I have a few herbs which fit so many of my prescriptions, one was the wonderful Galium aperine (check out that post), others will be coming up in the coming months. However, today I present this common herb its a real backbone smoother which I go through like water, so ladies and gentleman let me introduce Avena sativa, so what is it and where exotic does it herald I hear you cry, well its local and its called errr oats or milky oat seed (which is the same oat just picked a little earlier before drying out, so full of the milky latex and silica), please stick with me it will surprise you.
This sweet, moist nourishing herb does have one big role in the herbal toolkit, incredibly useful in some important scenarios and then there's the high silica. First lets look at Avena in its starring role, as a nervous system tonic, a nourishing nerve instability soother and as a reliever of mental strain. I use Avena a lot, for people with anxiety, depression, headaches, exhaustion, tremors, numbness, lack of focus, over worked, emotionally unstable, etc you get the drift. Its not a nervine (a herb which relaxes or stimulates the nervous system as needed) as such, its not St Johns' Wort or Valerian, it provides the support at the back, it builds the physical nervous system (silica plays a big role here), and provides what is needed for correct nervous system functioning.
When you come to visit me for say anxiety and insomnia, I have to narrow down and take other symptoms and lifestyle issues into account before adding one or more possible nervines into you final mix. So say you've had a bad chronic period of poor physical and emotional health and I start with Vervain and Passionflower, this helps you sleep and stabilises your panic attacks, but after a few months you say you feel much better but have noticed feeling down when thinking about work and this stops you getting off to sleep, well I may remove the Vervain and put in Lavender. However, behind these nervines is Avena, steadily building and providing resources for you and to the changing herbs, it provides a sense of structure which the multiple choice of nervines hang on.
Avena is great for the troubled cluttered mind especially when its so bad no action happens, for the loss in libido, childhood bed-wetting, memory/ concentration issues and heart palpitations, its also been used successfully to aid recovering drug addicts.
Other uses are for the repair nails, skin, tendons, hair, mucous membranes as well as nerves, it aids in the reduction of cholesterol and is a bulk laxative, yet for me these are bonuses not the main event.
Dosage: Eat good organic oats with proper full fat milk (as no goodness or benefit to low fat white watery stuff) every morning, to get the concentrated milky green Avena I'm afraid you'll need to see me as its only done in small batches and expensive so for herbalists only.
Cautions: Use with caution with people who suffer Coeliac disease.
Also these pages are not to aid in serious self diagnosis (nothing on the internet is) if concerned about any feeling of illness or discomfort, please contact your GP, dial 111 or visit your nearest medical herbalist (visit www.theccp.uk for the nearest).
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