Aveda called Inner Light Concealer. Now, it appears, that the plant that causes fractures to the foundations of buildings can also repair the fractures in your face if used as a foundation! Japanese knotweed, claim Aveda, contains resveratrol, which is a phytoalexin, produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens, such as bacteria or fungi.  Several experiments suggest that it triggers mechanisms that counteract ageing-related effects in animals.
We can neither confirm nor deny this; at least until tests among Phlorum staff (who, on hearing this news, have been eagerly smothering themselves with Japanese knotweed rhizome paste) have been completed…