Black Currant Seed Oil

The black currant (Ribes nigrum) is a northern European shrub whose fruit was long valued for its vitamin C and whose seeds were, for most of that history, discarded. Only when lipid chemists began looking closely did the seed turn out to hold something unusual: an oil containing both gamma-linolenic acid and stearidonic acid, an omega-6 and an omega-3, together in the same pressing. Very few botanical oils carry both.

The interest lies in where those fatty acids sit in the metabolic sequence. Dietary linoleic acid must be converted by delta-6-desaturase before the body can use it downstream, and that enzyme is a slow step. Gamma-linolenic acid arrives already past it. Stearidonic acid does the same on the omega-3 side. Both are precursors to the series-1 prostaglandins and to the longer-chain fats the body assembles for cell membranes.

Black currant seed oil is used to support normal skin moisture and barrier integrity, healthy joint comfort, and the body's normal balance of inflammatory mediators. It is a slow nutrient — worth giving a season rather than a week.

Available in 90 softgels.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.