Avena, Oats
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Ortus sanitatis, Cube, Johann von, 1501 |
Dioscorides Materia Medica, Ruellio, 1549 |
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578Botanical 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