Aspartame 950
ASPARTAME: DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE OR JUST ANOTHER SWEETENER. You Decide!
Are
you feeding this sweetener which is poison to your children without realizing?
According
to the literature from its opponents, aspartame is a deadly poison. However,
proponents say it is perfectly safe. Certainly this is a controversy worth
exploring.
Aspartame,
aka "NutraSweet,", "Equal", "Spoonful",
"Equal-Measure", and "Neotame", was approved for use in
solid food by the FDA in 1981 and in soft drinks in 1983. Although it claims to
be a "natural" sweetener, it is actually a "synthetic chemical
consisting of two amino acids, phenylalanine (50%) and aspartic acid (40%), and
a methyl ester (10%) that promptly becomes free methyl alcohol (methanol; wood
alcohol)" (Mercola) Wood alcohol has always been considered a poison.
According
to H.J. Roberts, MD, Director, Palm Beach Institute for Medical Research,
"an estimated 800 million lbs. of aspartame have been consumed since its
approval for human use". There are more than 9,000 products that contain
aspartame. Aspartame is used in gum, soft drinks, puddings, baby foods,
toothpastes, as a table top sweetener, and a host of other products.
According
to Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, professor of Neurosurgery, Medical University of
Mississippi, aspartic acid is an excitatory amino acid. He believes that free
excitatory amino acids cause serious, chronic neurological disorders as well as
a number of other acute symptoms. Dr. Blaylock says that "excessive
excitotoxin accumulation within the injured brain constitutes the leading theory
of a final common pathway for a multitude of disorders affecting the central
nervous system, from strokes and trauma to neurodegenerative diseases and
seizures." It appears, then, that ingesting aspartame can have adverse
effects that can either worsen or trigger chronic illness. Some conditions that
aspartame can affect or trigger are multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue,
diabetes, epilepsy, mental retardation, lymphoma, and birth defects. There is
also evidence that excitotoxins are involved in Parkinson's disease.
Phenylalanine
is an essential amino acid. This means that it is essential that we get it in
our food, because our bodies do not make it. Phenylalanine is required by people
of all ages and is found in protein food such as meat, milk, and eggs.
Typically, dietary proteins contain five percent phenylalanine by weight.
Aspartame, however, contains fifty percent. (Roberts) Most people consume enough
protein and get plenty of phenylalanine in their diet. Amino acids in protein
and other foods are not in a singular form. They are not isolated. They are
"meant to be taken together in combination, because, in nature, amino acids
work together to build proteins in the body". (
Methanol
constitutes ten percent of aspartame. Just because it is only ten percent, don't
be fooled into thinking that it is not as dangerous as the other two components.
Some proponents of aspartame claim that methanol is found in natural foods,
especially fruit. However, these foods also contain ethanol, in a 20:1 ratio.
Ethanol inhibits oxidation of the methanol and allows excretion through the
lungs and kidneys. If oxidation of methanol is not inhibited, it converts to
formaldehyde, a known carcinogen to the human body. Aspartame does not contain
ethanol and no ethanol is produced.
Methanol
in brain tissue converts into formic acid and formaldehyde, which are both
neurotoxic. Methanol is also the first part of aspartame to be released in the
small intestine and is rapidly absorbed. Elimination of methanol by a human
being is five times longer than the same amount of ethyl alcohol. Methanol has
cumulative effects resulting in eventual poisoning. Complete oxidation to carbon
dioxide, which can then be exhaled by the lungs, takes several days. Formic acid
has been implicated in methanol poisoning, which can lead to metabolic acidosis
and blindness.
Here are
some interesting facts about the methanol component in aspartame from Dr.
Roberts:
A. There
is a correlation between aspartame consumption and methanol concentrations. B.
As little as three teaspoons of forty-percent methanol can be fatal. C. Nineteen
mg. aspartame (equivalent to 1 tsp. sugar) equals 1.9 mg. methanol. D. One liter
of aspartame sweetened soft drink averages 555 mg. aspartame, which equals 55
mg. methanol. E. Methanol concentrations rise with heating and prolonged storage
of aspartame. F Methanol is a component of fuels such as Sterno, antifreeze,
solvents and fluids used in duplicating machines.
Before
aspartame's final approval in 1981, experiments were performed in various
studies for safety. In one study, done by G.D. Searle, the manufacturer, 320
rats were fed aspartame and 120 rats were fed a normal diet. The results of this
study were that in the rats fed aspartame, 12 developed brain tumors and none of
the control rats had. The 12 represented 3.75% incidence of brain tumors in rats
fed aspartame. When these results were broken down into low dose or high dose
aspartame, it was found that the high dose aspartame fed rats had a higher
incidence of brain tumors, showing a dose related incidence of brain tumors.
(Blaylock) Some other disorders associated with methanol toxicity are eye
damage, "preembalming" where formaldehyde crystals actually deposit in
organs of persons consuming large amounts of aspartame (Roberts).
Peripheral
neuropathy, pancreatitis, cardiomyopathy, and severe depression are other
problems associated with the methanol component of aspartame. Methanol also
interferes with "dopamine reuptake at nerve terminals", which may
cause parkinsonism, dementia, neurological abnormalities and blindness. Visual
loss is a symptom of someone who consumes wood alcohol (methanol). (Roberts)
It is
rather apparent that more independent studies need to be done concerning the
safety of aspartame. Most of the studies that have been done were either done by
the manufacturer or funded, in part, by the manufacturer. Over 3000 people
complained to the FDA about the side effects they suffered from consuming
aspartame sweetened produces, but their voices fell on deaf ears. The reports
that have been cited are disregarded by the FDA as well.
Aspartame
doesn't affect everyone the same. Like with other toxins, once it is dissolved
in the body, it will deposit in the weakest area, which may explain the variety
of complaints received by the FDA.
Check out www.dorway.com back to children's health