botanical name(s): Avena sativa
synonyms: oat, groats, hafer, avoine, avena
part(s) used: seed in milk, oatmeal from ripe seed
qualities: sweet, warm, moist
affinities:
actions: antidepressive; sedative, stimulant, thymoleptic, nerve tonic
dosage:
» oats: use as food
» tincture: 1 - 5 ml.
note: tincture must be of high quality, freshly harvested oats to be of therapeutic value
specific indications: nervous exhaustion; nervous debility of convalescence; cardiac weakness of nervous depression; nocturnal losses following fevers and the nervous erethism of debility; nervous headache from overwork or depression (Felter, p. 235)
therapy:
» oatmeal is nutritious and demulcent - good in habitual constipation; convalescence from acute diseases; diarrhea; dysentery; cholera; irritable conditions of the stomach.
» tincture used for nervous prostration; nervous debility; to relieve spasm of the neck of the bladder; nervous headache of menstruation (Felter, p. 235); depression; melancholia; menopausal neurasthenia; general debility (British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, p. 37)
AHPA Botanical Safety Rating: 1
toxicity: 0
» contraindicated as an oatmeal gruel for diabetic patients and patients with amylaceous dyspepsia (Felter, p. 235)
constituents: proteins, prolamines, C-glycosyl flavones; avenacosides, fixed oil, starch
drug interactions:
» antagonizes antinociceptic effect of morphine (Connor et al)
» antagonizes pressor response to nicotine (Connor et al)
footnotes
British Herbal Medical Association. 1983. British Herbal Pharmacopoeia. West Yorks, England: The British Herbal Medical Association.
Connor J, Connor T, Marshall PB, Reid A, Tumbull MJ. 1975. The pharmacology of Avena sativa. J Pharm. Pharmac., 27:92-98.
Felter, H.W. & Scudder, John K., 1922. The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Cincinnati, Ohio. Reprinted in 1985 by Eclectic Medical Publications, Portland, OR.