There’s a lot of hype surrounding a relative newcomer to the Omega-3 market: clary seed oil. Let’s see if there’s anything to it
Recently, you may have heard a lot about something called clary seed oil, which is cold-pressed from a type of sage, Salvia sclarea. Any new source of Omega-3 fatty acids, especially a vegan one, is always welcome… but the problem here is separating reality from the hype.
You see, clary seed oil has become a huge multilevel marketing (MLM) product… and naturally, people are publishing all kinds of miraculous claims for it so they can push it on their purchasers, who can push it on their purchasers, and so on. And, well, MLM schemes always smell a little fishy to yours truly.
A Shift in Emphasis
Herbalists have used clary seed for centuries for a rather unusual purpose. Because a clary seed has a sticky coat, in the olden days proto-physicians used it to help remove foreign objects from people’s eyes. You stuck in the clary seed, the foreign object stuck to it, and you pulled it out.
Hence the nickname name “clear-eye” for the plant itself. Frankly, to this writer it comes across as a kind of “there was an old lady who swallowed a fly” solution, but apparently it works.
Speaking of swallowing, clary is clearly edible, since it’s used to flavor liqueurs, wines, and vermouth. The essential oil is also used in perfumes and aromatherapy agents. Supposedly, it fights PMS and insomnia, and eases anxiety and fear.
The ALA connection
At some point, someone in the MLM industry discovered that clary seed oil consists of almost 50% ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), the most common Omega-3 acid found in plant sources. It’s true, too; Your Humble Writer has found European lab analyses from as early as 1961 that prove it.
MLM dealers hype this figure very heavily, along with the fact that your body converts ALA to the other O-3 acids you need, EPA and DHA. Add this to the public’s recent discovery of the health values of Omega-3, and you’ve got something to shout about.
But a little caveat: despite clary seed oil’s high ALA content, you should be aware that the body converts ALA to EPA and DHA very inefficiently, on the order of just 5-15%. So you may need another supplement containing those O-3 acids as well.
One More Thing
A claim you’ll see repeatedly is that clary seed oil has a shelf life of up to two years, because it doesn’t turn rancid like fish oil and flaxseed oil does. Whether this is true or not I couldn’t determine, but it may very well be the case.
Until you know for sure, it can’t hurt to get the freshest supplements you can. And BTW — the manufacturers distill clary seed oil, so no worries about purity.