Herb Blurb: Milky oat
To listen to this blog post instead, check out episode 4 of Osha Health: The Podcast.
In this article, I will be talking about milky oats, a valuable tonic herb for the nervous system. I will discuss the situations we might consider using it and the things you need to know if you were to use it. I will also cover such questions as: How do I know if milky oats would be suitable for me? Can I just eat oatmeal? Is milky oat safe for celiacs?
(Before deciding whether to try it for yourself, carefully read the considerations I outline, and do your own research.)
This is a herb that people need to know about! I personally find myself recommending it all the time and I have no doubt it would be the herb I talk about the most.
Why is it called “milky oat”?
Yes, it is the same oat plant that we get oatmeal from, but the part of the plant we use, and how it is harvested and prepared, will determines what we might use it for. In regards to milky oat, for one or two weeks out of the entire growth cycle, the oat seed is filled with a white substance that kind of looks like milk. At this time, the chemistry of the plant is different from the rest of the year. If the seeds are harvested during this window and made into a fresh tincture, it has its own unique properties, which is it is considered to be a nervous system trophorestorative which means that it actually restores the structure and function of the nervous system tissue by nourishing it specifically.
Who can benefit from taking milky oat?
The classic indications that someone might benefit from milky oat are:
people who have worn themselves out and pushed themselves too hard over a long period of time through overwork or through long-term emotional challenges and are now feeling that they are burnt out or feeling frazzled or they might say their “nerves are fried”
David Winston (an American herbalist) says milky oat is for people who are burning the candle at the front, back, side and middle, and they’re so fried, they’re crispy!
people who are finding it hard to focus and their mind is jumping around all over the place
they might feel emotionally unstable and prone to lashing out but they don’t really know why
they might have become oversensitive or hyperreactive to situations, or having emotional outbursts or reacting in ways that are out of character for them
at the other end of the spectrum they might have become “emotionally brittle” ie. less emotionally responsive after prolonged stress
no longer able to deal with small challenges without feeling overwhelmed. This is one I hear a lot: little setbacks and hurdles throughout the day that in the past would have been no big deal now seem to be insurmountable and can totally derail you.
These are all symptoms of what we might call “extreme stress” or “burnout”, which naturopathically we view as a nervous system that has had to deal with a LOT and is now no longer functioning optimally. When we have a healthy robust nervous system, we are able to feel our whole range of emotions without being consumed by any one of them; we are able to navigate situations from a somewhat centred place and be mindful of our responses and behaviours; and to feel some amount of peace and calm on a regular basis. Of course life throws us curve balls, unexpected things happen, and hard things happen, but it is our nervous system that will ideally help us to respond to these ups and downs and return to a balanced resting state.
In what situations might we consider using milky oat?
During a period of stress to help us retain our resiliency
Once people have reached “burnout”
Chronic fatigue where there is a lot of exhaustion, and often a lot of physical sensitivities and potentially emotional sensitivities too; what is interesting about chronic fatigue syndromes is that the onset is often correlated with the person experiencing some sort of episode of intense stress, whether it be physical or emotional.
During a period of grieving (although I would definitely be considering other herbs for support at this time too).
Potentially for people who have developed multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), which is an expression of an overreactive immune system which can mirror an overreactive nervous system, so alongside other herbs specific to the person, milky oat could be useful.
Milky oat will help with however your period of stress is presenting for you, so:
if you are feeling depleted to the point that you are feeling anxious or irritable or down, it will help lift the spirits
if you are dragging yourself along each day, it will help to support your energy levels
if your racing mind is making it hard for you to sleep, it will help by lessening the effect your stress is having on you.
If you imagine the oat plant, it sways to and fro in the breeze but its foundation in the earth is strong. This is what milky oat can help us achieve: to be grounded and balanced and strong, while also being able to move with the ebbs and flows of life and be resilient in the face of what is sometimes a gentle breeze and other times might feel like a raging tornado.
