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Anti-aging Research > Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA)
Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA)
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Specific Recommendations:
News & Research:
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Nutritional supplement shown to be effective in reducing female hair loss
- Nutra USA, 3/19/15 - "the nutritional supplement
combines specific omega 3&6 from fish and blackcurrant seed oils with
antioxidants (lycopene, vitamin C, and vitamin E) ... after 6 months of
treatment, photograph assessment demonstrated a superior improvement in the
supplemented group" - See
black currant oil at Amazon.com
(most health enthusiasts are already taking the rest and most people get too
much omega 6 already except for the gamma linolenic acid (GLA) form as in
blackcurrant seed oil).
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Essential oil pill prevents PMS, study suggests - Science Daily, 1/16/11
- "Women who were given capsules containing 2 grams
of a combination of gamma linolenic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, other
polyunsaturated acids and vitamin E reported significantly eased PMS
symptoms at both 3 and 6 months after they began the treatment" - See
borage oil at Amazon.com
(GLA) and
Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes
Tocomin) at Amazon.com.
Oleic acid is omega-9 in which olive oil is a good source. Linoleic acid is
omega-6. Most Americans get about 10 to 20 times too much omega-6 to begin
with. I don't know why they included it. It makes me wonder about some of
the researchers. If they are showing a benefit, I would guess it's from the
other ingredients and not the omega-6. Gamma linolenic acid is an omega-6
also but it's a form that most don't get enough of.
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Flax and borage oil may boost skin health from within - 10/3/08 -
"the researchers noted a significant decrease in
reddening of the skin in the flaxseed and borage
oil groups of 45 and 35 per cent, respectively, compared to baseline values.
No differences were recorded in the placebo group ... blood flow to the in
skin also decreased in the oil groups ... Measurements of water loss from
the skin showed that the oil supplements were associated with decreases of
about 10 per cent after six weeks, with only the flaxseed oil group showing
further decreases at the end of 12 weeks (25 per cent) ... The roughness and
scaling – dry peeling skin – was also decreased significantly after 12 weeks
of flaxseed and borage oil supplementation, with no differences in the
placebo group" - [Abstract]
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Affecting the Balance Between Omega-3 and Omega-6? - Dr. Weil, 5/16/08 -
"Borage oil, black currant oil (and evening primrose
oil) are natural sources of a fatty acid called GLA (gammalinolenic acid),
an omega-6 fat that is very hard to come by in the diet. However, the
omega-6 provided by these supplements is insignificant compared to the
amounts we obtain from dietary sources, and shouldn't affect your
omega-6/omega-3 balance. GLA is an effective anti-inflammatory agent that I
recommend for arthritis, autoimmune disorders, premenstrual syndrome and for
healthy growth of skin, hair, and nails. (By the way, I usually do not
recommend borage oil, because it might contain pyrroldizidine alkaloids,
compounds that can damage the liver.) The dose of evening primrose oil or
black currant oil is 500 mg twice a day"
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A diet enriched in eicosapentanoic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and
antioxidants in the prevention of new pressure ulcer formation in critically
ill patients with acute lung injury: A randomized, prospective, controlled
study - Clin Nutr. 2007 Oct 12 - "A diet
enriched with EPA, GLA and vitamins A, C and E is associated with a
significantly lower occurrence of new pressure ulcers in critically ill
patients with acute lung injury"
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Primrose Oil Component Cuts Levels Of Cancer-causing Gene Her-2/neu -
Science Daily, 11/4/05 - "Gamma-linolenic acid
(GLA), a substance in evening primrose oil and several other plant oils used
in herbal medicine, inhibits action of Her-2/neu, a cancer gene that is
responsible for almost 30 percent of all breast cancers"
- Plant oil 'acts
like cancer drug' - BBC News, 11/2/05 -
"It is down to a substance in the oil called
gamma-linolenic acid that acts on the same receptor in tumours as the
powerful breast cancer drug Herceptin"
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Inflammation Syndrome a Red-Hot Topic - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 9/03
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"What are some of the key anti-inflammatory
supplements? ... At the top of the list are
omega-3 fish oils, gamma-linolenic acid (GLA,
an omega-6 fat that behaves more like an omega-3) and
vitamin E"
- GLA: The Right Remedy
for Eczema? - Dr. Weil, 11/21/02 -
"It has specific nourishing effects on
skin, hair, and nails that are not duplicated by
omega–3 fatty acids ... It is true that a high ratio of
omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the diet promotes
inflammation by favoring synthesis of pro-inflammatory hormones
(prostaglandins). But the amount of GLA needed to treat
eczema and other skin conditions (500 milligrams
twice a day) is too small to affect that ratio significantly"
- Can I Stop My Hair from
Thinning? - Dr. Weil, 9/13/02 -
"Make sure you’re getting enough
omega-3 fatty acids ... supplement your diet with GLA (gamma-linolenic
acid) in the form of black currant oil or evening
primrose oil"
- Essential Fatty Acids
Improve Thought Process and Behavior in Children with ADHD - New Hope
Natural Media Online, 6/13/02 -
"ADHD is characterized by
impulsive behavior, lack of concentration, restlessness and, in some cases,
learning disabilities ... The children were given either a supplement
containing 186 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA),
480 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), 96 mg
of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), 864 mg of
linoleic acid, and 60 IU of vitamin E per
day, or a placebo ... the children who took the essential fatty acid
supplement had significant improvement in symptom scores related to learning
and behavior"
Abstracts:
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Is there a beneficial effect
of gamma-linolenic acid supplementation on body fat in postmenopausal
hypertensive women? A prospective randomized double-blind placebo-controlled
trial - Menopause 2021 Feb 1 - "This was a
prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study involving 96
postmenopausal women. Participants were divided into two groups either receiving
1,000 mg of borage oil rich in gamma-linolenic acid + vitamin E (drug) or only
vitamin E (placebo) capsules for 6 months ... There was a significant reduction
in the systolic and diastolic pressure as well as a significant change in
waist-hip ratio (P < 0.01) in the drug group as compared with the placebo group"
- See borage oil at Amazon.com.
