Er, what's an adaptogen?

I couldn't help noticing the blurb in this advert in the back of a triathlon magazine I was recently perusing.

Sport Elagen

combining the adaptogenic effects of ES with the anti-oxidant and catalytic
properties of Co Q10

scientifically designed for sportsmen and sportswomen

Phew. I have to admit this is the kind of pseudo-scientific hogwash that really sets my bullshit detector clanging. The advert has a website at the bottom - http://www.elagen.com/

I thought I would start picking the bones out of this advert...

It turns out ES is Eleutherococcus Senticosus - a herb. Elagen capsules are "a highly concentrated pure root extract measured to the correct potency proven to provide maximum effect."

One of the first questions you might ask is what is an adaptogen? I have no recollection of the mention of adaptogens in any physiology lecture I have attended or any textbook I have ever read. Maybe I was snoozing in my lectures but luckily the website is on hand to inform me:

In the 1950's Prof Brekhman of the pharmacological department of the Far East Scientific Centre of the Russian academy of Sciences recognised the potential value of the root and initiated extensive research into its properties. He subsequently classified Eleutherococcus as an 'adaptogen'. An adaptogen is a natural plant substance, which acts to normalise the body's systems in harmony with the normal metabolic, biochemical and immunological processes, as such adaptogens are innocuous and cause no harm. Adaptogens should have a non-specific action, such is the ability of Eleutherococcus to modulate stress and improve performance under a wide variety of stressful conditions.

So adaptogens have a non-specific action that causes the body to work normally. Hmm, never mind the hundreds of thousands of years of evolution that has resulted in the mind-boggling sophistication and elegance of human homeostasis. An adaptogen can make homeostasis even better! It would, of course, be tremendously difficult to prove it wasn't working.

I wonder if this feeds into the psyche of some athletes when it comes to performance enhancing drugs. At one end of the spectrum is the sheer naked cheating of a blood doper. By some artificial means the oxygen carrying red blood cells are augmented. However, at the bottom end this can all get much more woolly. Does taking an adaptogen constitute cheating through performance enhancing substances? The answer is probably no; not unless placebos appear on the international list of proscribed drugs.