Evening Primrose
There are so many varieties of Evening
Primrose. I have grown an ornamental variety in my garden for some years,
though it is actually a North American wildflower. I have always known my
proliferate garden variety as "Prince" or "King Primrose". Otherwise, while
growing as many actual herbs and wildflowers as I could find, I also set out
to see how many years it would take to grow my actual Evening Primrose plant
(Oenothera biennis, Family: Onagraceae)into a twelve-foot giant, such as
the wild-grown plants I have enjoyed visiting on the outskits of a local
sanctuary in Carleton Place, Ontario.
Before we moved to Glencairn, my Evening Primrose was about four feet high,
and it grew quietly in the semi-shade. This plant will grow in anything from
deep shady wetland areas to full sun in dry sand. It seeds enormously, and
the rosettes of dark-green and rose-tinged leaves as they appear in the Spring
have to be (unhappily) weeded, as if they were unwanted and noxious weeds.
Something I dislike is to "junk" plants. My garden can
successfully make fourteen old ladies and the landfill engineers happy from
Spring to frost with its many weededout products, as I attempt to keep a
burgeoning jungle under control. Growing indigenous wildflowers and hardy
flowering herbs assres the gardener that the flowers will return in the Spring
in the multitudes. I am never without a myriad of seeds, seedlings or uses for
my plants - but I haven't time to do something productive with every seedling
forked from the fresh earth. Of course, my compost bucket keeps the flowers
well-fed, once or twice a year.
The fact that the herbal remedy, Evening Primrose Oil delivers
the "happy vibe", GLA, or gamma linolenic acid, is fairly well known to
nutrition or health-conscious people like myself, but advances in research
indicate that the original uses for the vitamin cum nutrient and also food,
Evening Primrose are joined by new discoveries in health studies.
You know that taking Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) can help
you lose weight through breaking down fatty plaque, and even blood clotting.
(When I first started to take it, I lost eighteen pounds in a month!) What you
may not know is that EPO can actually play a medicinal role in the treatment of
Multiple Sclerosis.
I remember, so many years ago, visiting with my Doctor with the
discovery that taking EPO caps plus Yarrow Tea as a hot drink seemed to have
successfully cleared the obstinate blood clotting from which I had suffered from
ten years. To this day I have not had to go back to the Anturan or Persantine
which I had to take for so long! In those days, someone had suggested the EPO
and I had bought it right away, but I had never seen anything written as
comfirmation of my own discovery.
The news is in:
"Traditional uses of evening primrose as an astringent,
antibiotic, mucilaginous, expectorant, antitussive, and digestive stimulant have
given way to modern uses concentrating on a single property of the plant. The
oil is high in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is readily converted in the
body to prostaglandin E1; therefore, it is employed in the treatment of any and
every condition for which prostaglandin could be beneficial.
Numbering among those conditions are:
premenstrual syndrome, benign breast
disease, cholesterol regulation, platelet aggregation, blood pressure
regulation, obesity, atopic disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, mental
disorders, rheumatism, alcoholism, and childhood hyperactivity.
Evening Primrose - Method of Action Evening Primrose Oil is a
Rich Source of GLA The real value of evening primrose lies in the
gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) content of its oil. GLA is an important intermediary
in the metabolic conversion of linoleic acid (technically, the cis-isomer) to
prostaglandin E1. Essentially that pathway goes as follows: cis-linoleic acid
--> --> gamma-linolenic acid --> --> dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid
--> --> prostaglandin E1 The normal diet is quite sufficient in linoleic
acid, but the first step in its conversion to prostaglandin E1 can be easily
blocked. Among the known blocking agents are: viruses, carcinogens, cholesterol,
saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, alcohol, insufficient zinc or insulin,
radiation, insufficient delta-6-desaturase, and the aging process. Dietary GLA
could therefore be extremely valuable since very few factors block the
successive steps in the metabolic pathway. Most, if not all, properties of
evening primrose oil resemble and indeed can be attributed to the actions of
prostaglandin E1."
Sam Ibrahim, Owner -Nutrition Plus Pharmacy Edmonton, AB
Presented at the Prairie Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Conference
- Olds, Alberta - March 3-5, 1996 Botanical Description and Habitat
Oenothera biennis Family
Please click the above link for a wealth of further information
on EPO.
Onagraceae
Common Names:
Common Evening Primrose, Fever plant, Scabish, Scurvish, Sundrop Tree
Primrose, Willow Herb ,Great Evening-Primrose, King's-cure-all, Night
willow-herb.
HAPPY LINKS
Habitat
Native to the North Temperate Zone, east of the Rockies to the Atlantic
coast; found in dry meadows, waste places, and along roadsides.
