Name: Evening Primrose Oil - Standardized Extract
Scientific Name: Oenothera biennis
Intro: Evening primrose has served as both food and medicine at previous times throughout history, often for upset stomach and respiratory infections. Native Americans ate the boiled, nutty-flavored root, and used leaf poultices from the plant for bruises and hemorrhoids. European settlers took the root back to England and Germany, where it was introduced as food and became known as German rampion because it grew as a crawling vine.
Today, evening primrose seed oil (EPO) is used primarily to relieve the itchiness associated with certain skin conditions (such as eczema) and to ease breast tenderness from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or other causes.
Nutrient Content: Oil is extracted from the seeds and prepared as medicine using a chemical called hexane. The seeds contain up to 25% essential fatty acids including linoleic acid (LA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Both LA and GLA belong to the omega-6 family of fatty acids. Although the vast majority of North Americans get too much omega-6 fatty acid in their diet, there are differences, though, between the different types of omega-6 fatty acids in terms of whether they are healthy or unhealthy.
Benefits:
Comments: Taking EPO while breastfeeding is considered safe as breast milk actually contains both LA and GLA. The Dietary Supplement Information Bureau recommends a daily dosage of 1500 mg of standardized EPO supplement. The most current available medical and scientific literature indicates that this dietary supplement should be standardized to about 8% GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) content per dose.
Caution: Reported side effects are rare and mild, and include nausea, stomach pain, and headache.
Stomach pain and loose stools may be indications that the dosage is too high.
Omega-6 supplements, including GLA and EPO, should not be used if you have a seizure disorder because there have been reports of these supplements inducing seizures.
Borage oil, and possibly other substances containing GLA, should not be used during pregnancy because they may be harmful to the fetus and induce early labor.
Possible Interactions
If you are currently being treated with any of the following medications, you should not use EPO without first talking to your healthcare provider.
Ceftazidime, an antibiotic
GLA from EPO or other sources may increase the effectiveness of ceftazidime, an antibiotic in a class known as cephalosporins, against a variety of bacterial infections.
Chemotherapy for cancer
GLA from EPO or other sources may increase the effects of anti-cancer treatments, such as doxorubicin, cisplatin, carboplatin, idarubicin, mitoxantrone, tamoxifen, vincristine, and vinblastine.
Cyclosporine
In animal studies, EPO administered during treatment with cyclosporine, a medication used to suppress immune function after an organ transplant, for example, may protect against kidney damage (a possible side effect of the medication).
Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)
Theoretically, use of NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen, together with borage oil or other GLA containing supplements like EPO may counter-act the effects of the supplement. Research in this area is needed to know if this theory is accurate.
Phenothizines for Schizophrenia
Individuals taking a class of medications called phenothiazines (such as chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, perphenazine, promazine, and thioridazine) to treat schizophrenia should not take EPO because it may interact with these medications and increase the risk of seizures.