In Ayurvedic herbal treatment, anti aging means principally keeping up a healthy body into herbal treatment and bringing down the operation of aging, degeneration and depreciation. The objective of herbal anti-aging treatment is to aim for a healthy aging mode, and to maintain both mind and body working at optimum level, so the treasures of old age can be relished with peace of mind and vitality.

Amla (Emblica Officinalis): Amla is the best Rasayana as mentioned in the Charaka samhita. Amla is the magical herbs with the rich in Vitamin C. It is believed to have good rejuvenating power. The fruits of Amla is used to make the Chyawanprash (Herbal tonic) and best Rasayana. So daily intake of Amla and its products is good anti aging property.

Ginger Family: The rhizomes of the ginger family contain an array of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients. Ginger contains essential oils and spicy substances such as gingerol, shogaol, zingerone and capsaicin, all of which increase peripheral blood flow. It reduce cellular inflammation for anti-aging skin care benefits.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa): rhizomes contain curcumin and its derivatives (curcuminoids) that are bright yellow in color. Their hydrogenated derivatives, tetrahydrocurcuminoids, are nearly colorless materials. All of them possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

Galanga (Alpinia officinarum): also known as Galangal or Chinese ginger, contains essential oils, gingerols and a group of pungent substances, diarylheptanoids. Diarylheptanoids (and analogous phenyl alkyl ketones) possess excellent anti-arthritic properties due to their arrest of prostaglandin biosynthesis via inhibition of 5-lipoxygenase. Purified extracts of galanga, which are composed primarily of lower alkyl cinnamate esters, have UV absorbing, antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibiting properties.

Frankincense, Boswellia: Guggal (Boswellia serrata) has been used for centuries as an arthritis treatment. This biochemical mechanism provides a way to formulate skin anti-aging products via the incorporation of extracts or isolated pure compounds.

Clove Family: Clove oil and clove buds have applications as toothache and muscular pain remedies. A number of plants in this family, notably Syzygium aromaticum, Syzygium corynocarpum and Syzygium mallacense contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory constituents.

Vitis: The grape family is well known for its potent antioxidant constituents, especially procyanidins, found mostly in seeds, and resveratrol, concentrated in skins of red and black grapes. suggests their application for skin anti-aging benefits.

Trace Metals: About 30 elements are recognized as essential to life. Some are required in macroscopic amounts in essentially all forms of life: H, Na, K, Mg, Ca, C, N, O, P, S and Cl. The others occur in trace or ultra-trace quantities. Fe, Cu and Zn are at the top end of this “trace” scale. The modulation of these metalloenzymes by appropriate trace metal topical therapies can lead to new skin anti-aging ingredients and their formulation methodologies.

Rosemary: It contains some of the most promising active agents, including rosmarinic acid, and diterpenes ursolic acid, carnosic acid, carnosol, oleanolic acid, hinokiol and seco-hinokiol, rofficerone, and amyrenones, which, due to their reported strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and tyrosinase inhibiting properties.

Licorice: Glycyrrhiza glabra contains some very exciting active agents Glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhetinic acid, glabrol, glabridins and various liquiritins are most interesting for skin care applications due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and skin color (melanin) reduction benefits.

Neem: Azadirachta indica has been recognized for its antibacterial, insecticidal, antimalarial, hypoglycemic, and wound-healing benefits. Recent work has shown neem extracts to possess strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties.

Andrographis: Neoandrographolide, one of the principal diterpene lactones, isolated from a medicinal herb Andrographis paniculata actively inhibits suggests potential for skin anti-aging applications for both andrographolide and neoandrographolide.

Pomegranate: Punica granatum provides a wealth of wonderful antioxidant and free radical neutralizing ingredients, for example, ellagic acid, gallagic acid, punicalins, and punicalagins. All are suitable for anti-aging applications, although some are not commercially available.

From ” 13 Ayurvedic Anti-Aging Herbs” by Dr. Ram Mani Bhandari, on Allthingshealing.com

See also: Bacopa for memory and focus from Dr. John Doulliard