How Oat Straw Extract (Avena Sativa) Helps Promote Cognitive Health
There are many ways one can obtain a cognitive edge without pharmaceuticals.
Typically, when it comes to dietary supplements, the term used to denote one such way is known as “nootropics.”
On the one hand, some nootropics, like Huperzine-A, are pretty fast acting.
In Huperzine-A’s case, it rapidly inhibits the production of enzymes that break down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which, when increased, improves focus and the ability to learn.
The nootropics which have fast-acting effects are typically the ones most worth avoiding. For instance (and in sticking with Huperzine-A as an example), Huperzine-A has a long half-life and thus needs to be cycled to maintain consistency of effects.
However, there is no consistent way to cycle with Huperzine-A, as research on this compound has yet to account for its need.
Therefore, if one is going to supplement with Huperzine-A, they’ll have to consult forums, inaccurate supplement labels, and other unreliable sources of information to understand how they are to conduct a cycle.
On the other hand, there are nootropics like oat straw extract (Avena Sativa), which do not have many or any rapid effects but instead work akin to a vitamin –though Avena sativa acutely helps in some instances.
In other words, like a vitamin, the benefits of taking a nootropic like an oat straw extract will be measured according to barely perceptible subjective differences in focus, mood, the ability to learn, and cognition.
These are genuine benefits, but their slow temporal distribution is worth mentioning to calibrate the expectations of those interested in using dietary supplements for nootropic purposes –in most cases, quick pulses of energy and focus have diminishing returns compared to vitamin-like nootropics.
Nevertheless, there is a great deal of research demonstrating that over time using it as a dietary supplement, oat straw extract can improve empirical markers of executive functioning (i.e., having a greater sense of being a locus of control), learning, focus, general cognitive performance, and spatial working (short-term) memory.
History of Oat Straw Extract (Avena Sativa)
Oat Straw Extract, derived from the common oat plant (Avena Sativa), has a history of being used to improve the mind that can be traced back to the Middle Ages.
The use of oat straw extract in folk medicine was primarily based on anecdotal evidence –for instance, “Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a nun and herbalist born in 1098 in what is now present-day Germany, considered oats to be a ‘happiness’ herb fusion.”
However, modern scientific research –which has since developed proprietary extracts of Avena sativa, such as Neuravena® — has since confirmed many of its therapeutic properties, mainly by way of understanding its underlying mechanisms of acting on the human body.
The oat plant is native to Eurasia and is now grown worldwide as a staple cereal grain –one can readily obtain it and its benefits apart from oat straw extract by simply eating a lot of whole grains.
While the seeds are commonly consumed as food, the stems, leaves, and flowers of the plant are utilized to produce oat straw extract.
How Does Oat Straw Extract Work?
Oat straw extract works by promoting overall brain health through several mechanisms.
According to the journal Nutrients, a primary way it promotes overall brain health is by increasing blood flow to the brain, which in turn enhances the delivery of oxygen and essential nutrients to neurons, improving the process of myelination, which at the neural level is tantamount to learning.
This increased circulation not only supports cognitive function but also helps protect brain cells from oxidative stress and age-related damage.
Another mechanism by which oat straw extract exerts its cognitive benefits is through the modulation of neurotransmitters and, as researchers say, “of cerebral-electrical activity in the frontal cortex.”
In conjunction with that, oat straw extract has been found to increase the levels of dopamine by inhibiting the enzyme that breaks it down, known as MAO-B –and as researchers say, dopamine “plays a key role in working memory and executive function, [and is] certainly a candidate as the primary mechanism here.”
Furthermore, the extract contains avenanthramides, a unique group of antioxidants exclusive to oats. These compounds have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties, which can contribute to the preservation of brain function by reducing inflammation in neural tissue.
Nevertheless, “given the complex phytochemistry of Avena sativa extracts, it is difficult to elucidate the exact mechanisms of action underpinning the cognitive benefits seen here.”
What Are the Health Benefits of Using Oat Straw Extract?
Oat straw extract is mostly worth taking for its vitamin-like chronic benefits, but also, like vitamins, it can have acute positive effects in specific cases.
For instance, a study from The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine concluded that “taking 1600 mg of oat herb extract may acutely improve attention and concentration and the ability to maintain task focus in [elderly] adults with differing levels of cognitive status.”
The acute positive effects of oat straw extract found in clinical research occur when participants are elderly or middle-aged.
Another study from the journal Nutritional Neuroscience found that when middle-aged participants (40–65 years old) self-report a decline in spatial, working, and episodic memory, supplement with 800mg green-oat extract (a form of oat straw extract), it results in
“Increased speed of performance across post-dose assessments on a global measures including data from all of the timed tasks. It also improved performance of a delayed word recall task in terms of errors and an executive function task (Peg and Ball) in terms of decreased thinking time and overall completion time. Working memory span (Corsi blocks) was also increased, but only on the second time this dose was taken.”
Nutrients researchers found that cognitive function under lab-induced stressors improves after taking oat-straw extract –and when it comes to the chronic effects therein, they are especially pronounced when previous cognitive impairment was present.
How to Take Oat Straw Extract and Side-Effects
Given the cited research above, to obtain the benefits of Avena sativa, one should take 800mg daily.
Regarding side effects, Nutrients researchers regarded the risk as “minor” in occurrence and in severity, ranging from sleepiness and restlessness to increased heart rate –three symptoms one would certainly feel after having a big bowl of oatmeal!
Nevertheless, despite this clean track record, one should always consult their doctor before taking any dietary supplement.
In particular, getting an allergy test from an allergist that shows you a panel of things you’re allergic to is the best way to navigate uncertainty with dietary supplements.
Oat straw extract is a promising nootropic to add to a pre-existing stack of vitamins, other nootropics, and positive health habits like eating nutritious foods, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, and regularly exercising.
If you calibrate your expectations based on the research, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of Avena sativa, as it does have some potential to induce acute benefits in addition to chronic ones.
Consumers might not get the supercharge found from something like Huperzine-A in oat straw extract, but at the very least, they will improve their brain’s health and functioning in increasingly notable ways the longer one takes it.
