A nice bowl of oats is always a great way to start the day, but did you know that they make a wonderful liquid herbal medicine as well? Both the seed (a bit like what is in your breakfast bowl),1 and the whole fresh green plant,2 are a beautiful supportive medicine.
Evidence indicates that oats, when used as a herbal medicine, can help with improving concentration,3,4 cognitive performance and improve the body’s ability to cope with stressors.5
The Christmas season can bring added pressure and emotional load, Oats offers a gentle, nourishing way to support the nervous system. Helping you calm the farm during the holiday period, as well as any other points in life where you may need a little extra support.
You may have forgotten that Apple Crumble provides a good serve of Oats as well as being delicious
1. BHP. British Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Exeter UK: British Herbal Medicine Association Publishing; 1983.
2. Bone KM. A Clinical Guide to Blending Liquid Herbs. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone; 2003.
3. Dimpfel W, Storni C, Verbruggen M. Ingested Oat Herb Extract Avena sativa Changes EEG Spectral Frequencies in Healthy Subjects. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2011 May;17(5):427–34.
4. Kennedy DO, Jackson PA, Forster J, Khan J, Grothe T, Perrinjaquet-Moccetti T, et al. Acute effects of a wild green-oat (Avena sativa) extract on cognitive function in middle-aged adults: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects trial. Nutritional Neuroscience. 2015 Nov 30;20(2):135–51.
5. Kennedy DO, Bonnländer B, Lang SC, Pischel I, Forster J, Khan J, et al. Acute and Chronic Effects of Green Oat (Avena sativa) Extract on Cognitive Function and Mood during a Laboratory Stressor in Healthy Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in Healthy Humans. Nutrients. 2020 May 29;12(6):1598.