From PMS to menopause Evening Primrose Oil is a key to balancing the hormones can have a debilitating effect on a woman’s health. Hormones can affect your weight, your mood, the food you crave, sexual desire, and at times, it even feels like your sanity. For some lucky women, its smooth sailing, but for the rest of you, life can become a monthly train wreck – making you feel so totally overwhelmed that for a time you feel as though you have lost control of your life.

Evening Primrose Oil for Women’s Health

Among the herbs and natural supplements that are used for PMS (premenstrual syndrome) is Evening Primrose Oil. Commonly known as EPO, evening primrose oil is said to be particularly helpful to women for:

• menstrual cramps
• period aches and pains
• bloating
• skin eruptions (hormonal imbalances usually manifest as acne on the chin area)
• anxiety
• low self-esteem
• irritability
• headaches
• periods that follow no set pattern and
• particularly heavy bleeding during periods

It seems that EPO can be effective for a wide variety of menstrual cycle symptoms.

How does EPO work?

EPO contains essential fatty acids whose main health compounds include linoleic acid and gamma linolenic acid (GLA). Researchers have found that some women with PMS may have difficulty converting linoleic acid to GLA properly. This causes an increase in the hormone prolactin. Prolactin is responsible for many of the symptoms of PMS. It is thought that supplementing with Evening Primrose Oil rich in GLA would bypass the conversion problem and make sure that a woman is receiving enough GLA thereby reducing her PMS symptoms.

Study confirms findings

A study at St. Thomas Hospital in London found that when PMS sufferers were given EPO three times daily, 67% of the participants were symptom-free and 22% achieved partial relief. In all total, 89% had positive results with the evening primrose oil.

Mr Vitamins Recommends:

Blackmores Evening Primrose Oil

taken 3 times daily as a source of the Omega-6 fatty acid gamma linolenic acid (GLA) which may provide relief of premenstrual symptoms. Find out more about Blackmores Evening Primrose Oil here