Health Glossary - For Everyone

Evening primrose oil
  print page print this page   Email email this page

 

 

 

 

What is evening primrose oil ?

Evening primrose is a flowering plant that is native in the wild in Europe and North America, whose yellow flowers only open up at dusk. The whole plant, including the flowers are used for medical purposes.

The most potent and active part of the plant is the oil in the seeds of the flowers, which contains gamma-linolenic acid (GLA).

Advertisement



^ top



Important evening primrose oil facts



^ top

Advertisement

 

Why evening primrose oil is important

The GLA in evening primrose oil, when converted into prostaglandins acts as an anti-inflammatory.

GLA is also found in mother's milk, some types of fish and spirulina. It is also found in borage seed oil and black currant seed oil, which actually have higher levels of GLA than evening primrose oil.

 

^ top

 

Last reviewed: 14 January 2007 || Last updated: 21 August 2007

 

Related Articles

^ top

references

 

More information

To learn more, go to the following web sites:


 

NOTE: Mega doses of any type of vitamin, mineral, amino acid or herbal supplement cannot cure illnesses and in fact can be very dangerous and produce toxic side effects and interfere with medicine you are taking. Always ensure you consult your doctor before taking any type of complementary supplements.
Disclaimer: This guide is not intended to be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. For any treatment or diagnosis of illness, please see your doctor.

 

^ top