Common Names: Milky Oats, Milky Oat Seed, Wild Oats
Distribution: The origins of Avena sativa are unknown but it is thought that the species persisted as a weed in grain fields until it was taken into cultivation in the bronze age in Celtic and Germanic regions of Europe. Oats have been around long before cultivation and evidence of Avena sativa have been found in 4000-year-old remains in Egypt. It is thought that Avena sativa evolved from the wild oat species Avena sterilis from south-western Asia. Milky oats now can be found throughout most northern temperate climates and are commonly cultivated in Europe and
Monograph:
Avena sativa is the Poaceae family, or the grass family. One of the largest plant families with one of the widest distribution worldwide. The herb can be identified by its disctice leaves or ovulate tufted clum, or stalk. The plant grows around 1.5- 3 ft tall and has slight green coloration.
Medicinal Properties:
As a food source, Avena sativa offers a calorie dense fast growing nutritive grain, the medicinal properties have been overlooked as well as all parts of the plant, the milky tops and oatstraw. The plant offers many minerals and trace nutrients such as silica, magnesium, phosphorus, chromium, iron, calcium, alkaloids, protein, vitamin B. Medicinally the herb helps to support nervous system function, balance endocrine function, support immune function and support mental wellbeing. It is said that those who consume oat’s medicine will remain grounded, as the tall oat plant will sway and dance with the changing wind while still remaining firmly planted into the Earth. The immature seed or milky top has long been used as a medicine in herbal medicine and offers trophorestorative properties to the nervous system.
Harvesting and Processing:
Milky oats refer to the milky stage of the oat tops, during this stage the tops produce a nutritive milky sap when squeezed. This milky stage lasts approximately one week and occurs right after the oat begins to flower but before the seed hardens into the grain we know as oatmeal. It is said that ticturing the oat tops at this stage will preserve their bioactive nutrients. Tincturing can be done via the folk method, it is recommended to blend the plant material in a blender or mortar and pestle with a chosen menstruum or solvent. Tincture presses can also be useful in producing milky oat tincture. Oat tops can also be dried and made into infusions or teas.
What is a nervine and how does the nervous system work? A closer look at the functions of Skullcap and Milky Oats as a medicine.
To best understand how nervines like Scutelleria Latierfloria, and Avena sativa can benefit wellbeing and improve conditions such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia, an overview of how the nervous system functions is helpful. The nervous system is made up of all the neurons or nerve cells in the body. It acts as a command center for the body and controls how we communicate with the outside world and how many of our internal processes are controlled within our bodies.
There are two parts to the nervous system, the central nervous system, the voluntary system, and the peripheral nervous system, the involuntary system. The voluntary nervous system controls all things we are consciously aware of and can control ourselves, like moving our arms and legs. The involuntary nervous system regulates systems in the body that cannot be consciously influenced, like breathing, heartbeat, and metabolic processes.
The nervous system acts as an information highway sending electrical signals to and from cells, glands and muscles all throughout the body. This network of nerves receives information from the outside world and triggers a bodily response. The nervous system affects many different aspects of our health and wellbeing such as;
- Thoughts, memory, learning, and feelings.
- Movements, such as balance and coordination.
- Senses, including how your brain interprets what you see, hear, taste, touch and feel.
- Sleep, healing, and aging.
- Heartbeat and breathing patterns.
- Response to stressful situations.
- Digestion, as well as how hungry and thirsty you feel.
- Body processes, such as puberty. xiv
The nervous system is an invaluable ally in terms of mental and physical wellbeing. All psychological processes are anchored in the nervous system. Factors like stress and overexertion can push it into a state of exhaustion and overuse that can lead to nerve damage. The flight or fight alarm reaction to stressors can activate adrenal glands as well as the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems in complex ways, pushing these systems into an overdrive state and creating disorder. Symptoms of the nervous system overwhelm, and exhaustion includes anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, brain fog, poor memory and concentration, depression and digestive problems, exhaustion lethargy, and muscular tension. When the nervous system is pushed past exhaustion and enters extreme, serious nerve damage can occur and cause serious health issues.
Nervines
By definition, nervines are herbs that are intended to help nourish and support the central nervous system and help restore balance and restfulness in the body.xv There are no pharmaceutical equivalents to nervines, meaning you cannot take a pill to achieve the same benefits,
“To understand nervine tonics, you’ll have to put aside the traditional pharmaceutical way of thinking.” xvi
Nervines can be thought of in the same way eating healthy foods has a positive effect on your wellbeing and energy levels. They help to unify and nourish the nervous system providing both acute and long-term support. They provide support and nourishment to the body in a way that western pharmaceuticals cannot. It is important to reframe our collective perspective on health and shift to a perspective of nourishment and preventative long-term care and support, opposed to treating severe symptoms once they pop up.
The nervous system as well as mental well being have a significant effect on physical wellbeing and the treatment symptoms that arise have different approaches in various types of medicine. The following quote from David Hoffman’s Medical Herbalism describes the dichotomy between traditional western medicine and some holistic views,
“Orthodox medicine tends to reduce psychological problems to purely biochemical mechanisms and assumes that the appropriate drugs will sort out or at least hide the problem sufficiently to allow life to continue. Interestingly enough, some premises of complementary medicine assume or imply the other extreme; namely, that psychological factors are the cause of all disease. According to this point of view, treatment of the psyche is the only appropriate way to approach healing, and will take care of any physical problem.”
There are three types of nervines, relaxing nervines such as .., stimulating nervines like, and nervine trophorestorative, or nervine tonics like Scutellaria lateriflora. Skullcap is thought to revive and renew the central nervous system.xvii as well as treat nervous tension and anxiety. It has a long history of treatment of serious, hysterical states and epilepsy due to these nervous system properties. Scutellaria lateriflora is said to be one of the most widely used nervines and is considered safe and effective in treating both acute and chronic stress conditions, it had also been indicated to have been used in treating and easing pain. xviii
Avena sativa is commonly paired with Scutellaria lateriflora and is considered to be one of the best medicines for “feeding” the nervous system.
Its trophorestorative properties help to nourish and renew nervous system function. It is gentle and supportive and can offer help in times of acute stress.