Description
The plant is a perennial herb with an erect, hairy stem bearing alternate,
rough, hairy, lanceolate leaves. The leaves taper to a point and grow from 3 - 6
inches long. Yellow flowers bloom in umbrels, 1 to 1-1/2 inches across, from
June to October. Fruit is an oblong, hairy capsule.
The whole of the Evening Primrose may be used in both medicine and in diet.
A british agrarian recewntly wrote to say that the root is really fairly balnd
to eat. The leaves may be included in salad or boiled. Personally, I would boil
any part of the plant before eating, since spiders love it.
Traditional uses
Astringent, antibiotic, mucilaginous, expectorant, antitussive, and
digestive stimulant have given way to modern uses concentrating on a single
property of the plant.
Modern Ideas
Studies involving Effamol, EPO and EPO plus fish oils (Efamol
Marine)are shown through the link below to help cope with MS, Arthritis,
Psoroasis Alcoholism and Diabetic Neuropathy (A loss of sensation affecting some
older diabetics). Brain and liver function improved more quickly for
alcoholics, in the study mentioned.
"Psoriasis may be responsive to a combination of Evening Primrose oil
and fish oils (GammaOil Marine). A preliminary study in Denmark has shown this
to be so, and a more comprehensive study is currently underway."
Antimicrobial Activity
"Evening Primrose Oil has good antimicrobial activity Evening Primrose oil
has some antitubercular activity as well as antimicrobial and antibacterial
properties. It is active against Staphylococcus citrius, S. roseus, Pseudomonas
pyocyanea, Streptococcus pyogenes, E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella
aerogenes, Diplococcus pneumoniae and Salmonella typhi. For each of these
organisms, the oil compared favourably with penicillin. "
PMS
" A number of trials have also shown the benefits of
evening primrose oil in preventing pre-menstrual symptoms including breast
tenderness and water retention, but they have shown no benefits in menopausal
flushing. "
"Patients with Raynaud's syndrome (cold hands), post-viral fatigue syndrome
and alcohol withdrawal all experienced symptomatic relief .."
Contra-indications, warnings, side-effects:
Patients with a history of epilepsy should avoid evening primrose oil as it
may lower their threshold for seizures. Also, those taking phenothiazines for
schizophrenia should use evening primrose oil with caution as it may precipitate
epilepsy. The most common side-effects reported in trials are headache and mild
nausea.
Photo by Karen Shelton Copyright 2001 Photo by Deb Jackson Copyright
2000
"The flowers open in the evening and close up during the day and are
strongly scented with a delicious sweet perfume which attracts pollinating
moths."
Uses:
"The leaves are cooked and eaten as greens and the roots are said to be
sweet succulent and delicious when boiled like potatoes. Flowers are a sweet
addition to salads or as a garnish and young seedpods are Steamed. This plant
was a staple food for many Native American tribes. Formerly cultivated for its
nutritious edible roots, it is being increasingly cultivated for the oil
contained in its seeds which contains certain the essential gamma-linoleinc acid
(GLA), a very valuable fatty acid that is not found in many plants and has
numerous vital functions in the body.
Recipe:
Roasted seeds: Rotate and press dry seed capsules to release seed,
roast in oven for 15 to 20 min. at 350 deg. Use on bread or in salad, sprinkle
over any dish like pepper.
Grieves, A Modern Herbal: Constituents Reference
Gamma Linolenic- 9.7% Linoleic- 74.1% Oleic- 7% Palmitic- 5.9%
Agricultural Expert Consulting:
"On the basis of its health-food business and its registered pharmaceutical
products Efamol (now renamed Scotia Holdings) was able to raise substantial
amounts of investment funding, particularly during the 'biotech boom' of the
early 1990's, which it used to increase substantially its rate of research into
other disease states which showed a disturbance of GLA metabolism. Particularly
promising areas included cancer, the long-term complications of diabetes and the
side effects of radiotherapy. One problem in tackling these diseases was that
...."
Womens Health and History of Medicine
"Evening Primrose Oil is well known to help in liver and spleen conditions
by working through the stomach. ...It has been used in Europe to treat multiple
sclerosis and helps rid the body of toxins caused by a bad diet. It is special
in its action to stop thrombosis (blood clots) by opening the blood vessels.
Also, Evening Primrose oil relieves the pain of angina, and helps in preventing
inflammation and the pain of arthritis. New information about helping skin
problems, female problems (menstrual cramps, hot flashes) and Endometriosis are
reported to be relieved. http://www.femhealth.com/index.html
In laboratory tests, Evening Primrose oil stops the growth of many kinds of
cancer cells, suggesting it should be a cancer prevention. Whooping cough and
many types of coughs can be helped along with some headaches, nervousness,
depression, eye problems and hyperactivity in children. "http://www.femhealth.com/SingleHerbs.html
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