Oats

Avena Sativa

In folk medicine, oats are used by herbalists to treat nervous exhaustion, insomnia, and "weakness of the nerves." A tea made from oats was thought by herbalists to be useful in rheumatic conditions and to treat water retention. A tincture of the green tops of oats was also used to help with withdrawal from tobacco addiction. Oats were often used in baths to treat insomnia and anxiety as well as a variety of skin conditions, including burns and eczema.

ANTI-ANXIETY - The fruits (seeds) contain sterols such as beta-sitosterol and alkaloids, such as gramine and avenine, and saponins, such as avenacosides A and B. These alkaloids have been found to exert anti-anxiety effects. Avena sativa exerts a relaxing influence having a calming effect in chronic anxiety states.
ANTI-FATIGUE - avena sativa can be considered as a superb nourishing food for any state of debility and exhaustion and during convalescence. It has a particular application to the nervous system being extremely useful as a long-term measure in any nervous debility, such as shingles and other forms of herpes, neuritis, and even chronic depression.
NUTRITIVE - Avena sativa is one of the richest sources of silica, known to help renew skin, hair, nails, bones and all connective tissue.
CHOLESTEROL REDUCTION - recent research attributes the cholesterol lowering effect to the water soluble polysaccharides, in particular beta-glucans.

Dosage

400mg one to three times daily.

Potential applications

Anxiety, nervousness, insomnia, depression, convalescence, herpes, shingles, hair/skin/nail health, cholesterol reduction. Oat preparations are also used for diseases and complaints of the gastrointestinal tract, gallbladder and kidneys, for cardiovascular disorders, constipation, diabetes, diarrhoea, fatigue, rheumatism, and aphrodisiac properties.

Known contraindications

None known.

Interactions

None known.

Use in conjunction with

Anxiety - B complex, flax seed oil, St. John's wort

Note

Avena sativa seeds are a rich source of iron, manganese, and zinc.

REFERENCES

Simon Mills & Kerry Bone. Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy. Modern Herbal Medicine. 2000.
PDR for Herbal Medicines. Second Edition. 2000
Simon Y. Mills. The essential book of Herbal Medicine. 1991
Delaney B, Nicolosi RJ, Wilson TA, Carlson T, Frazer S, Zheng GH, Hess R, Ostergren K, Haworth J, Knutson N. Beta-glucan fractions from barley and oats are similarly antiatherogenic in hypercholesterolemia. Cargill Health and Food Technologies, Wayzata, MN 55391, USA. J Nutr 2003 Feb;133(2):468-75

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