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Borage Oil Enhances Lamellar
Body Content and Alters Fatty Acid Composition of Epidermal Ceramides in
Essential Fatty Acid-Deficient Guinea Pigs - Lipids 2020 Dec 30 -
"Borage oil [BO: 40.9% linoleic acid (LNA) and 24.0% γ-linolenic
acid (GLA)] reverses disrupted epidermal lipid barrier in essential fatty acid
deficiency (EFAD). We determined the effects of BO on lamellar body (LB) content
and LNA and GLA incorporation into epidermal ceramide 1 (CER1) and epidermal
ceramide 2 (CER2), major barrier lipids. EFAD was induced in guinea pigs by a
diet of 6% hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO) for 10 weeks (group HCO) or 8 weeks
followed by 6% BO for 2 weeks (group HCO + BO). LB content and LNA and GLA
incorporation into CER1 were higher in group HCO + BO than in group HCO. Small
but significant levels of LNA, GLA, and their C20-metabolized fatty acids [dihomo-γ-linolenic
acid (DGLA) and arachidonic acid (ARA)] were incorporated into CER2, where ARA
was detected at a level lower than LNA, but DGLA incorporation exceeded that for
GLA in group HCO + BO. Dietary BO enhanced LB content and differential
incorporation of GLA into CER1 and DGLA into CER2."
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Gamma-Linolenic Acid Levels Correlate with Clinical Efficacy of Evening Primrose
Oil in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis - Adv Ther. 2014 Jan 17 -
"Atopic dermatitis (AD) has been related to a
deficiency of delta-6-desaturase, an enzyme responsible for the conversion
of linoleic acid to gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). Evening primrose oil (EPO)
contains high amounts of GLA. Therefore, this study investigated whether EPO
supplementation results in an increase in plasma GLA and its metabolite
dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) correlating with clinical improvement of
AD, assessed by the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index ... The
clinical disease activity under EPO treatment correlates with the individual
increase in plasma GLA levels. Thus, the results of this pilot study
indicate that an increase in plasma GLA might be used as predictive
parameter for responsiveness of AD to EPO therapy" - See
evening primrose oil
at Amazon.com.
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Effects of EPA, γ-linolenic acid or coenzyme Q10 on serum prostate-specific
antigen levels: a randomised, double-blind trial - Br J Nutr. 2012 Nov
30:1-8 - "A total of 504 healthy men with serum PSA
level ≤ 2.5 ng/ml were recruited into the study ... Participants were
randomly assigned to a daily dietary supplement containing n-3 fatty acids
(1.12 g of EPA and 0.72 g of DHA per capsule) (group 1, n 126), n-6 fatty
acid (600 mg γ-linolenic acid (GLA) each capsule) (group 2, n 126), CoQ10
(100 mg per capsule) (group 3, n 126) or a similar regimen of placebo (group
4, n 126) for 12 weeks ... EPA treatment significantly reduced serum PSA
level by 30.0 (95 % CI 25, 36) % (P = 0.004) from baseline. In contrast, GLA
therapy significantly increased serum PSA concentration by 15.0 (95 % CI 11,
20) % (P = 0.02). CoQ10 therapy also significantly reduced serum PSA level
by 33.0 (95 % CI 27, 40) % (P = 0.002). In multivariable analysis, serum
values of PSA were strongly correlated with duration of EPA (r - 0.62; 95 %
CI - 0.42, - 0.77; P = 0.003), n-6 (r 0.42; 95 % CI 0.31, 0.58; P = 0.02)
and CoQ10 use (r - 0.77; 95 % CI - 0.56, - 0.87; P = 0.001). There were also
significant correlations between serum values of DHA, EPA, GLA and CoQ10 and
serum PSA levels. The present study demonstrates that dietary supplements
containing EPA, GLA or CoQ10 may significantly affect serum PSA levels"
- See
ubiquinol products at Amazon.com
and
Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
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Gamma-linolenic acid inhibits both tumour cell cycle progression and
angiogenesis in the orthotopic C6 glioma model through changes in VEGF,
Flt1, ERK1/2, MMP2, cyclin D1, pRb, p53 and p27 protein expression -
Lipids Health Dis. 2009 Mar 17;8(1):8 -
"Gamma-linolenic acid is a known inhibitor of tumour cell proliferation and
migration in both in vitro and in vivo conditions ... Combination therapy
using drugs with other, complementary targets and GLA could lead to gains in
treatment efficacy in this notoriously difficult to treat tumour"
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