Newport Natural Health Reader,

If you’ve ever had heartburn – and who hasn’t? – you know it’s a miserable experience. For many people, heartburn is a temporary situation. But for millions of others, untreated, occasional heartburn becomes a chronic condition.

When stomach acid repeatedly escapes the stomach, it damages the esophagus. Eventually, heartburn escalates into a more serious condition known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

In addition to the sensation of “heartburn”, GERD sufferers might also experience a sour flavor in the mouth or notice the taste of regurgitated food, as well as chest pain, coughing, wheezing, and/or trouble swallowing.

How does stomach acid get outside of the stomach? A malfunctioning muscle called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is responsible.

The LES is a flap that separates the base of the esophagus, the tube that connects the mouth and stomach, from the top of the stomach. Normally, it only opens when food or liquids need to enter the stomach, or leave it, as in the case of vomiting. Otherwise, the LES is closed.

But a malfunctioning LES allows corrosive stomach acids to travel into the esophagus where they can burn the lining and set the stage for ulcers, swelling, and even cancer. A number of different things can lead to a dysfunctional LES, including:

• Consuming nicotine and/or caffeine
• Taking certain drugs, including calcium channel blockers (Norvasc or Cardene, for example), antihistamines (Allegra and Benadryl, to name only two), nitrates, used to treat angina, and theophylline (Primatene, Quibron, and others)
• Being obese
• Aging
• Drinking alcohol
• Eating large meals or eating before bedtime
• Eating fried, fatty, or spicy foods
• Having a hiatal hernia (in which a portion of the stomach pokes through the diaphragm and into the chest)
• Food allergies
• Insufficient stomach acid
• Lying down, especially after eating.

Millions of people struggle with the discomfort and pain of acid reflux and GERD every day. Many of them are taking medications – such as Tums, Di-Gel, Rolaids, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec, Protonix, or Dexilant, to name only a few – that do absolutely nothing to correct the causes of the condition.

But a steady diet of these same medicines can have disastrous consequences for your health over the long run.

Once again, traditional medicine is failing patients. For years, pharmaceutical companies and physicians have claimed that too much stomach acid causes acid reflux and other common digestive disorders.

Actually, the real problem is exactly the opposite – too little stomach acid. But try telling that to a patient who has been brainwashed for years into believing that he or she has excess stomach acid.

During more than 20 years as a practicing physician, I’ve had to convince thousands of patients that their problem is the opposite of what they’ve been told, and even then, it often took a few weeks with the correct natural supplements before they finally realized I know what I’m talking about.

How Acid Reflux Happens

Still not convinced? Here are a few points that could change your mind. First, as we age, our stomach acid levels fall. When you were a teenager, for example, you had plenty of stomach acid.

But by the time you hit your third decade, those levels could be about half of what they were in adolescence. And acid levels continue to drop with each year that passes.

So why do you feel relief when you take acid blockers? Because by blocking whatever acid production is still occurring, there’s so little acid in your stomach that it can’t reach the esophagus.

But here’s the thing – that means you’re also not digesting food or absorbing supplements properly. All the effort you put into making healthy meals is wasted without stomach acid to break the food into its basic elements to be distributed throughout the body.

The same applies to supplements, too – without stomach acid, you’re missing out on the amino acids, minerals, and vitamins that your body needs.

What To Do If You Really Do Have Too Much Stomach Acid

It doesn’t happen often, but I do see patients who suffer from acid reflux due to too much stomach acid from time to time. In those cases, here is what I recommend:

Mix ½ teaspoon of baking soda with 6 ounces of warm water and drink. Baking soda is alkaline, and will correct the excess stomach acid.

If you’re watching your salt intake, hold the baking soda – it’s loaded with salt — and just drink a large glass of warm water to dilute the stomach acid.

And if that’s not enough, stomach acid plays a less well-known – but very important – role in keeping you healthy.

It protects you from dangerous bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms. Studies have shown that low stomach acid is linked to serious ailments, including heart disease, type 1 diabetes, asthma, allergies, depression, skin problems, osteoporosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Simple Ways To Improve Your Digestion

If you’re living with acid reflux, here’s my advice: Get a test to measure your level of stomach acid. If it is out of balance, consider the following lifestyle changes and supplements.

Lifestyle Modifications

• Here’s a quick and easy heartburn-reducing trick that a patient shared with me: Raise the head of your bed a few inches so your feet are lower than your head while sleeping. You can do this with a specially designed pillow, or you may need a handyman to install a small “platform” that raises the top of your bed a few inches.

According to patients who have tried this, it works instantly. Just keeping your head elevated prevents stomach acid from slipping through the LES while you’re lying down.

• Losing a few pounds – or more – can reduce LES dysfunction and ease heartburn symptoms.

• Stop eating three to four hours before bedtime. Going to sleep with a full stomach makes heartburn more likely, so skip the late night snacks. If you’re thirsty, try drinking a cup of warm water.

• Consider the possibility of a food allergy or sensitivity. Typically, foods that cause heartburn tend to be fatty (like meat and dairy), spicy, or acidic (like citrus juices). However, many patients find their own “problem foods” by keeping track of what they eat.

Just record meals and snacks in a small notebook and mark days when heartburn occurs. If you notice a pattern, such as heartburn following eating chocolate for example, then you know to go easy on that particular food.

