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EVENING PRIMROSE AND ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS
Evening primrose oil is a very rich source of essential fatty acids, which are as important to the body as vitamins, minerals or proteins.
Essential fatty acids are vitamin-like lipids. They are called \'essential\" because the body must have them and can\'t make them by itself, so you have to eat the foods containing them.l\'2 Some people have called this type of essential fatty acid \'Vitamin F\' as there are some similarities with vitamins. Essential fatty acids have got nothing to do with fattiness in the sense of pork dripping or cream buns. In fact, you will find essential fatty acids in foods that don\'t look remotely \'fatty7 at all, like sunflower seeds, green vegetables, and shellfish.
Fatty acids are an essential part of nutrition and they perform all kinds of vital functions within the body:
• They give energy.
• They help maintain body temperature.
• They insulate the nerves.
• They cushion and protect tissues.
• They are part of the structure of every cell in your body and are vital for metabolism.
• They are also precursors of the all-important short-lived regulating molecules, the prostaglandins.
The Food and Agricultural Organization suggests that a minimum of 3% of total calories should be from essential fatty acids in adults, and 5% in children and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Roughly 60% of the brain is made up of lipids, of which an important part is essential fatty acids. They are vital for the proper growth and development of the brain and the central nervous system.
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) have two major roles. First, they are constituents of all cell membranes and in all tissues in the body. And second, they give rise to a group of highly reactive molecules, the prostaglandins and leukotrienes.
How fluid and flexible cell membranes are depends on how many EFAs they have. This influences the behaviour of every cell in the body including nerve cells and blood cells, the lymphocytes and neutrophil leukocytes, which need to be strong and healthy as their job is to rid the body of foreign invaders. The activity of these lymphocytes depends on the state of the cell membranes. They will behave differently according to whether the cell membrane is fluid and flexible (i.e. plenty of EFAs) or rigid (not enough EFAs).
Evening primrose oil has beneficial effects in all areas of the body both because of its actions on cell membranes, and because it is a precursor of a particularly helpful prostaglandin. These beneficial effects can best be seen by looking at what happens in EFA deficiency states.
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GENERAL HEALTH
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