Aspartame: Killing Us by Degrees, Part I

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Aspartame: Killing Us by Degrees, Part I

 

By Pat Thomas

 

This article first appeared in the September 2005 issue of The

Ecologist Volume 35, No.7.

 

Aspartame is the most controversial food additive in history. The most

recent evidence, linking it to leukaemia and lymphoma, has added

substantial fuel to the ongoing protests of doctors, scientists and

consumer groups who allege that this artificial sweetener should never

have been released onto the market and that allowing it to remain in

the food chain is killing us by degrees.

 

Aspartame

 

Once upon a time, aspartame was listed by the Pentagon as a

biochemical warfare agent. Today it's an integral part of the modern

diet. Sold commercially under names like NutraSweet and Canderel,

aspartame can be found in more than 5,000 foods, including fizzy

drinks, chewing gum, table-top sweeteners, diet and diabetic foods,

breakfast cereals, jams, sweets, vitamins, prescription and

over-the-counter drugs.

 

This means that there is a good chance that you and your family are

among the two-thirds of the adult population and 40 percent of

children who regularly ingest this artificial sweetener.

 

Because it contains no calories, aspartame is considered a boon to

health-conscious individuals everywhere; and most of us, if we think

about it at all, think it is safe. But independent scientists say

aspartame can produce a range of disturbing adverse effects in humans,

including headaches, memory loss, mood swings, seizures, multiple

sclerosis and Parkinson's-like symptoms, tumors and even death.

 

Concerns over aspartame's toxicity meant that for eight years, the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied it approval,

effectively keeping it off the world market.

 

This caution was based on compelling evidence, brought to light by

numerous eminent scientists, litigators and consumer groups, that

aspartame contributed to serious central nervous system damage and had

been shown to cause cancer in animals. Eventually, however, political

muscle won out over scientific rigor, and aspartame was approved for

use in 1981 (see timeline for details).

 

The FDA's about-turn opened the floodgates for aspartame's swift

approval by more than 70 regulatory authorities around the world. But,

as the remarkable history of the sweetener shows, the clean bill of

health given to it by government regulators -- whose raison d'etre

should be to protect the public from harm -- is simply not worth the

paper it is printed on.

 

Aspartame Reactions a Hidden Epidemic

 

When aspartame was approved for use, Dr. H. J. Roberts, director of

the Palm Beach Institute for Medical Research, had no reason to doubt

the FDA's decision. " But my attitude changed, " he says, " after

repeatedly encountering serious reactions in my patients that seemed

justifiably linked to aspartame. "

 

Twenty years on, Roberts has coined the phrase 'aspartame disease' to

describe the wide range of adverse effects he has seen among

aspartame-guzzling patients.

 

He estimates: " Hundreds of thousands of consumers, more likely

millions, currently suffer major reactions to products containing

aspartame. Today, every physician probably encounters aspartame

disease in everyday practice, especially among patients with illnesses

that are undiagnosed or difficult to treat. "

 

As a guide for other doctors, Roberts, a recognized expert in

difficult diagnoses, has published a lengthy series of case studies,

Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic (Sunshine Sentinel Press), in

which he meticulously details his treatment of 1,200

aspartame-sensitive individuals, or " reactors, " encountered in his own

practice.

 

Following accepted medical procedure for detecting sensitivities to

foods, Roberts had his patients remove aspartame from their diets.

With nearly two-thirds of reactors, symptoms began to improve within

days of removing aspartame, and improvements were maintained as long

as aspartame was kept out of their diet.

 

Roberts' case studies parallel much of what was revealed in the FDA's

report on adverse reactions to aspartame -- that toxicity often

reveals itself through central nervous system disorders and

compromised immunity. His casework shows that aspartame toxicity can

mimic the symptoms of and/or worsen several diseases that fall into

these broad categories.

