Fwd: Stevia vs Aspartame Healthy Herb or Toxic Nutra Sweet

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Stevia vs Aspartame Healthy Herb or Toxic Nutra Sweet

Thu, 10 Jan 2002 13:30:40 -0500

 

Dr.Julian Whitaker's Health & Healing®TOMORROW'S MEDICINE TODAY

December 1994

Vol. 4, No 12A Natural Sweetener That's Also Calorie-Free

This is a Tale of Two Sweeteners, full of sound and fury, signifying

that the FDA has sold you and your kids to the drug companies again,

and you are unwitting receptacles of a sweetener that has obvious

toxicity. The FDA has blocked the use of a natural sweetener that is

totally safe.

If you drink diet sodas or add Equal or NutraSweet to your coffee,

listen up. These sweeteners contain aspartame, which was first

approved by the FDA in 1974. That approval was rescinded because of

two studies showing that the substance caused brain tumors in

laboratory animals.

These studies were never refuted, and the additive was approved in

spite of these studies, in 1981, and for soft drinks in 1983.

According to National Cancer Institute data, there was an alarming

jump in the incidence of brain tumors in 1983 - 1987. The estimated

annual percent change (EAPC) rose from 2.1% to 8.1% in males, and

from 2.1% to 11.7% in females. This could be related to the

consumption of aspartame-sweetened products.

Aspartame has both potential and real toxicities. My associate

editor, Jane Heimlich, wrote about the effects of aspartame in the

January 1993 Health & Healing, and I have suggested alternative

natural sweeteners such as Sucanat and honey.

However, there is a natural, non-caloric sweetener that is totally

safe - stevia.

 

Try a Natural, Non-toxic, Calorie-free Sweetener

Stevia is an herb that has been used as a sweetener in South America

for hundreds of years. It is calorie - free, and the powdered

concentrate is 300 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia is widely used

all over the world. in Japan, for example, it claims 41% of the

sweetener market, including sugar, and was used in Japanese Diet Coke

until the company replaced it with aspartame to " standardize "

worldwide. There have not been any reports of toxicity with stevia,

which is consumed by millions of people daily.

 

The Scan/ Truth About Aspartame

Not so with aspartame sweeteners, such as NutraSweet and Equal. As of

February 1994, 6,888 cases of adverse reactions had been reported to

the FDA. In fact, more than 75% of all non-drug complaints to the FDA

are about aspartame. These complaints include headaches, dizziness,

mood changed, numbness, vomiting or nausea, muscle cramps and spasms,

and abdominal pain and cramps. There are also sizable numbers

reporting vision changed, joint pains, skin lesions, memory loss, and

seizures. Five deaths were reported to the FDA prior to 1987 as

possibly attributed to aspartame. This is only a small fraction of

the actual adverse reactions caused by aspartame. Most people would

not associate the problem with it, and even if they did, only a small

fraction of people or doctors would take the time to report it to the

FDA. I estimate that for every reported adverse reaction, 10 to 100

go unrecognized or unreported, which would bring the number to 70,000

to 700,000 cases.

Ralph G. Walton, M.D., Chairman of the Center of Behavioral Medicine

of the Western Reserve Care System, has published accounts of how the

excitatory characteristics of aspartame could lower the threshold for

and even cause seizures, mania, depression, or other psychological or

central nervous system disorders. In one study, he demonstrated that

people with a history of mood disorders had a significantly higher

number of adverse reactions to aspartame than those with no such

history. He estimated that considering everything that the substance

could do, about 35% of the population is vulnerable to an adverse

reaction to aspartame.

Even though many of these reports are anecdotal, they are quite

credible, given the chemistry of aspartame. Brain/mood symptoms

brought on by aspartame could easily be caused by the changes in

brain chemistry triggered by elevated phenylalanine.

There have been numerous studies showing aspartame's safety. My

complaint with these is that the studies used aspartame capsules

rather than the commonly used form of aspartame mixed and stored in

food.

 

" Wood Alcohol " in Your Food

Even more significant, perhaps, is the role of methanol or methyl

alcohol (also called " wood alcohol " ), which makes up 10% of

aspartame. The methanol is further broken down into formaldehyde (a

known carcinogen), formic acid (a poison excreted by ants) and

diketopiperazine (DKP, which causes brain tumors). Absorption of

methanol is hastened if aspartame has broken down, as it does when it

is heated, used in hot drinks or decomposed during prolonged storage.

In Israel, people are warned not to consume large quantities of

aspartame, and not to store products containing it in the heat.

Incredibly, the FDA recently approved aspartame for baked goods!

Methanol is specifically toxic to the optic nerve, and caused

blindness in people who drank " bootlegged " whiskey that contained it.

The poisoning effects of taking methanol are cumulative.

A pilot, George E. Leighton, experienced such sever blurred vision

while flying that he couldn't even read the instrument panel and

barely averted a crash landing. This occurred two hours after he

inadvertently drank two cups of aspartame-sweetened hot chocolate. He

has consumed no aspartame since, nor has he had any blurred vision.

Other pilots had seizures which they are convinced were caused by

aspartame, and have lost their licenses as a result.

 

How Stevia Got Stonewalled by the FDA

Stevia, on the other had, is not only non-toxic, but has several

traditional medicinal uses. The Indian tribes of South America have

used it as a digestive aid, and have also applied it topically for

years to help wound healing. Recent clinical studies have shown it

can increase glucose tolerance and decrease blood sugar levels.

Of the two sweeteners, stevia wins hands down for safety. Yet your

children guzzle excitatory chemicals laced with methanol.

Stevia gained popularity in this country in the 1980's as a safe

sweetener. Celestial Seasonings, one of the world's largest herbal

tea companies, used it as a flavoring in many of their teas. In 1986,

without warning, the FDA came into their warehouse and seized their

stock of stevia. No reason was given for seizure; the company was

simply told they could not use it in their teas.

In 1991 the FDA banned stevia, claiming that it was an " unsafe food

additive, " even though it is available in many other countries. The

obvious reason for the seizure and the ban on stevia was to prevent

it from competing with aspartame.

 

Let's Fight for a Safer Non-calorie Sweetener

 

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has petitioned the

FDA to lift the ban on stevia, based on the fact that stevia is not a

food additive, but a food with a long record of safety. The FDA has

yet to act on this petition.

Write to David Kessler at the FDA (5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD

20857) and ask why stevia, a food product with hundreds of years of

safe consumption, is banned in this country but nowhere else. Demand

that he lift the ban on stevia, and ban aspartame instead.

Send a copy of that letter to your local newspaper and to me (at

Phillips Publishing, Customer Service - Stevia, 7811 Montrose Road,

Potomac, MD 20854) so that Kessler will not be able to say that he

doesn't get his mail.

For more information on aspartame, or to report an adverse reaction,

send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Aspartame Consumer

Safety Network, Inc., P.O. Box 780634, Dallas, TX 75378, 314/352-

4268.

(NOTE: This was a partially successful campaign.

The ban on stevia was lifted in 1995, for its use as a dietary

supplement, but not as a sweetener.)

 

Recommendations

Frankly, I don't let aspartame into my house - children live there.

If you do drink or eat products that contain aspartame, by all means

avoid the heated ones, and that includes adding Equal to a hot drink.

And never drink large quantities of aspartame, as you might with iced

tea on a hot day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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