It’s interesting when people choose to become vegan for the sake of animal rights. “But what about plants?” I often think. 

Much of the decision is based upon not hurting the animals and that they should have a say in their life. The same for plants too!  

For those who communicate with animals in a deep way, we can receive the same level of response from a plant if you choose to do so and you know how to listen. We will go deep into this in another article.

For many years, studies have said that plants do not have a nervous system or neural receptors and because of this concluded that plants don’t feel. But this is absolutely not true too.

Plants also feel and are conscious to pain. They are also highly intelligent and know how to regulate themselves for the sake of protecting themselves against predators. There have been several studies that have demonstrated this. 

Humans tend to be quite ego-centric and often use their logic to extrapolate the explanation for all things. And recent evidence suggests otherwise–that even though plants don’t have a nervous system that indeed they can feel.

Plants know when they are in Danger of being harmed

There exists technology, such as the music of the plants device that can measure the change in resistance in plants, which can then be converted to data. Plants can also be hooked up to devices that measure this resistance, like the lie detector test, in order to witness and measure their responses to the environment.

If you do a google search of “plants connected to the lie detector test,” you’ll find that back in the 1960s Cleve Backster performed numerous experiments with plants that revealed through the lie detector test that they do indeed register pain the moment it is inflicted onto them. 

What’s even more fascinating is that they show a response even when someone thinks about harming them, and plants have a similar fear response as humans do when he took matches out of the drawer. The plants also displayed the spikes on the lie detector test when others were harmed too hence demonstrating their empathy and high level of consciousness. 

Plants feel it the moment they are hurt

In a recent study in 2018 at The University of Wisconsin-Madison, it was demonstrated that plants have a nervous system-like response when they are harmed. Using technology and genetic modification they were able to measure and show that when a caterpillar bit a leaf, the plant released glutamate which is a neurotransmitter that humans also release in a moment of feeling pain. In the plant this resulted in a cascade of calcium release, which is similar to a nerve signal in humans. This process then signaled the plant to release its defense hormones that can be toxic to those wanting to eat the plant. 

Plants respond to Pain and take measures to protect themselves

There have been several studies done with deer and trees in areas were the deer tend to go overboard and eat too much of any one tree. They found that plants release an increased level of tannins which are bitter and toxic to the deer so that they stop eating the plant. 

This is fascinating because it reveals that plants are much smarter and well adapted than most people give them credit for. If we think about our planet, however, the evidence is there. Plants tend to overgrow humans and man-made structures and even outlive humans too. 

Perhaps now you’ll think twice whenever you come in close contact with a plant, mistaking it for “just” a plant.

Nghala Bianca aka Dr. Nikki Starr shares about spirituality and consciousness throughout the world.

Follow her on instagram @drnikkistarr and learn more at drnikkistarr.com

Citations:

Nervous system-like signaling in plant defense

Gloria K. Muday, Heather Brown-Harding, et al

Science  14 Sep 2018: Vol. 361, Issue 6407, pp. 1068-1069 DOI: 10.1126/science.aau9813

Bettina Ohse et al, Salivary cues: simulated roe deer browsing induces systemic changes in phytohormones and defence chemistry in wild-grown maple and beech saplings, Functional Ecology (2016). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12717