Of all the things that happen in my day, not a lot lights me up more than watching my dogs polish off a bowl of wild blueberries or even pass a perfectly purple number two. It’s like I’ve achieved all I need to in a day, knowing that they’ve gotten their daily dose of healing magic. 

Even after spending many years studying nutrition, wild blueberries weren’t fully on my radar until I started reading the Medical Medium books by Anthony William. In the book Life Changing Foods, he gives them the title of the ‘world’s most powerful food’ and highly recommends them for healing any condition, especially those related to the brain and/or the nerves. Ding ding. 

Wild blueberries (different than cultivated blueberries) contain the highest proportion of antioxidants of any food on the planet, preventing cancer and protecting from disease. They also contain their own innate intelligence that reads the body, searches out potential disease, monitors stress and toxicity levels, and figures out the best way to heal those who consume them. Ah. Does it get any better than that? 

A few notable ways these berries get to work: 

Heavy Metal Removal + Brain Tissue Repair 

Wild blueberries are the most powerful brain food in existence and also happen to be one of the most effective heavy metal detoxing foods, removing other neurotoxic substances like DDT and radiation along the way. ALL of which are incredibly important when we are on the journey of healing the brain and body from anxiety. Not only do wild blueberries remove heavy metals but as potent antioxidants, they also heal and repair any gaps created by oxidation in the brain tissue when they are removed. Wild blueberries are also an excellent source of brain-cooling glucose.

Digestive + Liver Support

Containing dozens of antioxidant varieties, the wild blueberry is “as nourishing to the liver as mother’s milk is to a baby.” They have the ability to grab on to troublemakers in the liver and hold on tight to them, safely escorting them out of the body. The healing blue pigments contained within them also have the ability to saturate deep into liver cells spreading their healing magic far and wide. Acting as a powerful prebiotic, wild blueberries also feed good bacteria in the intestinal tract which greatly benefits the liver as well. As the first line of defense in filtering out neurotoxic substances, liver health is incredibly important as we focus on healing the brain. 

Adaptogenic Properties

Wild blueberries have been growing and thriving on the planet for tens of thousands of years, adapting to every fluctuation in climate over all this time. Their nutritional value increases in freezing temperatures and even in the event of being burned to the ground, wild blueberry bushes have been observed to grow back stronger and healthier than ever before. And in a magical way, they pass this resilience on to our dogs as a true resurrection food. Taking an adverse/unthinkable circumstance, meeting it, becoming better for it and rising up with an indestructible essence that is passed on to those who consume them. I love this for our anxious dogs who have been through it—whether having experienced traumatic events or just living in a body that is experiencing life in a stressful way. 

Also, The Wolves Approve

In this particular study by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, they found that wolves in their region were eating wild blueberries in amounts making up over 80% of their diet in July. They even observed adult wolves regurgitating blueberries to wolf pups, indicating that wolves view blueberries as a valuable food source for rearing pups. They also point out that they have only been aware that wolves eat wild blueberries since 2015 and this is the first ever footage of them doing so.

 

This is something I find so fascinating and I think that this shines such a light on how little us humans actually know about the canine species, their natural rhythms and even natural cleansing/detoxifying periods/cycles. Wolves are likely out there doing all sorts of magical healing things that we don’t know about. For example, Anthony William explains in his book Liver Rescue that when scavengers in the wild consume the liver organ of prey, they will forage for extra roots and shoots in the spring to help their bodies cleanse from the inherent toxicity of this organ. In this particular region, wild blueberries may be what’s most available in the summer season or it could be serving as a healing tool as part of an natural summer cleansing period. We may never know for sure but I do very much appreciate the wild instinctive wolves’ stamp of approval on wild blueberries.

How to Include Wild Blueberries in Your Dog’s Diet

Wild blueberries can be found in the freezer section in grocery stores that tend to carry more specialty items as well as in larger amounts at Costco. To get the most benefit out of wild blueberries, I recommend feeding them to our dogs away from animal/meat products. This is part of a longer discussion around something called insulin resistance but the short explanation is that when fats are in the bloodstream from animal products, the beneficial glucose from fruit is unable to be absorbed into cells in the body. 

A common challenge we come up against with our domesticated dogs when it comes to feeding them plant foods on their own is ok but how? Some dogs are much more open to fruits but for others it can take some experimenting. In my own experience with my dogs, I’ve found them to only consume wild blueberries in a smoothie. If for some reason a couple whole blueberries make it into the mix, they tend to get left in the bowl. In the very beginning, I even found that I had to make a smoothie, freeze it into cubes and then chop it up so it was like a crunchy kibble texture (I know this is more work but I was very determined and it did the job). Now they are more open to plain smoothies, thank goodness. 

Every dog is different but these are some things to try to include wild blueberries into your dog’s diet: 

• Pureeing into smoothies
• Pureeing into smoothie, freezing into cubes and chopping up
• Mashing into another plant food they like more like sweet potatoes

I’ve found that as time goes on and we assist our dog’s in cleansing and nourishing their bodies and including more plant foods into the mix, that they do tend to change their preferences, widen their horizons and perhaps in this case, reconnect with their wild canine roots. If this is something that you’re looking to do for your dog and not sure where to start, feel free to reach out!

Resources 

• Medical Medium Brain Saver
• Medical Medium Liver Rescue
• Medical Medium Life Changing Foods
• Talking Wolves’ Diets with University of Minnesota