Oat meal has been around since the Christian Era and first used for medicinal purposes. It wasn’t until much later that it was cultivated as a crop. Oats started out as an Asiatic plant and then was transplanted to the US. Today, Oats are the third most important grain crop in the United States.

The green leaves and stem have been used for anxiety, weakened bladder and connective tissue, connective tissue deficiencies, gout, kidney ailments, opium and tobacco withdrawal treatments, rheumatism, skin diseases, sleeplessness and stress.

Homeopathiclly it has been used for exhaustion and insomnia.

The grain or fruit has been used for gastrointestinal tract disorders, gallbladder and kidneys, for cardiovascular disorders, constipation, diabetes, diarrhea, physical fatigue and rheumatism.

Straw has been used as a drug for seborrheic skin disorders and has also been anecdotally used for abdominal fatigue, bladder and rheumatic disorders, eye ailments, frostbite, gout, impetigo and insulin resistance. Oat straw has also been used in foot baths for chronically cold or tired feet and as a tea for flu and coughs.

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