We know that plant-based medicine has been part of civilization since the earliest humans walked the earth. Even today, up to 25 percent of OTC and pharmaceutical drugs contain plant extracts, or synthetic versions of the natural compounds. But we’re not the only animals that use substances to relieve pain, regulate the body, or alter our minds. Many of our animal brethren – from intellectually advanced primates to instinctive insect colonies – do the exact same thing.
Think about some of our most common animal companions, cats and dogs. If your furry friends spend any amount of time outdoors, there’s a strong chance you’ve seen them eating grass. Some experts believe it’s to aid in digestion, treat intestinal worms, or boost vitamin levels; but the bottom line is, this is a self-medicating behavior that has been observed in wild, feral, and domestic species.
In Eastern medicine and many societies where people live a more traditional and natural lifestyle, the difference between food and medicine is negligible. Take the term “ishoku dougen” a Japanese phrase that directly translates to “medicine and food are of the same origin”. This can explain why so many people report substantial health benefits (such as lowering of blood pressure and managing diabetes) after switching to a plant-based diet. If we consider that natural medicine has healed us and kept us alive for so long before modern pharmacology came into play, the idea of animals self-medicating the same way we do becomes much more plausible.
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What is Zoopharmacognosy?
The act of animals self-medicating is referred to as zoopharmacognosy (“zoo”, “pharmaco”, “gnosy”), a term with Greek roots that can be roughly translated to mean “animal”, “remedy”, and “knowing”. It’s a relatively new field of biology, officially documented for the first time in 1987 and still considered a somewhat fringe concept.
That said, there are hundreds of instances of animals, even carnivores, using plants medicinally and sometimes recreationally. Similar to us, animals self-medicate with a few different delivery systems, depending on the compound and the condition they’re trying to treat. Like our prescription medications, plant-based treatments can be eaten, inhaled, applied topically, and so on.
For instance, chimpanzees swill the leaves of Aspilia plants in their mouths, which releases toxins that kill gut bacteria. Another example would be formic acid created by ants, known to kill bird lice. Over 200 species of birds are known to roll around in ant nests to aggravate them into spraying this lice-killing acid. And speaking of ants, wood ants control disease and fight pathogens within their colonies by building their nests out of conifer tree needles, whose sap contains potent antimicrobial compounds – this is the equivalent of disinfecting your home.
Animals also use plants in proactive and preventative ways, akin to our utilization of vitamins and supplements. A great example of this is seen in various tropical species such as parrots, bats, and sifakas, who consume dirt and clay containing very high levels of minerals and nutrients. Brown bears have also been observed taking an active stance on plant medicine, by making pastes out of mashed, wet osha root and rubbing it on their bodies to prevent insect bites. And of course, our beloved dogs and cats eating grass as mentioned earlier, which has been reported by many pet owners, but you can also find a published study on the topic here.
Learned or instinctive?
Most actions and behaviors of modern-day humans are learned through a combination of personal experimentation, observation, and passed-down information. Because adult humans rely so much on higher reasoning and technology, we have very little reason to be instinctive in today’s world. At this point, we barely even need to have a sense of direction anymore. Sure, we might get some gut feelings that seem important, and we try to listen to them, but we tend to override these so-called instincts with logic and experience.
An instinct, on the other hand, is “an innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli.” Lions hunt instinctively, snakes brumate instinctively, and human babies cry instinctively – but at around 6 months of age, our instincts, often referred to as “baby reflexes” begin to give way to learned behaviors and intentional actions.
A good example of social medicine is in the implementation of vaccinations or quarantines. Pandemic craziness aside, just during bad flu seasons it was common for the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) to recommend that people be extra vigilant about washing their hands and avoiding crowded spaces. I gave birth to my second son during a particularly nasty flu season, and the hospital had a lot of restrictions in place regarding cleanliness and visitation. For example, I could not have more than one person in the room with me at any given time, and no one under the age of 18 was allowed in the labor and delivery area.
In nature, animals often live in groups, and when we look at insects, many live in colonies of up to millions of other organisms; like some of the world’s most populated cities. Social insects such as fruit flies, bees, and ants participate in a phenomenon known as social prophylaxis, a process consisting of various methods to preserve the health and well-being of their society, but often it’s accomplished by collecting antimicrobial resin from trees. The insects consume it, and also feed it to their young in order to prevent disease. Although resin-collecting is practiced by many different species of insects, they time and method of collection varies.
Do animals like getting high too?
This is the million-dollar question. The idea of animals using plants therapeutically is not so farfetched, but animals getting high… is that even a thing? As it turns out, yes. Animals are much more like us than many realize. Not only do they learn how to harness their local resources in a medicinal fashion, but they’re not afraid of a good time either.
Just like us, different animals prefer different highs. Some like to trip, others just want to relax, and quite a few prefer to get drunk. The Smithsonian reports on adventurous dolphins who intentionally instigate toxic pufferfish. When threatened, pufferfish release a chemical cocktail that can be extremely potent and dangerous, but in small doses may produce a trance-like, hallucinogenic state. Cats like getting high too, using a plant in the mint family called Nepeta cataria – commonly known as catnip, nicknamed so because roughly two-thirds of cats exhibit an intense attraction to this plant.