Evening primrose oil as the name goes is extracted from the seeds of the Evening Primrose plants. This plant belongs to the Oenothera genus of plants and hence its scientific name is known as Oenothera Biennis. This plant comes from North America and with time has been naturalized to the wide regions of temperate and subtropical areas of the earth. These plants’ flowers bloom from late springs to late summer and are yellow in color.

Earlier Evening Primrose plants were introduced as ornamental plants but with time its medicinal properties have been explored and now it is widely known as garden and medicinal plant. Every part of this plant is useful and is now having been in use in a wide spectrum of applications which ranges from edible to cosmetic uses. But it is to be noted that this Evening Primrose Oil is not an essential oil. But is also used for aromatherapy.

This oil is rich in a lot of good properties which makes it ideal to be used in both pains relieving and inflammation soothing conditions. Alongside EPO helps to treat a variety of health issues either it be an internal issue or a visible external skin issue.

We have gathered for you some of the most beneficial uses of EPO that may tempt you to add it to your list of common necessary requirements.

Benefits

1) Prevents Weight Gain: – EPO contains an active ingredient called GLA which is considered to work effectively in preventing the chances of weight regain in formerly obese individuals. But it’s not associated to cause weight loss.

2) Clears Acne:- GLA, the active element of evening primrose oil helps to retain moisture in the skin and thus reduces skin inflammation and cells that may cause acne. It’s also found that EPO helps to reduce the chances of allergic action of Accutane on lips.

3) Promotes Skin Health: – GLA is essential for the skin to keep it healthy but it’s not produced by your body and thus some supplements that are rich in GLA are usually advised to be taken externally to improve and maintain skin health.  EPO is a GLA rich element that helps to improve skin elasticity and firmness. EPO is sold in form of capsules that can be bought from online pharmacies or from medical stores near you.

4) Relieves Premenstrual Syndrome: – Most of the females are found to face PMS like irritation, high mood disorders, and stress due to the prolactin present in the body and works to enhance premenstrual syndrome.

5) Promotes Heart Health: – EPO is found to reduce blood cholesterol, which is a high-risk factor in causing heart diseases. Alongside EPO is found to be an effective anti-inflammatory agent that helps to reduce body inflammation in people with heart diseases.

6) Eases Breast Pain: – Breast pain is a very common experience during periods and is very uncomfortable and disturbing too.  Breast pain is usually induced by Prostaglandins, whose actions can be suppressed by the use of Evening Primrose Oil which also helps in the reduction of inflammation.

Apart from the various health and skin-related benefits provided by Evening Primrose Oil, there are also few risks that are associated with the use of EPO for a long time.

Usually, EPO causes mild side effects but in rare cases, the side effects can be harmful too for your health.

Here we have collected for you some of the risk factors associated with the use of EPO and the conditions where its use must be avoided so that you may take its benefits judicially.

Side effects:-

1) Consumption of evening primrose oil may cause mild reverse health actions like headache, diarrhea, stomach ache, or even soft stools.

2) Taking EPO during pregnancy is usually not advised but if taken then it may delay the delivery time and hence its use must be avoided during pregnancy.

3) You should not consume this oil if you are already taking medication to lower your high blood pressure.

4) Evening Primrose Oil is found to be harmful in case you have bleeding problems and you are using blood thinners. As evening primrose oil increases the chances of high bleeding.

5) Evening Primrose Oil is usually advised to be stopped being used if you have already a surgery scheduled and also must not be used until you have properly recovered from the stitches. Since EPO is found to promote bleeding so it must be avoided.

Take Away:-

Even after not being an essential oil, Evening Primrose Oil is filled with so many good properties that if used judicially can promote better health and living but it’s also associated with few side effects that range from mild to severe ones. Hence, it is always advised to consult your health care professional before adding it to your bucket list and take its benefits according to your health needs to the fullest.