other1 of 1 uses with evidence behind them
Evening Primrose Oil
What it’s good for
Evening Primrose Oil for Hot Flashes
No Benefit3 studies · 0 supporting · 2 against
How it was tested: Dietary supplements and herbal remedies as a category are 'not recommended' for vasomotor symptoms (Level I-II); evening primrose oil is not named as a specific exception.
Gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), the active fatty acid in evening primrose oil, is thought to influence prostaglandin pathways involved in blood vessel dilation, but a specific hot-flash mechanism has not been established.
Dose: 500–1000 mg
Tested as: evening primrose oil capsules, 500 mg twice daily (1,000 mg/day total) in the most-cited RCT; other trials in the meta-analysis used comparable gram-level daily doses.