Plants, their volatile oils and other natural non plant related remedies, were at one time the only medicine on this planet, utilised for the survival of the species and employed by mammals since the dawn of time.
Ingraham graduate working with Aromatics & Essential Oils at the ACE Equine Hospital, Egypt.Through evolution many mammals have developed an enzymatic physiology that has adapted to break down and neutralise most plant compounds, acquiring a taste for them when they are needed. However, a plant's bitterness will deter the healthy animal from eating it, protecting it form the plants active compounds. Plant oils are normally taken in small quantities by an animal when it needs its specific medicinal properties. Whether such substances end up being toxic or medicinal in their effects has a great deal to do with dosage. Once the animal has selected its remedy, it will then guide the treatment by inhaling it, taking it orally or by rubbing a part of its body into it.
When taken by mouth, essential oils are rapidly absorbed into the body. Sublingual and surlingual will have the fastest access into the blood. Due to an animal's individual physiology this method can provide astonishing results. As soon as the condition is clear, the animal will turn away from the aromas/remedies that were once selected.
Essential oils do not have any nutrients in them; they are composed entirely of secondary metabolites. Thus animals only self-administer them if they smell pleasant and refuse them if they smell unpleasant (inferred from behavioural criteria). It is an innate response to avoid things that are unpleasant as they are potentially detrimental to survival. This ancient mechanism does not break down during self-medication.
It is often claimed that essential oils are potent pharmacological agents. It is important to point out that such a claim is misleading. It implies that rose oil, an extremely mild substance, should be considered in the same bracket as the far more powerful and caustic bitter almond oil. Such statements can hinder the production of effective results as it can cause practitioners, vets or otherwise, to exercise undue caution and thus not use the oils in the correct manner. For example the statement that no essential oil should ever be ingested would be detrimental if applied to valerian, which can have different effects depending on whether it is inhaled or ingested. When inhaled it can have a sedative effect but when ingested the sedative constituent bornyl acetate is destroyed and instead the oil can have an anxiolytic effect. An anxious or fearful animal will not be able to cure itself if it is not allowed to ingest valerian.
