Lyle Hurd: It's a pleasure to welcome Hyla Cass. Dr. Hyla Cass is back with us. I'd like to talk to you a little bit about your book Natural Highs: Feel Good All the Time. First of all, I wonder if you'd be willing to read the quote by Sting.
Dr. Hyla Cass: Isn't that cool?
Lyle Hurd: It's on the front cover. Yes, absolutely.
Dr. Hyla Cass: Absolutely. All human beings want to be happy. Countless numbers of people seek refuge in stimulants, depressants, drugs, alcohol, coffee, sugar, dope and ecstasy. If nature can offer us sound, safe, legal antidotes to this poisoning of the human spirit then there can be no more important work in the 21st century than researching and exploring these resources. Bless his soul; right on, he got it. He really understood what my message was; this is from Sting.
Lyle Hurd: Read the brief one above that.
Dr. Hyla Cass: Oh that one, Andrew Weil, Dr. Andrew Weil, one of my heroes. Wonderful man, author of Spontaneous Healing and Eight Weeks to Optimum Health, and a real icon. He said, "Good solid information about natural ways to modify brain chemistry in order to spend more time in the moods and emotional states that you desire."
Lyle Hurd: When I first read this book and read your questionnaires that you have in there, I realized that a lot of people may be walking around today with all sorts of burdens that they carry, that they have no idea about because of what they're doing to give them these highs that they're on.
Dr. Hyla Cass: Yeah, it is kind of interesting, you know, our society is built on sugar, alcohol, dope, drugs, whatever, and we have this whole rampant addiction issue. And the way I see it, addiction is really people looking for a solution to feeling bad; they don't feel right. So they're looking to be balanced, just to be normal. Now a lot of people drink alcohol because they're so nervous, they're so tense or they have such anxiety about some old trauma or about living their life, whatever is going on, that they're self-medicating. And I am saying you don't have to self-medicate with these substances that are addictive. You actually can find out what specific nutrients are deficient in your own body and replenish them, and then you don't have the cravings. You know truth I want to tell you there is for PTSDs, post traumatic stress disorders; we do have emotional issues. But I also have to say that in my many years of practicing psychiatry that once I see somebody's imbalance nutritionally it's so much easier to deal with the psychotherapeutic issues, to deal with the emotional past, to deal with traumas, to deal with whatever comes up because you are working with a full brain, your brain is operating on all cylinders. I really see miracles when people turn around, when they start eating the right things, dropping the bad stuff, adding nutrients that the people have changed and they no longer have the cravings for the bad stuff because the bad stuff was simply a way of self-medicating.
Lyle Hurd: So basically, your goal is to get people back to the exuberant lives and the appreciation of those lives that we had when we were kids, right?
Dr. Hyla Cass: Yeah kids are natural. Unfortunately, kids are being given a lot of crappy food and they're not doing so well. But in our natural state look at kids they're joyful, they're spontaneous, they're curious, they're right there. When they're happy, they're happy; when they're, sad they're sad; it goes away and they're on to the next. And we're uptight, we have a lot of baggage and we're grabbing pills left and right not a good way to live. We need to start feeding our children and ourselves first of all, feeding ourselves right is a very good start. Getting enough of the right proteins, and which provide amino acids, getting enough of the right fats like fish oil and flax oil, and the right carbs from vegetables and whole grains as opposed to the sugar and white flour that we're eating so much of. Do that and there's going to be a tremendous difference. Just the fats, carbs and proteins and how your brain feels, and how your emotional well being really pulls together when you're eating properly, believe it or not.
Lyle Hurd: And you're also really saying, we really don't need, we shouldn't cover up all the stress that we have, we should find a way to deal with that stress as well, right?
Dr. Hyla Cass: My background is psychiatrist, even though I'm practicing a much larger scope of medicine at this point. But things like meditation, exercise, massage, running, listening to music, dancing, there are so many things that we can do that can enhance our brain chemistry. We don't have to be slaves to our addictions, we don't to be slaves to our memories and our traumas. We actually can take an active role in turning it all around and being the way we were as kids, but perhaps a lot wiser.
Lyle Hurd: I would recommend to anyone that they get a hold of a copy of this book and also, it makes a wonderful gift if you can give it to someone who is willing to look at it and many, many, many people have benefited by it. Thank you very much, Dr. Cass. We hope to have you back and to talk more to our audience. Thank you.
Dr. Hyla Cass: You're welcome.
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