Borage (Borago officinalis) - the herb of Gladness - the oil of Healing

Borage oil is one of my favorite oils - and it is not an essential oil. Borage oil is a carrier oil, produced by pressing the seeds of the Borage plant. This oil is desired as an excellent source of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3, cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid), for which borage is the highest known plant-based source (between 26-38%) and in addition to GLA contains the fatty acids palmitic acid (10-11%), stearic acid (3.5-4.5%), oleic acid (16-20%), linoleic acid (35-38%), eicosenoic acid (3.5-5.5%), erucic acid (1.5-3.5%), and nervonic acid (1.5%).

Borage oil has many wonderful properties. It is used for regulation of metabolism and the hormonal system, and consider it to be a good remedy for PMS and menopause symptoms such as the hot flash. I personally have taken it for several years - since entering into premenopause - and have not suffered from hot flashes. I have recommended Borage Oil to numerous other women dealing with hot flashes, and all who took this oil reported that the hot flashes stopped after about taking this oil for a couple of weeks.

Additionally, Boragae oil is used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory, for treating arthritis, as well as certain skin conditions (e.g. atopic dermatitis) and respiratory inflammation.

Topically, Borage Oil is incredibly healing. When a loved one was undergoing Interferon treatment and her skin was irritated and breaking down, I gave her some Borage oil to apply topically. She told me that the Borage oil was what kept her from going insane scratching. Another powerful demonstrations of the benefits to the skin of topically applied borage oil is a clinical study done on 48 infants suffering from severe infantile seborrhoic dermatitis, a common condition in infants known as "cradle cap." This condition is characterized by dry scales and crusts on the scalp, eyelids, face, armpits, breast and groin. The infants were treated twice daily with topically applied borage oil and the condition cleared within two weeks. Not only was there improvement in the areas where the borage oil was directly applied, but also in the areas where it was not. This result indicated that the borage oil was effectively absorbed through the skin and became available throughout the body as a source of gamma-linolenic acid for the biosynthesis of Prostaglandin 1. If the treatment was discontinued, the symptoms came back within 1 week. However, if the treatment was maintained until the infants became 7 months old and was then stopped, there was no relapse.

(The authors hypothesized that these infants were born with an immature D6D enzyme system and were unable to produce sufficient gamma-linolenic acid on their own, thus giving rise to the symptoms of "cradle cap". The borage oil treatment corrected the symptoms by supplying GLA until the infant's own enzyme system caught up.)

As an herb - Borage is interesting as well. Borage (which has a cucumber-like taste)is an excellent companion plant for tomatoes, squash and strawberries. The plant actually improves the flavor of tomatoes growing nearby. Borage has been used since early times in teas to relieve depression and reduce fevers. The flowers or leaves are helpful for relieving the symptoms of bronchitis, and also act as an anti-diarrheal remedy. Take a cupful 2-3 times per day.

Externally, Borage leaves can also be ground into a paste (add hot water or tea, and maybe a little oatmeal for consistency) and make a cooling and soothing remedy for sprains, swelling, and skin inflammations and irritations.

Finally, the beautiful blue Borage flowers (one of the few blue edible flowers) and leaves are the traditional decoration for gin-based summer cocktails, and may be set in ice cubes to garnish other drinks.