About this Episode
In this episode of the Medicinal Herbs series from the WholisticMatters Podcast, Professor Kerry Bone joins our host Sara Le Brun-Blashka, MS, to talk about his new book: “Functional Herbal Therapy: A Modern Paradigm for Clinicians.”
Kerry has written numerous books in the botanical field, including the classic “Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy: Modern Herbal Medicine” as well as works on subjects like herbal formulations, herbal safety, herbal chemistry and therapeutics, and clinical applications of Ayurvedic and Chinese herbs. Sara’s first question for Kerry: Why write a new book? (00:56) Kerry’s motivating factors:
- Developing a new, systematic approach to herbal prescribing over the past eight years
- His hands-on experience with patients and colleagues; reading the literature
- The desire to provide a comprehensive, go-to resource for conveying the structure of Functional Herbal Therapy (FHT)
- Wanting to keep the reader up to date with all of the recent material he’s generated
>> Audio bookmark: “It’s all about wanting to share, wanting to progress the field.” (03:26)
What is Functional Herbal Therapy? (03:48)
Kerry says that FHT is in step with modern concepts of functional medicine; the main goal: return to homeostasis. How do you do that? Go to the source of the problem, and provide the (herbal) catalysts to restore the body to a healthy state.
>> Audio bookmark: “A core fundamental is supporting the body’s naturally restorative processes that are intrinsically committed to homeostasis, in other words: intrinsically committed to good health.” (06:20)
How Is the Book Structured? (15:50)
Kerry’s new book has three main parts:
- Foundations of FHT
- Expanding on core strategies
- Principles of FHT applied to common disease states
Plus, one of the core principles of FHT is modular prescribing: taking the time (2-3 months per herb/condition) to test out different herbal combinations for different health issues. (24:51)
Essential Elements of FHT (27:36)
- Understand disease as a disruption of normal physiology
- Embrace the complexity of mosaic diseases: diseases with different patient presentation
- Ensure treatment energetics are compatible with the patient’s condition
- Therapy based on 12 core strategic targets
- Modular treatments and pulse dosing
- Support affected tissue
Kerry’s new book, “Functional Herbal Therapy: A Modern Paradigm for Clinicians,” is available for purchase on StandardProcess.com (Literature/Tools > Books).
