Friday, February 13, 2009

Oatstraw for Your Bones

I learned about oatstraw a year ago to help build and maintain strong healthy bones. It is also soothing and calming, great to take when you are under stress or if you have the cold or flu. Oatstraw is good for women of all ages, especially during menopause to prevent or treat osteoporosis. Men and children also benefit from the abundant calcium. Oatstraw can be added or blended to other teas or drinks.

I have been making infusions and drinking a quart a day when my body really needs it. It is easier to assimilate the calcium from the herbs than other sources like dairy (for some people) and pills.

Here's how I make it:
I take 1 oz oatstraw and put it in a quart Mason jar. Fill the jar with boiling water and cap. Let steep overnight. The next morning strain and drink throughout the day. You can refrigerate this for up to 2 days.

Infusions steep longer than teas and pull more of the vitamins and minerals out of the plant material.

Herbs First http://www.herbsfirst.com/index.html
and Mountain Rose Herbs http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/
are good places to buy herbs in bulk for your teas and infusions.

4 comments:

Jenny said...

This is really interesting. I'm trying to learn more about herbs and their role in the diet. How does oatstraw taste, though?

shanna said...

Hi Jenny
Oatstraw has a mild flavor. Sometimes I mix in a few pinches of horsetail herb also for the silica. I have had bone loss and feel this has helped me a lot. I generally follow my intuition and listen to my body. I make the infusions and drink them daily until I don't like the taste anymore, then I know I've saturated my body for the time being. Then I will go to other teas for awhile, and test back again with the oatstraw to see if I need more. So for your question: I really like it when I need it, it has a nice mild flavor and sometimes I mix it with other teas. But when my body doesn't need anymore I don't like it, and just looking at the package it came in turns me off. Does that make sense??
Thanks for your comment.
Shanna

Dave Hardin online said...

Hi Shanna
Just curious - Is oatstraw the same thing as wheat grass? I guess from this post you can tell you are talking to a "city kid".

shanna said...

Good question Dave. Actually oatstraw is from the oat plant itself. (Your breakfast oatmeal is from the seeds.) The botanical name is Avena sativa. According to "Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs" by Gail Faith Edwards the oatstraw is harvested while the stem is still green and the oat seeds are in the milky stage and dried. This is in the near to mature stage. Oatstraw is actually the straw or stem of the oat plant.

Thanks for your question!
Shanna