Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Does anyone know whether evening primrose oil is high in omega 3 or omega 6? I've seen it mentioned in connection with both. Apparently it contains GLA Gamma Linolenic Acid. Not sure if this is good or bad.

flag	asked Apr 5 2010 at 20:00 queen of the stone age 2,587●1●10●23

thewordinthetone · Answer 1 · 2010-04-06 03:14:45Z UTC

It is omega 6, mostly linoleic acid, with some GLA. People usually make GLA from linoleic acid, but apparently age and disease states hinder that process. It seems unnecessary except in rare deficiencies, but I guess it's often recommended anyway. Maybe you could increase your omega 3 intake when you use primrose oil, to keep 3 and 6 in better balance? (Even though the bottle will say 90 mg GLA or something, it might not say 700 mg linoleic acid, which is also there, so it would be like 800 mg net omega 6).

Olga · Answer 2 · 2011-10-17 01:14:14Z UTC

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Queen of the stone age, sorry to re-open an old post, but what do you use evening primrose oil for?

answered Oct 17 2011 at 1:14

Olga
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It's believed to help neuropathy. Also, some take n-6 oil like EPO or Borage Oil because they believe certain n-6 oils need to be supplemented, just like n-3s. – Namby Pamby Oct 17 2011 at 2:42

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I take it for PMS. – smiley Oct 17 2011 at 18:42

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I used to take it for the symptoms of excess oestrogen - mainly breast pain. It didn't work that well and I'm now on Livial which apparently tricks my one remaining ovary fragment into thinking I have enough hormones so it doesn't produce any more. Complicated I know but it seems to do the trick so no more EPO. – queen of the stone age Oct 22 2011 at 10:32

Evening primrose oil - omega 3 or omega 6?

2 Answers