Avena, Oats

Ortus sanitatis, Cube, Johann von, 1501

Dioscorides Materia Medica, Ruellio, 1549

Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

---

Botanical name:
Avena sativa

Parts used:
Seeds (grain); Straw

Temperature & Taste:
Neutral, dry. Sweet

Uses:
OATS
1. Calms the Mind, Calms Wind, Moves the Qi:
-Extract or tincture is used as a nerve and uterine tonic;
-Melancholy and Depression
-Menopausal neurasthenia.
-general debility and exhaustion after febrile diseases, or associated with chronic pain.
-Porridge made of Oat Meal is very good for a nervous stomach.

2. Nourishes the Liver and Blood, Clears Wind, Stops Spasms:
-Oats have been used for various spasmodic conditions including Epilepsy:
-‘Avena should be used in the nervous tremors of the aged, in Chorea, Paralysis agitans and Epilepsy’ (Ellingwood)
-good for those overcoming Alcoholism, or the habits of Tobacco, Morphine, Heroin, or Opium.
-reduces excess cholesterol.
-benefits the Memory.
    
3. Nourishes the Kidneys, Benefits the Qi:
-Sexual neurasthenia
-Spermatorrhea, Impotence, including these conditions related to excessive sex;
-mildly Aphrodisiac
-promotes Fertility.
-wasting diseases, diseases of the aged, convalescence, nervous tremors.
-Hypothyroidism. (Oat gruel with Honey is a good restorative)
-Oats and Oat Bran are beneficial to Diabetics.

4. Regulates and Promotes Menstruation:
-amenorrhea with weakness, painful Dysmenorrhea, and in Menopause.
-‘Used for Uterine or Ovarian disease with a tendency to Hysteria’ (Ellingwood).

5. Promotes Milk:
-Increases supply and quality of milk in nursing mothers.

6. Externally:
-Fried in Salt and applied to the side for wind and stitches;
-‘Oats are good to make Emplasters of, as Barley is ... Galen writeth that Oats do dry and measurably disperse abroad without any biting, if they be laid unto any place’ (Turners Herbal)
-a poultice of Oatmeal and Bay oil is applied to Leprosy, the Itch, and hard abscesses;
-Oatmeal boiled in Vinegar and applied clears spots and freckles of the skin (Culpeper).


OAT STRAW:
1. Oat straw can be used for catarrh, coughs, and fever, especially in children; it is boiled for an hour, then a little Honey is added. (Kneipp)
2. A strong decoction of Oat straw is also a very good addition to bath water to stimulate healthy skin functioning. This may help in skin condition, arthritic complaints etc. (Kneipp)


Main Combinations:

Cautions:
None noted

Main Preparations used: