Can Evening Primrose Oil & Hemp Seed Be Taken Together?

Although many people consider herbal remedies safer than pharmaceutical drugs, medical experts recommend researching or talking with your doctor about the potential for interactions with other substances. Some herbs affect the body powerfully. As with other medicines, a person can take too much of an herb or mix herbs that should not be taken together, causing physical problems.

Evening Primrose Oil History

• To make the capsules that most people take for health conditions, manufacturers harvest oil from the seeds of the evening primrose plant. This plant grows wildly in North America, and early European and South American travelers brought evening primrose to England, Germany and areas in South America as well. Native Americans ate the plant's root to treat gastrointestinal disorders and used its leaves externally to treat lesions on the skin.

Evening Primrose Oil Current Uses

• Many of evening primrose oil's current uses share similarities with the evening primrose plant's historical uses. According to sources like the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, research documents that taking evening primrose oil lessens itching and swelling caused by a variety of skin conditions. Additionally, some evidence exists that evening primrose oil decreases breast tenderness, especially when resulting from premenstrual syndrome. The oil also contains the healthful type of omega-6 fatty acids.

Hemp Seed History

• People have consumed hemp seeds around the world for several millenia. Evidence exists that people consumed hemp in ancient China as well as other areas of the world. A popular method of consumption by medieval Europeans consisted of making hemp butter by grinding up hemp seeds. Hemp fell out of favor as a food in the United States when its use and cultivation became outlawed during the early 20th century. Hemp enjoyed a resurgence as a food around the turn of the 21st century, and its popularity continues to grow.

Hemp Seed Current Uses

• Today, many health practitioners and natural nutritionists view hemp seeds as one of the best sources of nutrition a person can eat. Often called a “complete food,” hemp seeds contain three essential fatty acids necessary for a human being's diet (omega-3s, -6s and -9s). Eating hemp seeds also gives you 10 essential amino acid proteins and a healthy dose of fiber, all from an unmodified plant source that contains no saturated fats, trans fatty acids or the high doses of cholesterol found in animal proteins.

Potential Negative Effects

• Most researchers consider both evening primrose oil and hemp seeds relatively safe and mild. However, each has the potential to cause negative side effects when taken in high doses or by people with sensitivities. Evening primrose oil may cause stomach upset, loose stools or headaches, and doctors warn against taking it along with a class of drugs called phenothizines (used to treat schizophrenia) or drugs that thin the blood or act as anticoagulants.

  Hemp seeds carry similar warnings as they also can cause loose stools when consumed in large quantities and should not be mixed with anticoagulant drugs because they inhibit platelets.

  Because both products cause the same kinds of side effects, when using evening primrose oil and hemp seeds together, you should use caution and consult with a medical practitioner to ensure you consume safe doses.