HEALTH: The Sweet Saboteur: Aspartame / Tips forCutt...

[Guest guest]

Hello tints_den,

In reference to your comment:

 

 

While I believe there is no smoke without a fire, I do also believe that the

public is being hoodwinked by at least one side of this argument. For me,

its not an issue... aspartame is a chemical and chemicals in my body don't

excite me; thus the move to stevia. I can see the argument hotting up on

aspartame though. I wish those who fight against it would give concrete,

believable evidence against it.... the emphasis on believable. Someone

telling of their personal reaction to aspartame is believable. Someone

claiming to have conquered an army single-handedly is not.

 

********There is a lot of evidence proving how deadly this neurotoxin is to

our bodies.

Go to _www.dorway.com_ (http://www.dorway.com) and to

_WNHO-Aspartame-Information- _

(WNHO-Aspartame-Information- ) and read ALL the

articles by

neurosurgeons, chemists, PhD's, doctors (allopathic and alternative) and read.

I

have a copy of the congressional record, which proved this is a deadly toxin.

Rumsfield (the DWEEB) pulled some IOU's and got the FDA to approve Aspartame.

Right after that he went to work at CEO and President of Searle, the

company who owned Aspartame....

 

 

Excitotoxins, Neurodegeneration and Neurodevelopment

by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.

 

 

There are a growing number of clinicians and basic scientists who are

convinced that a group of compounds called excitotoxins play a critical

role in the development of several neurological disorders including

migraines, seizures, infections, abnormal neural development, certain

endocrine disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders, learning disorders in

children, AIDS dementia, episodic violence, lyme borreliosis, hepatic

encephalopathy, specific types of obesity, and especially the neuro-

degenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's

disease, Huntington's disease, and olivopontocerebellar degeneration.

 

An enormous amount of both clinical and experimental evidence has

accumulated over the past decade supporting this basic premise. Yet, the

FDA still refuses to recognize the immediate and long term danger to the

public caused by the practice of allowing various excitotoxins to be added

to the food supply, such as MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and

aspartame.

 

The amount of these neurotoxins added to our food has increased

enormously since their first introduction. For example, since 1948 the

amount of MSG added to foods has doubled every decade. By 1972 262,000

metric tons were being added to foods. Over 800 million pounds of

aspartame have been consumed in various products since it was first

approved.

 

Ironically, these food additives have nothing to do with preserving food

or protecting its integrity. They are all used to alter the taste of food.

MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and natural flavoring are used to

enhance the taste of food so that it taste better. Aspartame is an

artificial sweetener. These toxins (excitotoxins) are not present in just

a few foods, but rather in almost all processed foods. In many cases they

are being added in disguised forms, such as natural flavoring, spices,

yeast extract, textured protein, soy protein extract, etc.

 

Experimentally, we know that when subtoxic levels of excitotoxins are

given to animals in divided doses, they experience full toxicity, i.e.they

are synergistic. Also, liquid forms of excitotoxins, as occurs in soups,

gravies and diet soft drinks are more toxic than that added to solid

foods. This is because they are more rapidly absorbed and reach higher

blood levels.

 

So, what is an excitotoxin? These are substances, usually acidic

amino acids, that react with specialized receptors in the brain in such a

way as to lead to destruction of certain types of neurons. Glutamate is

one of the more commonly known excitotoxins. MSG is the sodium salt of

glutamate. This amino acid is a normal neurotransmitter in the brain. In

fact, it is the most commonly used neurotransmitter by the brain.

Defenders of MSG and aspartame use, usually say: How could a substance

that is used normally by the brain cause harm?

 

This is because, glutamate, as a neurotransmitter, exists in the

extracellular fluid only in very, very small concentrations - no more than

8 to 12uM. When the concentration of this transmitter rises above this

level the neurons begin to fire abnormally. At higher concentrations, the

cells undergo a specialized process of delayed cell death known as

excitotoxicity, that is, they are excited to death.

