About oils !

Primrose Paths Or Black Currant Oil For PMS

By Alan Graham
with Alfred Lehmberg
AlienView.net
10-17 -7



Many people, women in particular, to ease PMS discomfort , use Evening Primrose Oil (EPO). It contains the multi-purposeful Omega-6, GLA (gamma-linolenic acid), as a powerful Anti-inflammatory ...BUT, in my not so humble opinion? I don't think people should use EPO when there is a superior, GLA rich, oil available. Black Currant Seed Oil (BCSO) is that far superior source of GLA! You thought I was gonna say Borage Seed Oil (BSO)...more on that later.

Anyway, first I want to remind the reader that EPO, BCSO, Borage Oil, et al, are Poly Omega-6 "Medicinal-Oils", as opposed to Poly Omega-6 "Food-Oils". See...Med-Oils, like EPO or BCSO, are refined delicately, if rather expensively and non-chemically from parent materials... while being refrigerated. There's a big difference between the two.

See, most food-oils (especially the Poly Omega-6 Oils) like Soy, Corn, Canola, etc. are brutalized from their parent materials, cheaply, under high pressure/heat, and/or extracted w. toxic chemicals like Hexane. The reader begins to appreciate a difference between these oils.

So, please don't do like virtually ALL evil "mainstream" dieticians who "lump" Poly Med-Oils & Poly Food-Oils together so they can make stupid, uninformed, and sweeping generalizations about "Poly-Oils" to mislead you into thinking that the beautiful bottle of golden grocery-store Corn oil is heart-healthy... by describing the benefits of a "Poly Med-Oil" but surreptitiously applying it to all Poly oils, to include the toxic "Poly Food-Oils", which are rancid & toxic when bought "fresh" from the store. This requires they be RBDed before bottling (refined, bleached, deodorized) with very high heat destroying anything of nutritional value while leaving them toxic & rancid as an added bonus ... yet smelling as fresh as a baby's powdered butt due to deoderization...None of this bad-stuff applies to Mono Omega-9 food-oils, like Olive & Macadamia Nut... no RBDing required.

FYI : never use talcum powder, were a baby can breath it in... it can very adversely effect a babies little pink, developing lungs.

OK, back to Poly Med-Oils... here's why Black Currant Seed Oil is superior to Evening Primrose Oil... adding that if you want a more in-depth explanation regarding the science behind the following assertions you can email me at <>alan068@centurytel.net or read "Incomplete Primrose Oil & The 3-6-9- Rip-Off", a non-abbreviated form of the article at <>http://tinyurl.com/yvuorw

Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) - Omega-6's [GLA ( 9%), LA (72%)], Omega-3 ALA (Zero), Omega-9 (11%), SatFat (8%) = 100%

Black Currant Oil (BCSO) - Omega-6's [GLA (17%), LA (30%)], Omega-3 ALA (13%), Omega-9 (40%), SatFat (trace)= 100%

OK...lets start the comparisons -- (refer back to the data above if you like)

1).. Black Currant has twice the powerful GLA (17% to 9%)...So, BCSO is twice as good on this score... which is to say, the "main" score...this is why you buy it.

2).. Black Currant is only 30% LA (Linoleic Acid) which is the crap in Soy & Corn oil...but EPO has 2 1/2 times as much, at 72% LA, which makes Primrose oil 2 1/2 times as BAD (on this score)... helping to cause an adverse "Out-of-Whack" (Omega-6:Omega-3) EFA Ratio (Essential Fatty Acid Ratio of 4 to1).

Think of it this way - consuming 30% BAD (LA) in order to get 17% GOOD (GLA) is acceptable... [BUT] ...consuming 72% BAD (LA) in order to ONLY get 9% GOOD (GLA) is most decidedly, NOT acceptable... in my opinion, anyway?

3).. Black currant maintains the critical EFA Ratio of 4 to1...that's 4 Omega-6 to 1 Omega-3. Because Primrose oil has lots of Omega-6 & NO Omega-3, it really effects the ratio adversely. Most people are at a "Death-Ratio" of 15 or 20 to 1...because of way too much LA (Linoleic Acid) in Soy, Corn, Canola, etc..

4).. Black Currant has 13% very beneficial Omega-3 (ALA), normally associated with Flaxseed & Hempseed - while EPO has ZERO Omega-3. "GLA & ALA have a unique symbiotic relationship, in fact GLA will be less likely to activate the desirable anti-inflammatory, PG-1 without the help of ALA...so with no ALA, it may activate the UN-desirable PG-2 that increases inflammation."

