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The Benefits of Evening Primrose Oil

What are the benefits of taking Evening Primrose Oil? Read this wizzle to find out.

The Oenothera Biennis is a biennial flowering plant with lovely yellow petals which was first discovered growing in North America. The Oenothera Biennis is also known as Evening Primrose and blooms only during the evening exposing its beautiful yellow petals. The seeds of the evening primrose plant contain a therapeutic compound called gamma linoleic acid (GLA).

Primrose Flower Yellow Oenothera Biennis

What is Gamma linoleic acid (GLA)?

Gamma linoleic acid (GLA) is rich in omega-6 fatty acid found to help in treating a variety of ailments since it contains anti-inflammatory properties.

More of gamma linoleic acid’s anti-inflammatory abilities can be read here.

How Do You Make Evening Primrose Oil?

Primrose oil is extracted from the seeds using the cold press method. An advantage of using the cold press technique is there is no heat used hence resulting in high quality oil being produced. Heat tends to destroy the oil’s nutritional value as well as its natural state.

Primrose Oil and Vitamin E

Primrose oil is rich in Vitamin E. Vitamin E promotes healthy skin and hair and because of this the oil is used to treat a number of skin problems including psoriasis, acne and eczema.

Some women use the oil on their skin to delay the onset of wrinkles and fines lines and to treat dry rough scaly skin.

Evening Primrose Oil and Hair Loss

Primrose oil is usually sold in the form of liquid or capsules and apart from taking it to help in the treatment of diseases linked to inflammation and skin problems, the oil is also taken to promote healthy soft shiny hair and treat hair loss caused by hypothyroidism.

Hypothyroidism is a condition when the thyroid gland does not produce enough of the thyroid hormone called thyroxin needed by the body for physical and mental growth.

Evening Primrose Oil for Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and Rheumatoid arthritis

There are many articles on the internet claiming evening primrose oil has been effective in treating Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) states more research has to be done to confirm this. You can read more about it here.

Evening Primrose Capsules

One disadvantage of primrose oil is its ability to go rancid quickly and because of this it’s sold more in the form of capsules than liquid and usually stored in a cool dry place or in the refrigerator. Wen taking evening primrose always check with your health care provider/doctor as to how much of a dosage you should take to get the best results from it.

Evening Primrose Oil and Insomnia

A popular home remedy used in treating insomnia is to soak in a warm bath of water which has 6 to 8 drops of evening primrose oil added to it for 15 minutes before going to bed at night. The treatment should be done twice a week for best results.

What other names is Evening Primrose Oil known by

Through the ages a number of names have evolved as a substitute for evening primrose such as:

Evening Star
Night Willow Herb
King's-cure-all
Scabish
Sun drop
Cowslip

Updated December 24, 2012

Comments

suranee69Nov 18, 2012

It really is amazing how some flowers like the Evening Primrose has the power to provide us with so many healing benefits :) You are welcome and thank you for stopping Katiem2 :)

katiem2Nov 18, 2012

It's official you are now my go to girl for homeopathic health care. The wonders of nature provide us with everything we need to achieve and maintain optimal health. Thanks for the extensive list of reasons why evening primrose oil is beneficial for more than menopause symptoms, something commonly referred to in regard to evening primrose. Who knew it had such diverse useful purposes. You did that's who, the go to girl!