Introduction
Many of us are familiar with Oats and their wide array of benefits to our health. However, there’s another oat that might just make your day a little more effective once you dig in and find out a little bit more. Oat Straw known as Avena Sativa in latin, has many other names such as Milky Oat Seed, green oat grass, or wild oats. Oat straw is a botanical extract found in North America and Northern Europe, known for a variety of uses. It’s well used in Naturopathic Medicine as a nervine to calm the central nervous system, decrease anxiety, alleviate atopic skin disorders, improve sexual health and brain function. Additionally, Oat Straw has been found to be rich in minerals, Vitamin E and has many other studied health-related benefits. If you’re struggling or interested in any of these areas, keep on reading and find a fun recipe of how to use this herb with ease at the end, below.
Traditional Uses
Oat straw first discovered in Europe during the Middle Ages in which the German commission ordained its uses as a nervine due to its effects on the nervous system, calming nerves, anxiety, and releasing stress. Most commonly, it was known to improve brain health (2). It was also found to be a nutritive, cooling, nervine, anti-spasmodic, vulnerary, demulcent, and anti-depressant actions. Additionally, research has found it to have downstream effects on the immune system (aiding recovering from common cold, shingles), and its tonifying effects
increase metabolism, estrogen deficiency, and other menopause symptoms.
Let’s talk Brain Health!
The brain our main controller for our body, telling the whole body what to do, movements to make, thoughts to think, and how we should feel. However, researchers have found that a higher performing brain and resulted in improved quality of life, as well a healthier lifestyle with less disease. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study compared Avena Sativa with a placebo for improving cognition. The study found Oat straw directly affects the left frontotemporal region of the brain, increasing attention, decision-making,
reasoning, and memory recall, therefore improving cognitive performance following an 800mg supplementation daily (1). Additionally, Oat straw acts on the central nervous system (aka a nervine) to decrease anxiety, depression, and stress. A study investigated anti-depressive
effects of Milky Oat. The ANOVA and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to measure quantitative data on the symptoms of depression after treatments with 50, 100, and 200mg/kg of Avena Sativa. Results indicated the 100 and 200mg doses were effective against decreasing depression, stress, and attaching to opioid receptors (4). These moderate doses in another study also showed positive improvements in the active stress responses and boost social behavior during stressful conditions (5).
Topical Uses
Although Oat straw can be used in many forms including teas, to cold infusions, tinctures, and salves or creams, it can also be used in a bath, or warm compress to help alleviate skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis, and other atopic dermatitis irritations. Oat straw’s main constituent silicic acid elicits calming and rejuvenating effects to the skin and central nervous system. My favorite method out of all is to batch prep a cold infusion, aka “cold tea”, in which you use the dried oat tops or straw to make a gentle and refreshing tea or tea blend.
Oat Tea #1:
Add to a 1-quart glass jar:
1/2c of fresh or dried milky oat pods
Pour about 1-quart boiled water over the pods, cover, and let steep. Once cooled place in the refrigerator to steep overnight and extract all active constituents. Consume 1 cup prepared tea 3-4x/day. Store remaining tea in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Tea Blend #2:
Add to a 1-quart glass jar:
1/4c of fresh or dried Milky Oat pods
2 TB Lemon Balm leaves
1 TB Chamomile or Lavender flowers
Pour about 1-quart boiled water over the pods, cover, and let steep. Once cooled place in the refrigerator to steep overnight and extract all active constituents. Strain and Consume 1 cup prepared tea 3-4x/day. Store remaining tea in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
If you liked this article and want to hear more, or if you would like to make an appointment, or have any comments, or questions, feel free to sign up or email us on the contact page.
Safety & Considerations: Currently, there are no researched side effects today with its consumption, nor studies on negative effects with pregnancy or nursing. Thus, more research needs to be done to define any upper limits for oat straw as well (3).
Disclaimer: The content of this site is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or consultations with your health care professional.
References:
- Dimpfel, W., Storni, C., & Verbruggen, M. (2011). Ingested oat herb extract (Avena sativa)
changes EEG spectral frequencies in healthy subjects. The Journal of Alternative and
Complementary Medicine, 17(5), 427-434. - Singh, R., De, S., & Belkheir, A. (2013). Avena sativa (Oat), a potential neutraceutical and
therapeutic agent: an overview. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 53(2), 126-144. - Al-Snafi, Ali. (2015). The nutritional and therapeutic importance of Avena sativa – An
Overview, International Journal of Phytotherapy. 5. 48-56. (PDF) The nutritional and therapeutic
importance of Avena sativa – An Overview (researchgate.net) - Khayyat Nori, M. H., Mosavi, S. Z., Abbasi Maleki, S., Abbasi Maleki, F., & Najafi, G. (2015).
Effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Avena sativa L. on morphine withdrawal signs in male
mice. Journal of Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, 20(4), 408-415. - Schellekens, C., Perrinjaquet‐Moccetti, T., Wullschleger, C., & Heyne, A. (2009). An extract
from wild green oat improves rat behaviour. Phytotherapy Research: An International Journal
Devoted to Pharmacological and Toxicological Evaluation of Natural Product
Derivatives, 23(10), 1371-1377.