- Do borage, evening primrose, flaxseed and other seed oils with ALA and GLA work? These seed oils contain predominately healthful, polyunsaturated fats such as ALA (as from flax) and/or GLA (as from evening primrose) (See "What It Is"). Substituting these for saturated fats in your diet can lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Taken as a supplement, they may help with the following conditions, although the evidence remains only preliminary: acne, ADHD, dry eye, bipolar disorder, diabetic neuropathy, mastitis, eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, and Raynaud's phenomenon. (See "What It Does").
- What dose of seed oil supplements should I take? Depending on the use, studies have used daily doses of seed oils that provide from as little as 15 mg to as much as 2,000 mg of ALA or GLA. (See "Dosage"). Keep in mind that only a part of the seed oil is ALA or GLA, so the amount of oil needed could be double or even 10 times higher than the dose of ALA or GLA. For example, about 55% of flaxseed oil is ALA, so a tablespoon of flaxseed oil (weighing about 14,000 mg) provides about 7,700 mg of ALA, while evening primrose oil is only 7 to 10% GLA (about 1,200 mg per tablespoon). (See "What to Consider When Buying")
- Best choice for ALA and GLA seed oils? ConsumerLab.com's tests found that most products were high-quality, although three failed to pass tests for freshness. See CL's Top Picks among products that were Approved.
- Safety and side effects of black currant, borage, evening primrose, flaxseed and hemp oils: Although generally safe, these oils can cause mild nausea and diarrhea, but there are ways to lessen this. Rarely, allergic reactions to flaxseed have been reported. Use these oils with caution if you are pregnant, have a seizure disorder, hemophilia, take blood-thinning medication, or are considering use in an infant. (See "Concerns and Cautions").
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Black Currant Oil, Borage Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Flaxseed Oil, and Hemp Oil Supplements Review: Sources of ALA and GLA (Omega-3 and -6 Fatty Acids)
Choose the Best Seed Oil Supplements. Find Out Which Flaxseed and Other Seed Oil Supplements Passed Our Tests.
Reviewed and edited by Tod Cooperman, M.D.
Omega-3 and omega-6 supplements for people -- and pets -- compared in this review:
Barlean's Organic Oils Flax Oil
Finest Nutrition (Walgreens) Flaxseed Oil
Flora Udo's Choice Udo's Oil
GNC Natural Brand Flax Seed Oil
HALO Purely For Pets Dream Coat
Health From the Sun Borage Liquid Gold
Jarrow Formulas Borage
Life Extension Mega GLA with Sesame Lignans
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Oil
Member's Mark [Sam's Club] Natural Flaxseed Oil
Nature's Answer Liquid Evening Primrose Oil
Nature's Bounty Evening Primrose Oil
Nature's Way EFA Gold Flax Oil, Super Lignan
Nature's Way EfaGold Borage
NatureWise Organic Flaxseed Oil
Nutiva Hemp Oil
PipingRock.com Black Currant Seed Oil
Puritan's Pride Evening Primrose Oil
Radiance Platinum [CVS] Evening Primrose Oil
Solaray Black Currant Seed Oil
Solgar Evening Primrose Oil 1300 mg
Spring Valley [Walmart] Evening Primrose Oil
Standard Process MediHerb Evening Primrose Oil
The Missing Link Ultimate Canine Skin & Coat
The Vitamin Shoppe Omega 3-6-9
Trunature [Costco] Evening Primrose Oil
Twinlab Ultra GLA 300
Vitamin World Evening Primrose Oil
Webber Naturals Flaxseed Oil
Make sure the oil supplement you take passed our test and is right for you!
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Summary
You must be a ConsumerLab member to get the full test results, ratings, and CL's Top Picks for supplements containing black currant, borage, evening primrose, flaxseed, and hemp seed oils along with ConsumerLab.com recommendations. You will get results for 27 supplements: 17 selected by ConsumerLab.com and 10 others that passed voluntary quality certification testing. Included are two products for pets. You'll also get information about a supplement that is very similar to another that passed testing.
In this comprehensive review, you'll discover:
In this comprehensive review, you'll discover:
- Which omega-3 and omega-6 supplements passed or failed testing and which were chosen as Top Picks
- Direct comparisons of prices, ingredients, amounts of omega fatty acids, and the cost to get these fatty acids from products
- What omega-3 and omega-6 supplements can and cannot do for cardiovascular disease and inflammatory diseases such as eczema, mastitis, dry eye, an acne
- Dosage for specific uses
- Concerns, cautions, potential drug interactions, and side effects of these seed oil supplements
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Related CL Answers (14)
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