nutritional supplements - evening primrose oil

when ray came into my life a lot of things changed.

the obvious stuff, of course... but there were also weird, small things that changed that i didn't expect.

vitamin supplements, for instance.

ray takes a lot of supplements. before i met him, i was lucky if i took a multivitamin a couple times a week. the longer we were together, the more i learned about the benefits of some of these supplements and the more appealing they seemed. one of my co-workers is quite passionate about nutrition, too, and at the peak of my interest she shared with me her copy of "prescription for nutritional healing".

what an amazing book. i pored over hundreds of pages of information about vitamins, minerals, and herbs. i also devoured the information about specific ailments and which supplements would provide beneficial treatment... treatment not just for the symptoms but the illness itself. (hence the word "healing" in the title of the book...)

suffice to say, i currently take about a dozen supplements a day (and now own my own copy of The Book). last week lisa suggested i do a series of entries on this topic, in order to share what i've learned over the past few years. i thought that was a fine idea.

<disclaimer>
i should first state that i'm absolutely NOT an expert, nor am i advocating you take any of these supplements without first checking with your doctor. i simply want to share a little of what i've learned. please don't consider any of this information to be complete, either. do your own investigation before deciding to add any of these supplements to your diet.
</disclaimer>

there. now that that's done, let's start with an interesting one:

evening primrose oil

i currently take 1 1000mg softgel a day of this "essential fatty acid."

first of all, a quick definition of EFAs:

from "prescription for nutritional healing:"

essential fatty acids have desirable effects on many disorders. they improve the skin and hair, reduce blood pressure, aid in the prevention of arthritis, lower cholesterol... [snip] ...found in high concentrations in the brain, EFAs aid in the transmission of nerve impulses and are needed for the normal development and functioning of the brain. a deficiency of EFAs can lead to an impaired ability to learn and recall information.

there are a two categories of essential fatty acids... omega 3s and omega 6s. i don't think i need to bore you with the difference between the two... just know that both are essential. (duh. that's how they got their name.)

evening primrose oil is an omega 3.

primrose oil contains the highest amount of gamma linolenic acid (GLA) of any food substance. this fatty acid is known to help prevent hardening of the arteries, heart disease, premenstrual syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and high blood pressure. it relieves pain and inflammation; enhances the release of sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone; aids in lowering cholesterol levels; and is beneficial for cirrhosis of the liver.

i've been taking this supplement for probably close to a year, and though it's hard to discern a clear "before & after" (primarily because i began taking a lot of my supplements at the same time, and it's difficult to attribute positive effects to one solitary supplement) i feel like i can safely say that my PMS is more under control than it used to be.

i mean, i still crave pizza the day before my period comes, but i'm now far less likely to rip off the delivery man's face for being 10 minutes late.

what's more difficult to assess is how evening primrose oil might be helping my heart and arteries. i'll just have to assume it does... my blood pressure is quite low (100/70, usually). also, my new doctor was pleased when i told him i was taking primrose oil daily.

i personally have experienced no adverse side effects from evening primrose oil, and The Book recommends that the daily requirement of EFAs (both omega 3s and 6s) "be satisfied by an amount equivalent to 10-20% of total caloric intake". (eh?) since there is no "us rda" value on the bottle, i just take one softgel a day as the label suggests.

Posted by xta at August 27, 2004 12:30 AM | TrackBack