Your breakfast comfort food might just be the best gift you can give your skin this holiday season. Oats have been harvested and used by humans since about 2000 BC. 

They have a very long history that runs parallel to human development and has seen a variety of different uses through the ages. 

There are several reasons that oats have continued to be a very important grain. One reason is the wonderful benefits they bring to your skin. 

Colloidal oatmeal is used for skincare products, but don’t let the name confuse you, it simply means oats that have been finely ground and then suspended in liquid to make them easier for the skin to absorb.

With the weather turning colder, your skin is more desperate for moisture and care. Colloidal oatmeal may be just what your skin is craving. And the evidence in its favor is pretty impressive.

Benefits of colloidal oatmeal

No matter what shape your skin is in, it could probably benefit from some good old-fashioned oatmeal. If you have a skin condition, it’s even better.

1. Protection

The skin’s job is to protect the body, so giving it a little more power in that area is always a good thing. Oats form an occlusive layer on the skin that bolsters its protective abilities. This can help strengthen the skin and make it work more efficiently.

2. Moisturizer

While everyone wants good, healthy skin, they also want it to feel soft, and that means it needs to be moisturized. 

While the occlusive layer the oatmeal creates holds moisture in effectively, it also has oils, starches, and sugars that have emollient properties that soften your skin. On top of that, it works as a humectant and draws water into the skin. 

It’s a fantastic way to add moisture from the inside and the outside.

3. Soothes irritation

People with eczema and atopic dermatitis are often told to try oatmeal baths and oatmeal lotion to soothe the itching and to calm irritation. 

But it’s not just for people with these conditions. If you have psoriasis, a sunburn, bug bites, poison ivy, or any other condition that have caused your skin to be itchy and/or inflamed, you may benefit from colloidal oatmeal. 

There are a few different reasons oatmeal is a great way to combat irritation, and together, they create an almost perfect weapon. The cellulose and the fiber soften the skin and moisturize it while the vitamin E acts as a natural anti-inflammatory to bring down the swelling.

4. Fights UV rays

Colloidal oatmeal should never be used in place of sunscreen, but it does have some UV fighting power. Oatmeal contains flavonoids, which help absorb UVA rays, so they don’t damage the skin. 

Take your sun protection to a new level by looking for sunscreen lotion that contains colloidal oatmeal.

5. Powerful antioxidant

Today you hear a lot about antioxidants and how important they are. Antioxidants help your body fight free radicals, which attack the body and damage your cells. 

The main antioxidants in oatmeal are called avenanthramides, which are really remarkable and not only beneficial to the skin, but it’s believed that they could provide additional protection against coronary heart disease and colon cancer. 

6. Cleanser

Oatmeal is gentle enough on the skin for most people, and there can be a rare allergy once in a while, but it’s not common. The saponins in oatmeal make it a fantastic cleanser with a soothing nature. 

Adding to its ability to clean are its avenacins compounds, which have anti-fungal properties. Rounding out its cleansing qualities, colloidal oatmeal works as a non-irritating exfoliant and removes dead skin cells with ease.

To put it simply

If you look closely, you’ll find colloidal oatmeal is an ingredient in many of your favorite products, and now that you know how great it is for you, you might want to start looking for more products that have this great grain as an ingredient.

While oatmeal is wonderful in situations where you need more moisture or to combat itch and other problems that come up, it’s even better when used regularly. The barrier that colloidal oatmeal creates helps protect you from dry conditions, allergens you come in contact with, the sun’s rays, and more. 

People have long turned to oatmeal to boost their health from the inside and out, and science agrees that oatmeal is indeed a very healthy grain.