This weeks’ herb is another must-have in anyone’s daily routine: Oats
Botanical Latin Name: Avena Sativa
Botanical Family: Gramineace (grass) family
Parts used: milky oat seeds and aerial parts
Method: Tea, Tincture
Actions: Nervine, alterative, antiseptic, sedative, nutritive, stimulant, antidepressant, demulcent, vulnerary, restorative, antisposmadic
Energetics: moistening and neutral
Taste: mildly sweet and salty, nutritious tasting
Dosage:Tea - infuse 1 tbsp of herb to 8 oz of water, steep for 10-15 minutes, drink 1-4 cups daily. Tincture use up to 2 droppers full (60 drops) 1-3 times daily.
Contraindications: Those with a gluten sensitivity might want to avoid it. This is a touchy subject; some herbalists say to avoid it with any gluten issues while others say it’s not a problem. If you have celiac you would probably want to avoid it. If you are just gluten sensitive or simply avoiding it, I don’t think it needs to be avoided. But that is a personal choice and will vary. Caution possible blocking of the pain relieving effect of those on morphine and may increase blood pressure for those using nicotine.
Oats are packed with nutrients, they are high in silica, calcium, chromium, magnesium, zinc, manganese and vitamin B. They are great for cardio support and due to its high silica content, it is great for connective tissue, skin and nerves. Oats provide overall health and vitality and can provide energy. For those that are stressed, overworked, suffer from depression, anxiety, low sex drive or irritability, oats can provide relief sue to its soothing actions on the nervous system. Additionally, it’s great to support calm in children.
From Herbalist David Hoffman in his book Medical Herbalism, he says “Oats is one of the best remedies for ‘feeding’ the nervous system, especially when the patient is under stress.”
Oats can support any long-term illness. They are also known to support and sooth irritation from nicotine withdraw and many other addictive behavior recoveries. It is also wonderful for soothing skin irritation and inflammation, relieving itching and symptoms from dermatitis, psoriasis and fungal and viral rashes.
Oats are generally labeled as one of three types: milky oat tops, oat straw or wilds oats. From the blog Way of the Wild Heart, “Oats are the seeds, milky oat tops refer to the unripe seeds and the whole plant harvested and dried is referred to as oat straw. Oat straw refers to both the flowering milky tops and the stem of the plant combined, (as in whole plant medicine) and is used to make wonderfully nourishing and delicious herbal infusions. Oat straw infusions are a great way to get the benefits of oats. Drinking 2-4 cups daily imparts all the benefits of eating oats and is especially hormonal balancing, grounding and vitality building. All the wild-hearted among us, pregnant women, nursing mothers, babies and growing children, women with busy lives and tight schedules, overworked and stressed-out-men, all benefit from integrating oats and oat straw into their daily diets.” The milky oat tops are a great uterine tonic, toning and strengthening the female reproductive system.
Uses for Oats:
Daily multi-vitamin and multi-mineral
Promotes vitality and energy
Nervous states with exhaustion
Irritability to concentrate
Exhaustion, fatigue, melancholy or depression
Weakness and/or numbness of limbs
Occipital headache extending down the spine
Lack of control over urination
Balancing sexual drive, excessive or low libido
Healing addictive habits
Balancing hormones
Nervous system irritation from exhaustion or stress
Premenstrual anxiety and depression
Fear of pain or death
Inability to relax
Anemia
Nervous palpitations
General debility
Bone health
Here is my recipe for a lovely nutritive and nerve supportive tea that is soothing and nourishing to the nerves and rejuvenating the whole body. This should not be sedative, but can also be used as wonderful a night time tea. And if you missed it, last week I posted about Nettles and included a high-calcium tea recipe.
DE-STRESS TEA
4 parts lemon balm
3 parts oats
2 part chamomile
2 part calendula
2 parts skullcap
1 part rose
1 part lavender
Combine all herbs. Infuse 1 tablespoon dried herb mixture per 8 oz cup of hot water for 15-60 minutes. Drink 3-4 cups daily. For optimal outcome use daily for approximately 2-3 months or longer.
I also have a fantastic white clay miracle mask that includes oats in it. Comment below if you’d like it.