 

Conditions Mimicked by Aspartame Toxicity

 

Multiple sclerosis

 

 

Parkinson's disease

 

Alzheimer's disease

 

 

Fibromyalgia

 

Arthritis

 

 

Multiple chemical sensitivity

 

Chronic fatigue syndrome

 

 

Attention deficit disorder

 

Panic disorder

 

 

Depression and other psychological disorders

 

Lupus

 

 

Diabetes and diabetic complications

 

Birth defects

 

 

Lymphoma

 

Lyme disease

 

 

Hypothyroidism

 

Case studies, especially a large series like this, address some of the

issues surrounding real-world use in a way that laboratory studies

never can; and the conclusions that can be drawn from such

observations aren't just startling, they are also potentially highly

significant.

 

In fact, Roberts believes that one of the major problems with

aspartame research has been the continued over-emphasis on laboratory

studies. This has meant that the input of concerned independent

physicians and other interested persons, especially consumers, is

'reflexively discounted as " anecdotal. " '

 

Many of the diseases listed by Roberts fall into the category of

medicine's 'mystery diseases' -- conditions with no clear aetiology

and few effective cures.

 

And while no one is suggesting that aspartame is the single cause of

such diseases, Roberts' research suggests that some people diagnosed

with, for example, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's or chronic fatigue

syndrome may end up on a regimen of potentially harmful drugs that

could have been avoided if they simply stopped ingesting

aspartame-laced products.

 

Ecologist Online August 30, 2005

 

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

 

For anyone who doubts the frequency of aspartame reactions, the FDA

has received over 10,000 complaints submitted by people who have had

them. In 1988, 80 percent of the calls that were made to the FDA to

complain about foods and food additives were about aspartame-related

adverse reactions.

 

Less than 1 percent of those who experience a reaction to a product

ever report it. So there are probably roughly a million people who

have experienced reactions to aspartame. Many are not aware that

aspartame is at the root of their problems, and end up spending a

tremendous amount of time and money trying to figure out why they are

sick.

 

Biased Studies and Coverups

 

The research bears this out. Nearly every one of the independent

studies conducted on aspartame found adverse health effects. The

remainder of the studies were conducted by people with strong

financial ties to the success of aspartame, such as the manufacturer,

G.D. Searle. Those biased studies sparked the first time in history

the FDA requested a criminal investigation of a food manufacturer.

 

There were reports that rat tumors were cut out and thrown in the

garbage, while it was reported that the animals were normal. They also

reported obvious tumors as normal, and covered up a tremendous amount

of data.

 

Bribes and Conflicts of Interest

 

So how did aspartame end up getting approved by the FDA? First, they

essentially bribed the U.S. attorney leading the investigation against

them -- Samuel Skinner. In July 1977, Skinner left the U.S. attorney's

office and took a position with the Searle Company, which stalled the

grand jury investigation for long enough that the statute of

limitations ran out, effectively forcing them to abandon their

investigation.

 

Then, in 1981, Donald Rumsfeld, then Searle's CEO, used his political

influence within Washington to gain approval. As part of Ronald

Reagan's transition team, Rumsfeld helped out Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes,

Jr. to be the new FDA commissioner. Unsurprisingly, one of Dr. Hull

Hayes, Jr.'s first official acts was to approve aspartame for use in

dry products. Two years later, Dr. Hull Hayes was forced to resign

under a cloud of suspicion regarding conflict of interest issues. He

immediately took a job with G.D. Searle's public relations firm as a

senior scientific consultant.

 

A Million Sick

 

Politics, not science, allowed this dangerous chemical to come on the

market. And now, perhaps a million people are suffering needlessly

because of it.

 

The next part of this series will examine exactly what aspartame is

made of, and why it is so dangerous to your health.

 

Related Articles:

 

Aspartame Disease: An FDA-Approved Epidemic

 

Aspartame Can Harm Your Health

 

Sweet Misery: The Horrors of Aspartame Revealed in Documentary