Avena Sativa
Species Name: Avena Sativa.
Also known as: Oats, Oat meal, Oat grain.
One does not often think of oats or oat grains as being an herbal remedy, even though in recent years research has shown the ability of oatmeal to control cholesterol.
Other research has shown that it has many other beneficial qualities.
Home Remedies using Avena Sativia:
The oat or Avena Sativa is in the species that includes cereal grains and the seeds of this plant. The oats are used both as food for people and fodder for animals, especially those in the poultry and equine families. Oat straw, on the other hand, is used for both animal bedding and animal feed.
Oats are not suitable for making bread on their own, so they are often served as a porridge made from crushed or rolled oats, commonly known as oatmeal, or they may be baked into cookies to which wheat flour may have been added.
In oat flour or oatmeal form, they are also used in a great many other baked goods and cold cereals as well as an ingredient that you find in muesli and granola.
Benefits of Avena Sativa:
When used mainly as a food, oat grain has medicinal properties such as a food that gently restores energy to the body after debilitating illnesses, helps lower blood cholesterol, and increases stamina.
The seed is an antispasmodic, is good for the heart, diuretic, emollient, nervine, and a stimulant. It also contains a substance that has the ability to prevent or control cancer.
Making a gruel from the ground seed helps with inflammation, fevers, and postpartum conditions, but it should not be used for acid indigestion.
In addition, in its various forms, oats are used for a wide range of nervous conditions, as an antidepressant, energy booster. Many other potential benefits can be derived from the use of Avena Sativa including the treatment of insomnia by stimulating a sufficient amount of nervous energy.
A previous report that an alcoholic extraction of oats assisted a person in tobacco cessation has been proven to be erroneous as has an article published that stated oat straw taken in tea form had beneficial qualifies as a sexual nerve tonic.
Uses of Avena Sativa:
- Fertility booster
- Improvement of sexual performance (disputed)
- Relief from performance anxiety
- Energy booster
- Improvement in heart function
- Reduction in nicotine craving (disproved)
- Assistance in the detoxification process
- Improved function of the urinary organs
- Helpful for digestion
- In food form such as cereals, breads, cookies, and other grains
- In tea form
Side Effects of Avena Sativa:
There are no known side effects of oats unless you happen to be allergic to them. Oats when consumed can cause gas and bloating. Oats are naturally gluten free.
