There are many medicinal ‘herbs’ that are traditionally thought of a ‘food’. Who says they can’t be both? One of my favorites, turmeric, is considered a spice and even a food in Indian cooking. I don’t know that I could live without it, but that’s another post.

The photo above is from a few years ago when I grew a small flowerbed of oats. I wanted it near the house so I could watch it closely because the best time to harvest oats to use as medicine is when they are in the ‘milky’ stage. That’s only about a 3-day timeframe. You can’t see it well, but the seed heads are plump and if you puncture one with your fingernail, there is a white milky juice that oozes out. It is powerful stuff!

I choose to make oat tincture at this time when the ‘medicine’ (constituents) are most potent, and I make it the kitchen herbalist way by blending it with alcohol in the blender, then letting it set for a while, then straining before use.

Hint: next week’s blog (I think) will be about tincture making.

Both the oat heads and the straw are used. I tend to think of the tincture of milky oat heads as being ‘stronger’, but the oat straw can also be used for a more gentle application.

Remember the conversation we had about being a donut? Well, we use oats topically in a lot of ways for our skin. It also helps to nourish our gut. Oatmeal as a food is high in fiber and prebiotics and can help lower cholesterol. And if you doctor it up right, can be delicious.

Oats as a medicine are one of the best herbs for caring for your nervous system. Oat tincture is one of the best tasting ones – it’s a little sweet- and is moistening (most herbs are a bit drying). It helps to just smooth down the ruffled feathers when our nervous system has taken a beating. While it’s usually used for stress or exhaustion, it also helps with insomnia. Oat has been used to help with addiction recovery in that way as well.

To make tea, oat heads are used – not oatmeal (although if steel cut oats were all I had, I’d try it). A tablespoon to a cup of hot water, let it steep for about 15 minutes, then drink.

When it comes down to it though, I’d rather eat my oats than drink them!