Milky oats

Avena sativa

Also: Oats, Oatstraw, Milky oat tops, Green oats

Neutral temperatureMoisteningNeutral tone

Slow, deep nourishment for frayed and exhausted nerves.

The everyday grain, harvested green in the brief milky stage when a squeezed seed weeps white latex. Milky oats restore a nervous system worn thin by long stress, oatstraw feeds minerals, and oatmeal soothes skin.

Energetics: Neutral, moistening, nourishing
Taste: Sweet, mild
Family: Poaceae (grass family)
Parts used: Milky green tops, straw, grain

Medicinal uses 7

The tags sort the evidence behind each use by kind. Members are able to tap a condition to compare every herb for it.

Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Exhaustion & burnoutTLC
Rebuilds frayed, depleted nerves over weeks of steady use; the burnout herb.
Anxiety & stressTLC
Steadies the jittery, wired-and-tired state of long stress.
Rashes & eczemaTLC
Colloidal oatmeal baths calm itchy, eczema-prone skin.
Depletion & mineral needsTLC
Oatstraw infusion supplies calcium, magnesium, and silica.
Heart supportTLC
Oat bran fiber lowers cholesterol.
Low milk supplyTLC
A folk favorite for milk supply.
Postpartum recoveryTLC
Steadies frayed nerves and rebuilds a depleted body in the months after birth.

Preparations

Fresh milky oat tincture, long oatstraw infusion, oatmeal baths, and porridge.

Members are able to see the amounts, ratios, and methods for each preparation, search by condition, and match herbs to your constitution.

Become a member · $39 a year Log in

Cautions

Oats are often cross-contaminated with wheat; people with celiac disease need certified gluten-free oats, and a few react to oats themselves.

Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyGenerally compatible

One of the safest nutritive herbs, used by traditional midwives throughout pregnancy.

BreastfeedingGenerally compatible

Safe and nourishing; oatmeal is a popular folk support for milk supply.

Practitioner Practitioners are able to see the full entry from the Moss Herbalism Pregnancy Safety Database: trimester ratings, uterine and placental action, breastfeeding and nursing-baby effects, chemistry, traditional use, studies, and sources.

Practitioner membership · $150 a year Log in

Folklore

Samuel Johnson's dictionary of 1755 defined oats as a grain given to horses in England that in Scotland supports the people, and a Scot is said to have answered that this was why England had such fine horses and Scotland such fine men. Feeling your oats began as stable talk for a frisky, well-fed horse. Eclectic physicians of the late 1800s gave fresh oat tincture to patients worn down by exhaustion and to people coming off opium.

How to grow

Sow in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked, in full sun. About two months later, check the heads daily; the milky stage lasts about a week, when a pinched seed bursts white. Cut the green straw after the milky harvest.

In the wild

Cultivated oats descend from a weed of Near Eastern wheat and barley fields, and wild oat (Avena fatua) still follows grain crops around the world.

Every herb here fits some people better than others. Find out which ones fit you.

Match by condition Book a consult