SUMMARY ARTICLE: Evening Primrose Oil Versus Borage Oil

Udo Erasmus, PhD

Why do I use evening primrose oil rather than borage oil as a source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) in Udo's Choice Oil Blend? For me, evening primrose oil is preferable. Evening primrose contains far more omega-6 essential fatty acids and other beneficial minor ingredients that play an important role in fat metabolism, especially that of GLA.

Although both evening primrose and borage oil improve some conditions such as high blood pressure, some research shows that evening primrose works better than borage at lowering cardiovascular risk factors, increasing blood supply to tissues, reversing diabetic nerve damage, and reducing blood clot formation and inflammation pain and swelling.

Evening primrose oil has no known potentially toxic effects. Borage oil, on the other hand, might contain traces of toxins-called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs)-always present in borage plants and seeds. These toxic alkaloids accumulate in body tissues over time and can result in cancer, damage to the liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system, and other serious problems.

PAs can be largely removed by processing, but the processing damages fatty acid molecules. In other words, unrefined borage oil may contain one kind of toxin, while refined borage oil contains other kinds of toxins.

I take the cautions regarding borage oil seriously. There are unanswered questions regarding its safety. No one knows the cumulative effects of long-term use. This is why I prefer to err on the side of caution and don't use either unrefined or refined borage oil in any of my products. Instead, I choose expeller-pressed, unrefined evening primrose oil-which contains no PAs or toxins, but many beneficial oil-soluble minor ingredients including vitamin E, carotene, phytosterols, lecithin, polyphenolic antioxidants-for Udo's Choice Oil Blend.