Oats (Avena sativa) - their valuable medicinal properties
by Ellen Evert Hopman
While most of us think of oats as a high fiber, low cholesterol breakfast cereal, herbalists have long made use of the grains and straw of Avena sativa for their valuable medicinal properties.
Oats are an annual grass that is high in calcium. Calcium rich foods and herbs are the basis for remedies that relax the muscles and nervous system. Avena sativa should be thought of as the basis for every good nerve relaxing formula.
Oatmeal or gruel is an ideal food for convalescents and can be flavored with raisins, lemon, butter, or maple syrup. It is easily digested and is a soothing food for those with fever and a good first food for those who have experienced intestinal illnesses or
food poisoning. Oatmeal is an excellent alternative to eggs and sausages or bacon for those desiring a low fat, low cholesteroal breakfast routine.
The alcohol tincture of Oat straw can be used for nerve complaints and for uterine problems in the standard dose of ten to twenty drops, taken in water, three times a day.
Oat straw tea is recommended by herbalists to soothe chest complaints, especially when mixed with a little lemon and honey. A strong brew can be added to the bath to benefit rhuematism, paralysis, liver ailments, gout, and kidney problems. Bladder and
bowel conditions, intestinal colic and bedwetting have all been helped by soaking in a bath of Oat Straw.
Oat straw makes a good wash for skin diseases, for flaky skin, itching, frostbite, chilblains, wounds and eye problems. Oat straw foot baths are recommended for tired or chronically cold feet. To make the tea simmer the straw and grains in water for about an hour. For a bath boil one to two pounds of the straw in three
quarts of water for half an hour and add the brew to your tub.
Ellen Evert Hopman
Web: http://www.elleneverthopman.com/
Snailmail: PO Box 219, Amherst, MA 01004 U.S.A.
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