Evening Primrose Oil for Hair Loss
Evening Primrose Oil for Hair Loss. Does it work and why? 
Recommended Doses for hair and skin conditions: scroll towards the bottom of this page.
Evening Primrose Oil (Oenothera biennis) is an affordable natural supplement which could offer a realistic solution for your hair loss. This article explains how it can play a strong part in restoring health to your hair and scalp.
The Premise (Evening Primrose Oil for Hair Loss). There are three main causes of hair loss: nutritional, environmental and ‘genetic’. Nutritionally speaking, you could be missing essential nutrients for your hair growth or regeneration and you could be in need of a variety of supplements to make sure your hair follicle receives what it needs to stay healthy. Environmentally, you could be exposed not only to harsh chemicals, drugs with detrimental side-effects but also to stressful situations which, in turn, release harmful hormones and block the healthy flow of nutrients to your follicles. Finally, genetically speaking you could be suffering from the commonly referred to ‘androgenic alopecia’ or male-pattern hair loss, where excess production of the hormone dihydrotestosterone on your scalp weakens your hair follicles until they grow really thin or stop growing completely.
The Solution (Evening Primrose Oil for Hair Loss). There are of course the usual solutions such as Minoxidil, Finasteride, Propecia and similar DHT-targeting drugs. There are also a number of options if you find a really good dermatologist who is willing to prescribe custom-made topical solutions, which you will have your pharmacist prepare for you. But these solutions are expensive and, since you will have to continue them indefinitely, it can be a huge burden on your budget. By all means try them. This article is however about natural solutions you can try to fight hair loss quite effectively and, in particular, on the usefulness of Evening Primrose Oil in this matter.
This oil, available in most pharmacies and health stores as a coated pill supplement, comes from a flower seed which, if mature, contains about 8% gamma-linolenic-acid (a fatty acid, often abbreviated as GLA) and about 70% linoleic acid. Although it’s imperative that these essential fatty acids are taken in a 2:1 ratio with Omega 3 fatty acids, there are several health benefits that these carry to your body, including key benefits to your hair. These include direct nourishment of the scalp and an overall soothing effect on the skin, allowing a ‘fertile soil’ for your hair follicles. It promotes blood flow which is usually very helpful to the hair follicles.
Although, if you follow a balanced, healthy diet you should have enough of this essential fatty acid in your body, it has been reported that its deficiency carries similar symptoms to hypothyroidism. You may know that hypothyroidism causes a series of mild to severe symptoms such as hair loss, obesity, exhaustion, inability to focus, skin complaints. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that making sure you have plenty of good quality essential fatty acids in your system will prevent or even reverse the onset of these symptoms, including hair loss.
Another great property of Evening Primrose Oil and similar essential fatty acids is the ability to dilute sebum from your skin and scalp. Sebum is the ‘thick oily substance’ which is excessively present in individuals suffering from acne but also those suffering from hair loss (at times presenting a condition called sebhorreic dermatitis, which also causes hair loss). By diluting the sebum in your skin, Evening Primrose Oil reduces pore blockages, pore lesions and, at scalp level, follicle weakness.
You will definitely find that adding a high-quality multiple vitamin and mineral supplement to your diet, especially if the supplements include key hair nutrients, is always useful no matter the specific cause of your hair loss. But adding Evening Primrose Oil to it will be beneficial.
Of key relevance are recent reports that Evening Primrose Oil may also inhibit the damaging conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), a hormone which, when excessively present in your scalp, will dramatically weaken your hair follicles until, eventually it causes its destruction. This event takes place in the very common androgenic hair loss, where your hair falls particularly from the top of your head and, sometimes, also from the sides of your head.
Finally, essential fatty acids help the creation of healthy hair strands; thus, if you suffer from brittle, dry hair which is easily knotted, Evening Primrose Oil will help you too.
Doses of Evening Primrose Oil for Hair Loss (for hair and skin conditions): take evening primrose oil (EPO), 4,000 – 8,000 mg daily, allocated throughout the day (not in one mega dose but rather in smaller frequent doses throughout the day).
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