• Home
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Guest Post Guidelines
  • List Your School or Practice in Our Business Directory

Animal Wellness Guide

Holistic Health For Animals

  • Animal
    • Dogs
    • Cats
    • Horses
    • Birds
    • Farm Animals
    • Rabbits
    • Guinea Pigs
    • Marine Mammals
  • Condition
    • Aggression
    • Allergies
    • Anxiety / Fear
    • Arthritis
    • Autism
    • Behavior
    • Cancer
    • Colic
    • Cushing’s Disease
    • Cuts & Wounds
    • Degenerative Myelopathy
    • Diabetes
    • Epilepsy
    • Fleas
    • Grief
    • Hip Dysplasia
    • Lyme Disease / Tick Prevention
    • Pinched Nerve
    • Rescue Animals
    • Seizures
    • Separation Anxiety
    • Stress
    • Tick Diseases
    • Weaving
  • Modality
    • Acupressure
    • Acupuncture
    • Applied Zoopharmacognosy
    • Aromatherapy
    • Bach Flowers
    • Chiropractic
    • Craniosacral
    • Crystal Healing
    • Diet
    • EFT
    • Energy Healing
    • Flower Essences
    • Healing Touch
    • Herbal Medicine
    • Homeopathy
    • Hydrotherapy
    • Manual Ligament Therapy
    • Massage
    • Meditation / Mindfulness
    • NAET
    • Nutrition
    • PEMF
    • Physical Therapy
    • Physiotherapy
    • Preventative Medicine
    • Reflexology
    • Reiki
    • Shamanism
    • Tong Ren
    • Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
    • TTouch
    • Zoopharmacognosy
    • Vibrational Healing
  • For Practitioners
    • Business >
      • All Business Articles
      • Blogging
      • Branding
      • Marketing
      • Market Research
    • Certification >
      • Acupressure Certification
      • Massage Certification
      • NBCAAM
    • Legal
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • List Your School or Practice in Our Business Directory
  • Find a School
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • Europe >
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Netherlands, The
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
    • New Zealand
    • South Africa
    • UK
    • USA
    • Holistic Animal Health Online Classes and Distance Learning Programs
  • Find a Practitioner
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • Continental Europe
    • New Zealand
    • UK
    • USA
  • Recommended Resources
    • Good Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Products
    • Blogging / Websites

Book Review: Wild Health

By Cattie Coyle

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we’ll receive a small commission.

Wild healthAs I mentioned in the post about my trip to England, one of the things that made me decide to study Applied Zoopharmacognosy was the book Wild Health by Cindy Engel. It is a fabulous collection of examples of how plants develop secondary metabolites (compounds that plants produce that are not needed for their immediate survival but to help fend off fungi, pests, herbivores, etc. – morphine and quinine are two well-known examples) in order to survive, and how animals in the wild (and most indigenous people) use those compounds in order to self-medicate (and also as preventative medicine).

Wild Health is filled with one fascinating example after another (I have already mentioned the acacia trees and grapevines (in the Applied Zoopharmacognosy and My Trip to England post) as well as several others in the Applied Zoopharmacognosy – Helping Domestic Animals Self-Medicate post, and here are a few more:

The Brazilian maned wolves’ favorite food is lobeira, a member of the nightshade family, also known asBrazilian maned wolf Wolf’s fruit. Even though other food sources are readily available, they will seek lobeira out and make it the main part of their diet. The wolves are often infected by giant kidney worms (which are a major health issue in Brazil and kill many a host by destroying their kidneys), and in an experiment at the Brasilia Zoo, it was found that maned wolves in captivity who were not allowed access to lobeira all died (post-mortem revealed that they all had severe giant kidney worm infestations) while wolves who were given access to the plant all survived.

