History
Here, we'll tell you about a 45 year-old female who came to us with chest pain, heartburn, gas, and inability to swallow comfortably, along with occasional choking on solid foods, particularly fish sandwiches. Physical examination and laboratory tests were within normal limits except for rather sharp tenderness in the epigastrium. This is the point one inch below where the ribs come together in front to make a “V” and is about six inches toward the chin from the umbilicus or the belly button.

Findings
We made a diagnosis of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), in which high amounts of hydrochloric acid were refluxing back up into her “swallow tube” (esophagus) and causing an inflammation, resulting in auto digestion of her esophagus and stomach. We explained to the patient that she was somewhat insufficient in the production of hydrochloric acid. Contrary to popular belief, most people with similar problems suffer from low hydrochloric acid, not too much. A normal amount of hydrochloric acid in a person’s stomach can etch glass, but God put it there so as to properly digest fats, proteins, and carbohydrates to gain proper nutrition from food and, thus, not suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and malnutrition.

Recommendations
We instructed her to eliminate Xanthines, the most popular of which are caffeine and chocolate. These both have the tendency to dilate the valve between the esophagus and the stomach, so gastric juice refluxes back into the esophagus. There it causes irritation, furthers Barrett’s esophagitis, and can cause cancer. The inability to swallow efficiently, which is called dysphasia, and heartburn are red flags for trouble in this part of the body.

We also placed the patient on DGL (Dyglycerizated Licorice), which helps the goblet cells that line the esophagus and the stomach in the alimentary canal to produce a fully functioning mucous lining to this area of the body, preventing her from auto digesting her esophagus and stomach. We gave her Eat Ease, one capsule three times daily with the first morsel of food and told her to increase the number of capsules by an additional capsule three times a day every third day until her digestion was good. The maximum number of capsules for each meal is six. Eat Ease contains hydrochloric acid and pepsin.

When we saw this patient three weeks later, she was a changed woman. She had no chest pain, heartburn, excess gas, bloating or distention. Her bowel movements sank in the toilet water, indicating more efficient digestion. Her energy level was at a peak. She was radiant and overjoyed. Thus, her Xanthine elimination and DGL and hydrochloric acid supplements had helped her amazingly.

Discussion
This patient’s case emphasizes the problems with consuming caffeine and chocolate, since having an excess of Xanthine-containing foods in the gastrointestinal tract is a chief cause of GERD. GERD can also produce anti-peristaltic waves, which carry juices from the stomach to the throat. These then collide with the normal peristaltic waves in the esophagus, which carry the food from the throat to the stomach. This can cause actual pain in the chest, which can be mistaken for heart pain. This type of pain alerts us to be on the lookout for gallbladder, stomach, pancreatic, esophageal and heart disease. We can avoid this problem by making it a “cardinal sin” for anyone to eat chocolate and caffeine.

Caffeine has no nutritional value and tends to produce adrenal cortical insufficiency. God put the adrenal gland on top of the kidneys on each side to produce catacholamines, including adrenaline, which aid in the “fight or flight” response as kind of a Jado assist (borrowing an aeronautical term) to get us away from the “bears and Indians.” An example of this is a mother who has enough emergency energy to lift a car off of her crushed infant. After two weeks of caffeine (and many people have been addicted to caffeine for 40 years), the adrenal glands are in a “state of alarm” and have been over-functioning long enough to produce adrenal exhaustion. This is called Addison’s disease. That is what President John Fitzgerald Kennedy suffered from when he was President of the United States. For this he took adrenal cortical extract. This would most likely have been totally unnecessary had he avoided caffeine—soft drinks, teas, and coffees—entirely.

Chocolate is a major offender and does the same bad things, increasing the number of people who unnecessarily suffer from GERD in our society. In addition, chocolate and sugar accelerate hardening of the arteries about as fast as anything on the planet earth. Thus, chocolate is a major player in strokes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries.

It’s alarming to see how hard it is to turn on the television without getting an opportunity to get a free sample of Nexium, a common treatment for GERD. Nexium further lowers hydrochloric acid, thus, temporarily helping the GERD, but in the long run producing more malnutrition. When there is not enough hydrochloric acid in the stomach, this accelerates hardening of the arteries because the stomach cannot methylate homocystine. Homocystine is a major player in hardening of the arteries but when it is methylated to cystine, then it is kindly to the arteries. Low hydrochloric acid plays a significant role in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and brain fog.

Remember, Man does not die. He kills himself. (Montaigne, a French philosopher from 500 years ago.)

P.S. What goes around, comes around.