New Roots Herbal Borage Oil is certified organic and non-GMO. From its bristly stems to its blue star-shaped flowers, virtually all parts of the borage plant (Borago officinalis) have been used over the centuries for their healing properties and as a flavouring for foods. As early as the 1600s, Europeans mixed borage leaves and flowers into a wine that was renowned for relieving boredom and dispelling melancholy.

Like evening primrose oil and black currant seed oil, borage oil owes its healing power to the presence of essential fatty acids, the most important of which is gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid. (While borage oil is often used interchangeably with evening primrose oil, borage oil boasts more than twice as much GLA.) Once processed by the body, GLA is converted into hormone-like substances that can either block inflammation or promote it; in borage oil, the GLA seems to calm inflammation overall, making it an attractive treatment option for arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Nature’s most potent concentration of GLA comes in the form of borage seed oil (24%). A great deal of scientific research has been conducted with supplements rich in GLA, resulting in significant interest regarding the aforementioned health ailments, as well as for those affected by premenstrual syndrome, benign breast disease, eczema, psoriasis, obesity, and vascular disorders.

The essential fatty acids combined here have proven to impart a regulatory function on the body’s fatty-acid metabolism. Fat metabolism is as important, if not more critical, than our body’s metabolism of proteins and carbohydrates, as evidenced by the drastic rise in fat-related degenerative diseases such as vascular disease and strokes. Dietary essential fatty acids common to borage seed oil are ultimately converted to hormone-like substances known as prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are important for the regulation of a host of bodily functions including inflammation; swelling; pain pressure in the eye, joints, or blood vessels; secretions from mucus membranes and their viscosity; smooth muscle and autonomic reflexes; gastrointestinal system; arteries; ears; heart; water retention; blood-clotting ability; allergic response; rheumatoid arthritis; nerve transmission; steroid production; and hormone synthesis.