Lack of maintenance , lack of performing a annual pressure test of the LPG system, the over filling (pressure) of the LPG vessel if it had just been serviced, the recent earthquake we had, corroded piping that would have been found during a annual pressure check…yeah I smell Law suit but not upon the Hilton.

It would be whom ever has their contract to fill and maintain the LPG system. The Hotel Restaurant Association has a lot to learn from this. Better pressure test your systems annually.

Deliberate act’ unlikely: Propane may have caused explosion
Sep. 28, 2013 |

Aftermath: Damage from an explosion near the fish pond area was visible from the lobby area yesterday at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa. An explosion around 8:40 p.m. Thursday damaged a structure near the fish pond and sent two guests to the hospital.

A joint statement from the Guam Police Department and FBI said there was no evidence the explosion was a “deliberate act.” Masako Watanabe/ Pacific Daily News/ mwatanabe@guampdn.com

Underground liquid propane pipes may have been the cause of the explosion at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa Thursday night, Guam Police and FBI said yesterday afternoon in a joint statement.

“At this time, we have found no evidence to indicate that the explosion was a deliberate act,” said Col. Maurice Sayama, acting chief of police.

The explosion caused minor injuries to three people and evacuated 600 to 650 hotel guests.

A one-story structure, near a pond and a swimming pool, could be seen with parts of its roof blown off, and nearby palm trees and foliage damaged.

Guests and hotel employees lined the driveway outside the hotel Thursday night, many of whom had little to no idea about why they had been evacuated.

Zaini Sebong, a tourist from Singapore, was standing outside the hotel in his bath robe.

He said he heard a “loud bang,” later followed by an announcement made across the hotel.

“It was something like, ‘We need to evacuate immediately,’” he said.

The governor’s communications director, Troy Torres, at the scene Thursday night, said bomb-sniffing dogs didn’t find any trace of explosives.

Investigators remained at the scene yesterday morning and received the assistance of federal and military bomb experts and investigators.

Inspection
Guam Fire Department personnel also were at the scene yesterday.

In the joint FBI-Guam Police Department statement, the agencies stated authorities will clear debris and concrete from the scene to access the blast area “and to check the integrity of underground liquid propane pipes that may have been the cause of the explosion.”

“Once the physical inspection of the site is complete, we should have a better idea of the blast’s ultimate cause,” the Guam police and the FBI said in their joint statement. “We hope to provide an update within the next few days.”

One Guam resident said yesterday he believes the propane lines are a possible culprit in the explosion.

John Mark Joseph, a Maina resident, said he was at the Hilton’s Tree Bar, near the explosion site, earlier this month and could smell the propane “blowing through the air.”

Page

Another Manufactured Crisis

As the end of the fiscal year approaches, the sad truth remains unchanged: Speaker Boehner has surrendered the gavel to the Tea Party’s desperate attempt to force a Republican Government Shutdown and put insurance companies back in charge of Americans’ health care.

With only three days left, their dysfunction and refusal to back-off their extreme, ideological demands is taking this nation down a dangerous partisan path that will hurt our economy, threaten job creation, and leave our families with less security, and our country with less certainty and stability.

As if a government shutdown wasn’t bad enough, they are determined to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to their radical agenda. I agree with President Obama that the full faith and credit of the United States is non-negotiable.

Refusing to raise the debt ceiling and allowing the U.S. to default on its debts poses a cataclysmic danger to the stability of our economy. American families would face higher interest rates for mortgages, auto loans, student loans, and credit cards.

Small businesses would have higher interest rates and less access to business loans needed to finance payrolls, build inventories, or invest in equipment & construction.

The American people have seen enough. Our country cannot afford another manufactured crisis. Democrats stand ready to honor America’s commitments, keep the government open, and create jobs.

USA! USA! USA!
The 34th America’s Cup finished with the most incredible comeback in history. After Oracle Team USA trailed Emirates Team New Zealand 1 to 8, Team USA surged ahead to win an unprecedented 8 straight races and once again hold the America’s Cup trophy high above their heads.

Skipper Jimmy Spithill, Tactician Sir Ben Ainslie, and the entire Oracle Team USA sailed into the Port of San Francisco as champions – welcomed by the largest and loudest crowd to cheer their entrance in history, or any team in history.

This was the vision of Oracle Team Sponsor Larry Ellison, who was on the water with his crew and joined in the celebration of his team’s second victory in the America’s Cup. Larry Ellison’s vision democratized the cup, from white caps to blue collar.

By bringing the race so close to the shore line, everyone who could view San Francisco Bay could view the excitement of America’s Cup.

That beautiful site was made possible by the extraordinary leadership of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Kyri McClellan of the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, and Mark Buell and Daley Dunham, who led a private sector initiative.

With the help of these leaders and the local San Francisco maritime unions, the world witnessed one of the greatest moments in sports history and in our beautiful Bay. Team USA won the very first race in 1851, and had successfully defended the Cup for the next 132 years until 1983.

Exactly thirty years later, the Cup returns home to where it belongs: in the hands of American sailors who defied the odds, who are so courageous, who are so disciplined, who are so focused, and who had such strategic plan to give our country a victory we will never forget.

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi celebrates Oracle Team USA’s stunning comeback win at the 34th annual America’s Cup from her office in the United States Capitol.

best regards,