The (adorable) North American Pika (a small mammal related to rabbits and hares) take things a step further. In the North American pikasummer, they feed on low phenol plants while also collecting and storing another plant (Acomastylis rossii) with a higher phenol content, to be consumed during the winter months. The pikas choose plants for their winter pantry wisely; because of the phenols, bacteria can’t grow, and during storage, the phenol levels degrade (phenols are secondary compounds which can be highly toxic but are also very effective antimicrobials), so by the time the pikas eat them, the levels have dropped enough that they are safe to consume.

Another interesting fact is that many scientists have found that animals that live in the wild carry a variety of pathogens, but they don’t get sick (unless their food supply becomes compromised, through droughts, floods or humans, etc.). Captive animals afflicted by the same disease causing organisms will succumb to illness. Why? Most likely because of diet.

Wild Health is one of those books that you read and go “wow, listen to this” and read out loud to people around you all the time. In addition of being amazed at how the animals seek out certain plants etc. for various conditions, this book really opened my eyes to the fact that food can be/ideally also is medicine. I knew of course that eating salad is better than eating junk food, but it made me look at food in a whole new way. I was already a healthy eater, and stick to a vegan diet whenever possible, but after reading this book, I pay even more attention to what I put in (and on) my body. Every meal is an opportunity to support or improve ones health.

And (something else we all know of course, but this book really hammers it home) it is also a strong reminder of how important it is to save biodiversity and natural habitats and stop ruining rainforests and other sources of irreplaceable plants and ecosystems. At a time when more and more bacteria and viruses are becoming drug resistant, and Western medicine stands helpless against so many illnesses, we are forever eradicating not only the plants that may hold the key to solving these problems but also the animals that can show us how they can be used.

This really is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it. I have bought many copies to give as gifts and have read it several times myself (and I know I’ll read it again). Regardless of whether you are new to the whole idea or you are already a “save the rainforest” kind of person, I promise Wild Health will amaze you.

Learn more in our other articles about Applied Zoopharmacognosy, and in these other recommended books:

How Animals Heal ThemselvesHelp Your Dog Heal Itself - A-Z guide to using essential oils and herbs for hidden and common problems

  • Bio
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
Cattie Coyle

Cattie Coyle

Founder and Editor at Animal Wellness Guide
Cattie is the founder and editor of Animal Wellness Guide. She is a freelance photographer, graduate of Bancroft School of Massage Therapy’s small animal program, and has also studied Applied Zoopharmacognosy and Reiki. Learn more about Cattie
Cattie Coyle

@AnimalWellnessG

Cattie Coyle

Cattie Coyle

Cattie Coyle

Cattie Coyle

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Sign up today and receive free updates straight in your inbox.
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Related Posts

  • Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home
  • Applied Zoopharmacognosy Helping Domestic Animals Self-Medicate by Animal Wellness GuideApplied Zoopharmacognosy – Helping Domestic Animals Self-Medicate
  • Applied Zoopharmacognosy And My Trip To England
  • Food as Medicine

About Cattie Coyle

Cattie is the founder and editor of Animal Wellness Guide. She is a freelance photographer, graduate of Bancroft School of Massage Therapy’s small animal program, and has also studied Applied Zoopharmacognosy and Reiki. Learn more about Cattie

Join our newsletter!

Get news and updates delivered directly to your inbox.

Scottish Terrier Greeting & Holiday Cards

Tallgrass Animal Acupressure

ANIMAL REIKI SOURCE

HEALING TOUCH FOR ANIMALS

Healing Touch for Animals

Power of Touch for Animals

Your Animal Health Business

Marketing Materials For Your Business

List Your School or Practice With Us

How To Start Your Own Blog

10 Ideas For Marketing Your Animal Massage Business

Doing Massage At An Event – Checklist For What To Bring

More Marketing Ideas

Categories

MISC INFORMATION

  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Cookie & Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • List Your School or Practice in Our Business Directory

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

Blogging / Websites
Products
Good Reads

Never Miss a Post!

Copyright © 2014 Animal Wellness Guide - All Rights Reserved | News Theme | Built on the Genesis Framework