[A little side note: we don’t really know how milky oats works to do all these things! With most of our herbs we usually know at least a fair amount about what it is doing and how it is having an effect, but with oats all we really know is that it is very nutritive, meaning it contains a lot of different minerals. As for its specificity to our nervous system, it is a bit of a mystery as to how that happens. Suffice to say that herbalists and herb-takers have been relying on this remedy for hundreds of years!]
Can milky oats be used by someone who is celiac or has a gluten intolerance or sensitivity?
There are anecdotal reports from both sides of herbalism saying that gluten intolerant clients do not have a problem using milky oat, while others say they avoid it.
Here is what we know.
Oats do not contain gluten. However, oats do contain a similar protein called avenin. Some people do react to avenin, however much less people react to avenin than to gluten. One of the reasons for this is that avenin is not as hard to digest as gluten, so we are better able to break it down into molecules that our body recognises. Nevertheless, the similarity in structure does mean that in some people, avenin can trigger the immune system like gluten does, although the proportion of people is very small. In this study, 1 out of 12 people with celiac disease reacted to avenin when they were eating 100 grams of oats a day. Note: this is people eating oats in their whole form.
The medicine I’m talking about is a tincture that has extracted some of the compounds out of the oat itself and into the alcohol which is the tincture. Alcohol does extract proteins from herbs, so potentially avenin may be present in a tincture – however, the content of avenin at this milky stage of growth is much lower than in the oats we eat, since avenin starts to accumulate in the plant a few days after flowering and increases as the seed develops. (The milky stage is in between the flowering stage and the fully developed stage which is the final end product of the oat that we eat.) So, the avenin in the milky oat will be low to begin with, the alcohol may extract it, and may or may not even change its structure a bit. I would vouch that even in the people that react to gluten or to avenin in oats, many less (if any) would react to taking milky oats. I myself am sensitive to gluten and I feel confident taking a milky oat tincture, and would feel confident recommending it to clients who are in a similar situation. Of course, if someone feels they do not feel well taking any herb, it should be stopped or a smaller dose could be tried.
Things to consider:
Just like any tool to aid the nervous system, milky oat works best alongside other interventions that collectively support a healthy nervous system. It is great to support you when you are honestly doing the best you can overall and still need extra help, but it is not a silver bullet; it can only do so much and will not cancel out a lifestyle filled with detrimental habits. (That’s not how it works and frankly that’s not how herbs work or how they should be used from a holistic perspective.)
We are talking here about the tincture of the fresh milky oat seed. The effect of oatstraw, oatmeal, oat milk and other forms of oats may be similar but will not be the same.
What form to take it in: Making a tea or decoction from the seeds will not have nearly the same extent of an effect. Tinctures are much more potent, and fresh plant tinctures even more so for this herb.
This is a slow-acting remedy. It wouldn’t be the first thing you would reach for if you were, say, having a panic attack or couldn’t get to sleep; rather it needs to be taken consistently over a period of time, ideally several months, to have a noticeable effect. Then the effects are substantial and long-lasting.
This is an extremely safe herb, no side effects or drug interactions. There are definitely no dependency issues, and it is not sedating at all. Milky oats is safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and any age from children to the elderly.
A typical dose is something around 3-5ml, 3-4 times a day. Tinctures come in a dropper bottle so they are really portable and easy to take. You can have a dose in the morning, then take your tincture bottle with you to work, and have another dose there, or while you’re out and about. Consistency is really key with milky oat in order to reap the benefits.
Sourcing: If you live in Canada or the US I would recommend buying from Ravensong Herbals on Vancouver Island. Their milky oat tincture is phenomenal. Otherwise many health food stores - not all but many - do stock milky oat tincture, but I would recommend you check the bottle; there should be a milky sediment visible at the bottom of the bottle. If not, I would be questioning how potent that tincture is going to be. You’ll want to shake the bottle well each time and get that milky goodness dispersed into each dose that you measure out for yourself.
If you do decide to try this herb, I would love to hear how you go!