5).. If I were a lying sociopath, to strengthen my Black Currant side of the argument I would do what every mainstream doc & dietician would do presumably: I would say Black Currant is more healthful because it has only a trace of SatFat (saturated fat), where Primrose has 8% SatFat. But as I've said many times, reader, the undamaged SatFat in Plant-Oils is not bad for you... in fact if EPO had 10% MORE SatFat, resulting in 10% less LA Oil, it would likely make EPO a better Oil, not a worse one. Consider then this duplicity of the aforementioned "docs & dieticians," who should freaking understand that, reader! ...Understand, and then report it to YOU!

Yes, even if all fairness demands I provide testimony that these reports are beginning to get out to a degree! See, more & more "mainstream" research, succumbing only to the obvious reader, is indicating that the whole Anti-SatFat, "Low-Fat ... No-Fat" craze of the 90's was a horrific mistake... especially as regards the cognitive ability of old-folks... folks who need lots of UNdamaged SatFat, EFA's (Omega-3 & 6) & UNDAMAGED Cholesterol, frankly, so no points for the mainstream! It remains, reader! How is it you're hearing all this for the first time from me and NOT your medico or a mendaciously moneyed mainstream? Back to the subject...

6).. Black Currant has a huge 40% portion of Omega-9 (the Fatty-Acid in Olive Oil), where EPO only has 11% Omega-9! All that space taken up by the 40% Omega-9! This is the main reason there is only room left for a nice, low 30% LA in BCSO, while EPO has a not-so-nice, high 72% LA.

Folks, You want to get LA (Linoleic Acid) out of your life...however, the UNdamaged LA naturally found in all forms of food is "Essential" & good for you, in those small amounts (and I emphasize UN-damaged) but the over-use of DAMAGED LA found in Poly Food-Oils is the stuff killing us... ...this is not hyperbole! Crap oils like Soy, Corn, Canola, Safflower, Sunflower, Peanut, Cottonseed (very evil), Grapeseed...and yes, that large 72% LA in EPO, even though undamaged, doesn't help.

So... Black Currant Seed Oil wins by a qualified landslide! Its superiority is clear! But hey !...what about Borage Seed Oil (BSO) ?

Borage seed Oil (BSO) is rapidly becoming the GLA oil of choice because it has the highest % of GLA, at a very nice (22 to 25%)...compared to BCSO at a respectable 17% or EPO at a very low 9%. However, I am going to hold off on using Borage Oil because it has a small amount of a particularly nasty Fatty-Acid called Erucic-Acid. This acid, in high doses, may cause Arterial Lesions. The erucic-acid, by the way, was the reason Canola Oil used to take a lot of heat in this regard until Canada came out with LEAR Canola Oil... LEAR (Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed oil). Now Canola oil is low in Erucic acid... but it is still Crap, for a variety of other reasons we've talked about before in previous papers.

There are many holistic doc's, etc. who recommend Borage Seed Oil and I certainly like the looks of BSO except for that bothersome Arterial Lesions thing... so I sincerely hope it turns out I'm wrong. A 22 to 25% GLA is impressive! The watch-dog organization <>www.supplementwatch.com & others imply it is safe...

I suspect it may be safe in the small doses that a person would take in a "maintenance" dose of an Omega 3-6-9 Formula, but my philosophy is - why take the chance when there is Black Currant Oil available... OK, it is hard to find Black Currant in an Omega 3-6-9 Formula, so you might have to just buy it separately. In fact, here is a great way to make your own Omega 3-6-9 formula by using Fresh-ground Flaxseed & Black Currant Oil Soft-gels : (this is "plant-only" 3-6-9...if you want a "Complete" 3-6-9, then add some krill or Fish Oil).

a).. Whole Flaxseed - Grind (1 to 3Tbls) in coffee-grinder. This provides LOTS of "Plant" Omega-3 (ALA) & Omega-9...also by grinding your own, as opposed to Flaxseed Oil, you get the advantage of less Oxidation than is found in the oil-only & you get the Cadillac of soluble/insoluble Fiber w. mucilage. However if you are just too busy...then use a couple of grams of flaxseed oil.

.. Black Currant Oil - Take 1 to 3 grams in soft-gels (some brands are 1/2gram soft-gels, some are 1gram size). BCSO provides GLA, ALA & Omega-9. You can go ahead & take the Black currant with the "Ground" Flaxseed but it is better to wait at least 1 hour after taking a high fiber, like ground flaxseed, to take the BCSO or any supplements for that matter. But if busy - just take them together.

All this said, the oils iterated here, plus the ratios indicated, are not a preferred consumption as much as they are a requirement for total health, a health over which you have more complete control than your doctor would let you know you have. It uses more science than your garden variety dietician and has more good sense than a covey of conflicted MDs in the tank of corporatists and mammon worshipers (that god of greed & avarice) . Go out and grab yourself some of this genuine health reader. You have the power!

That's enough -- Well be.

Alan Graham

Phone (334) 774-0395

E-mail -- <>alan068@centurytel.net