Roy Upton is the founder, president, and editor of the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP). He has been working and practising professionally as a herbalist since 1981, and he trained in Ayurvedic, Traditional Chinese, and Western herbal medicine and has also studied and worked extensively with Native American and Caribbean ethnobotanical traditions. As an integral part of his work as a herbalist, he spends a great deal of time defending the rights of consumers to access herbal medicines and to see herbal medicine integrated into the fabric of both our homes and health care systems.

In this episode Roy shines a light on the serious issue of how we access our plants for herbal medicine. He explains how the work of the AHP focuses on protecting traditional herbal knowledge and ensures the safety of its use by practitioners, raising the bar for herbalists and helping to reduce fear for consumers.

Roy talks on:

• The why and how of beginning his collection of herbal books (pharmacopoeia).
• Becoming a political activist to keep botanicals accessible.
• The importance of monographs and therapeutic compendiums in providing a good foundation of herbal knowledge.
• The dangers of marketing and hurban myths.
• How the AHP monographs are created.
• Protecting plant-based pharmacognancy from technological advancements.
• The evolution of pharmacology and the root & branch treatment concept.
• Why the sustainability of herbs and supply chains and pursuit of quality play an important role in the preservation of herbal medicine.
• The importance of quality and purity assessment using the methodology of senses.

Find out more about the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and its botanical identification services at https://herbal-ahp.org/ 

Read some of Roy’s insightful articles on the Herbal Reality website at https://www.herbalreality.com/insights/

Find out more about Herbal Reality on Instagram @herbal.reality or visit www.herbalreality.com 

Herbcast is produced by Decibelle Creative: @decibelle_creative / www.decibellecreative.com