Benefits Of Evening Primrose

(Page 3 of 3)

March/April 1997
By Steven Foster 
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Taking Evening Primrose

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Dose: Three to six 500-mg capsules a day is the common rec­ommendation, or as many as twelve capsules. They should be taken with meals.

Cautions: In clinical studies, only a few cases of abdominal discomfort, nausea, and headache were reported by patients taking the herb for long periods. No known contraindications or drug interactions have been reported.

Note: Don’t be tempted to substitute borage seeds, another rich source of gamma-linolenic acid. ­Although they’re cheaper, they may contain toxic ­alkaloids.

Evening primrose oil capsules cost about 25 cents each and thus are relatively expensive when taken at the recommended doses.

Evening primrose oil products are registered in England for the treatment of atopic eczema. In Canada, evening primrose oil is an approved dietary supplement for treating deficiencies of essential fatty acids. In the United States, under the provisions of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, it is considered a dietary supplement.

Additional Reading

• Briggs, C. J. “Evening Primrose”. Canadian Pharmacy Journal 1986, 250:248–254.
• Brown, D. Herbal Prescriptions for Better Health. Rocklin, California: Prima, 1996.
• Horrobin, D. F. “Gamma Linolenic Acid”. Reviews in Contemporary Pharmaco­therapy 1990, 1(1):1–45.
• Khoo, S. K., C. Munro, and D. Battistutta. “Evening Primrose Oil and Treatment of Premenstrual Syndrome”. Medical Journal of Australia 1990, 152:189.
• Olin, B. R., ed. “Evening Primrose”. Lawrence Review of Natural Products No­vember 1993.

Steven Foster, author of Herbs for Your Health (Interweave, 1996) and many other books about herbs, is a member of the Herbs for Health Editorial Advisory Board. He lives and writes in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

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