 

It should also be appreciated that the effects of excitotoxin food

additives generally are not dramatic. Some individuals may be especially

sensitive and develop severe symptoms and even sudden death from cardiac

irritability, but in most instances the effects are subtle and develop

over a long period of time. While the food additives, MSG and aspartame,

are probably not direct causes of the neurodegenerative diseases, such as

Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, or amyotrophic lateral

sclerosis,they may well precipitate these disorders and certainly worsen

their pathology as we shall see. It may be that many people with a

propensity for developing one of these diseases would never develop a full

blown disorder had it not been for their exposure to high levels of food

borne excitotoxin additives. Some may have had a very mild form of the

disease had it no been for the exposure. Likewise, food borne excitotoxins

may be harmful to those suffering from strokes, head injury and HIV

infection and certainly should not be used in a hospital setting.

 

> More info is available at http://www.dorway.com

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/Article.asp?

PageType=Article & Id=530

 

How Safe is Aspartame?

 

© Michael Schachter M.D., F.A.C.A.M.

 

----

----------

 

Aspartame is known commercially as " Nutrasweet " when added to

products or " Equal " when it is in the form of a sugar substitute in a

packet. It should not be confused with Sweet-n-Low, which is

saccharine.

If you are one of the millions of Americans who is concerned about

being overweight or about eating too much sugar, chances are you have

eaten or drank products containing aspartame. You have been told by

the FDA and the manufacturers of these products that they are

perfectly safe. But, just how safe are they?

 

Just recently, I've been made aware of a large body of medical

information questioning the safety of these products. If you use any

diet sodas containing aspartame or any of the other thousands of

products which contain it, I suggest you listen carefully because

some of your physical, mental or emotional complaints may be due to

their use.

 

Do you have any idea what percentage of all complaints received by

the FDA are about aspartame? You probably will be as shocked as I was

to learn that between 80 to 85% of all complaints received by the FDA

are due to aspartame. By 1987, the FDA had received more than 6,000

complaints, including 250 involving epileptic seizures.

 

How much aspartame do Americans eat? The average American consumes

over 14 pounds of aspartame each year and this amount has been rising

daily. Since many of you out there and I avoid it completely, some of

you are ingesting a lot more than 14 pounds per year. In April, 1993,

aspartame was approved for use in baked goods and mixes which greatly

added to the 4,200 products already containing the synthetic

sweetener.

 

Symptoms which May be Due to Aspartame

What kinds of symptoms may occur as a result of ingesting aspartame?

They may involve almost any system of the body. Probably the most

common are headaches, including migraines. As I mentioned, one can

also experience seizures. Some pilots have lost their licenses after

having experienced seizures from aspartame. Several articles have

appeared in flying magazines.

 

Other neurologic or psychiatric symptoms include dizziness,

unsteadiness, confusion, severe drowziness and sleepiness, numbness,

hyperactivity--especially in children, severe depression,

irritability, anxiety, aggression, personality changes, insomnia and

phobias.

 

Visual changes may include blurred vision, blindness, pain and

reduced tears. Ringing or buzzing in the ears, hearing impairment or

noise intolerance occur in some people. Palpitations, shortness of

breath or recent high blood pressure may mimic a heart condition.

 

Other systems that can be affected are the gastrointestinal system,

including diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain; the skin, including

itching and hives; and the endocrine system, including loss of

control of diabetes, menstrual changes, marked weight loss or gain

and aggravated low blood sugar.

 

To see if you are being affected by aspartame, eliminate all

aspartame products for about two weeks. If some of your symptoms

improve, you may then reintroduce aspartame and see if your symptoms

return. If they do, you should probably eliminate aspartame entirely.

 

Mechanisms in the Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Aspartame which

May Explain the Various Symptoms

Research over the past twenty years has shown that certain " natural "

substances found in the body act as excitotoxins in the brain when

found at high levels. These substances can overstimulate and kill

brain cells, causing mild to severe brain damage. There has been

speculation that this mechanism may help to explain such diseases as

Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Examples of neuroexcitatory toxins in high concentrations are

monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG and components or breakdown

products of aspartame. The effects of these substances are both

additive and cumulative.

