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Head-to-head evidence comparison — which supplement is right for you?
Borage Oil vs Evening Primrose Oil: Evening Primrose Oil has the stronger overall evidence (4.5 vs 3.5/10); they're alternatives for inflammation-related symptoms — the best pick depends on your goals. Take the 60-second quiz for a pick tailored to your goals.
Evening Primrose Oil wins 2 of 3 categories. Both are solid choices — the best pick depends on your specific goals.
Verdict
Too few graded studies
Top outcomes
Verdict
Too few graded studies
Top outcomes
Shared outcomes (1)
Outcomes where both Borage Oil and Evening Primrose Oil have evidence — compare verdict strength side-by-side.
1-3g/day borage oil providing roughly 200-720mg GLA; RA trials used a higher ~1.4g GLA dose (~6g oil) (the cited trials state GLA doses only, not grams of oil)
With meals
Borage oil softgels (standardized GLA, PA-free)
1000-3000mg (providing 80-240mg GLA) (a typical label dose, no cited trial states the oral dose of oil it used)
With meals containing fat
Softgels (cold-pressed oil)
3-6 months
Throughout use
6-12 weeks
First few weeks
N/A
N/A
N/A
8-12 weeks
Oral evening primrose oil and borage oil for eczema.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev (2013) · Meta analysis · n=1596
27 studies (1596 participants); 8 assessed borage oil
Herbal therapy for treating rheumatoid arthritis.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev (2011) · Systematic review
22 studies included; 7 assessed GLA oils
Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with gammalinolenic acid.
Ann Intern Med (1993) · Rct · n=37
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 24-week trial, 37 patients
Oral evening primrose oil and borage oil for eczema
The Cochrane database of systematic reviews (2013) · Meta analysis · n=1596
Cochrane review of 27 randomised trials (1,596 participants): 19 of evening primrose oil and 8 of borage oil taken by mouth for atopic eczema.
Breast pain
BMJ clinical evidence (2011) · Systematic review
Clinical Evidence systematic review of treatments for breast pain, searched to May 2010, with 24 systematic reviews, RCTs or observational studies included and GRADE-rated.
Pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, and hypertension
BMJ clinical evidence (2011) · Systematic review
Clinical Evidence systematic review of prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and hypertension in pregnancy, searched to February 2010, with 69 studies included and GRADE-rated.
Evening Primrose Oil has a higher evidence score (4.5/10 vs 3.5/10) and wins in 2 of 3 categories.
For inflammation-related symptoms, Borage Oil has a higher relevance score (55 vs 35).
No documented interaction was found in the data searched. This does not establish that this exact combination is safe.
The right pick depends on your goals. Answer a few quick questions for a personalised recommendation — or dig into the full evidence on each.