 

Aspartame consists of three molecules joined together. They are: (1)

50% phenyl alanine, an amino acid found in food, which can be

neurotoxic in high quantities and can cause seizures in certain

susceptible people; (2) 40% aspartic acid, also an amino acid found

in food, which is a neuroexciter and neurotoxic in high

concentrations; and (3) 10% methanol or methyl alcohol, which is also

called wood alcohol. Free methanol is quite toxic even in relatively

low concentrations.

 

The FDA and manufacturers response to the many expressed concerns of

the damaging effects of methanol in aspartame is to point out that it

occurs naturally in fruit juices and vegetables. They neglect to

state that in these foods, the methanol is in a bound form and the

human body does not have the digestive enzymes that breakdown the

pectin and release the methanol into the bloodstream. In addition,

natural methanol is always accompanied by ethanol in higher

concentrations, which acts to protect the body against any damage.

The methanol in aspartame is in free form and can be absorbed.

 

Some of the breakdown metabolic products of these substances are also

toxic and carcinogenic. Thus, you can see that there are many

possible mechanisms by which aspartame is potentially toxic and

dangerous.

 

An additional concern about aspartame is that it tends to lower

serotonin in the brain. Low brain serotonin levels are associated

with depression. The FDA has banned the food supplement tryptophan,

the essential amino acid responsible for making serotonin in the

brain. With so much aspartame being used and no tryptophan available

to increase brain serotonin levels, is it any wonder that the new

anti-depressant serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs, such as Prozac,

have become so popular.

 

Who is at risk for experiencing aspartame toxicity? At least 30% of

the population is sensitive to moderate doses of aspartame and may

suffer from any of the symptoms that I've previously discussed. Women

are 3 times more likely to suffer symptoms and pregnant women may put

their unborn babies at risk. The undeveloped nervous systems of

children are more vulnerable to even mild doses. An example of a

subpopulation of adults who may be more susceptible to symptoms are

phenyl ketonuria or PKU carriers.

 

Phenyl ketonuria or PKU is an inherited disease in which babies lack

an enzyme necessary to convert phenyl alanine to tyrosine. If given

foods containing phenyl alanine, they accumulate excessive phenyl

alanine in the brain, which results in permanent brain damage and

mental retardation. Their parents are carriers of the disease and

also have some difficulty metabolizing phenyl alanine. These carriers

of PKU, of which there are between four and twenty million in the

United States, are among those most susceptible to the toxic effects

of aspartame.

 

The FDA & manufacturers of aspartame claim that all of the adverse

symptoms reported are " anecdotal " . Because it is common that a person

will not experience noticeable illness from a short term usage of

aspartame, this is taken as proof that there is no problem with

safety. Unfortunately, this position ignores the fact that the

effects of aspartame poisoning are cumulative.

 

If an approved drug had as many complaints as aspartame, it would

have been removed from the market long ago. But, aspartame has been

approved as a safe food additive and not a drug. The manufacturer

does not have to track adverse reactions once the food additive has

been approved, as in the case of new drugs. Aspartame was approved

for use in dry foods and as a sugar substitute in 1981 and for soft

drinks in 1983.

 

Prior to 1981, many questions had been raised about the scientific

integrity of Searle, the company producing aspartame. The FDA was

concerned that Searle had failed to submit important information,

such as the possible link between brain tumors and aspartame in

animal studies. In a recently published medical journal article, Dr.

H.J. Roberts points out that since aspartame was introduced, there

has been an enormous increase in the incidence of brain cancer in the

United States, especially in children. He is the author of the book

Aspartame (Nutrasweet): Is it Safe?

 

The history of the FDA approval process for this substance raises

many questions about possible conflicts of interest. Suffice to say

no less than 10 officials involved in the approval process took jobs

with aspartame-related companies, soon after leaving their

governmental posts.

 

In 1987, the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network was founded. They have

put together a series of articles in a spiral-bound book called The

Deadly Deception: Aspartame.