|
|
|
|
The truth about
◄Aspartame ►
Aspartame, Nutrasweet, Equal,
Aspartate, Spoonful, Naturetaste, Canderal, E-951 are all different
label names for the same thing. Many foods that are simply labeled
sugar free, no-calorie or even just artificial flavor may contain aspartame
as well. 9000 plus foods now, even Flintstones vitamins for children,
contain aspartame.
Aspartame contains aspartic acid and phenalalinine.
Phenalalinine is an amino acid that lowers the brain seizure
threshold. Aspartic acid
is a methyl ester that can break down either when heated above 86
degrees F, or over time in the body, into methanol also known as methyl
or wood alcohol. I have seen good friends who would never
even consider drinking a single glass of wine containing mostly a
much less harmful alcohol (ethanol), suck down glass after glass of
diet cola laced with this addictive and subtle poison.
In the body methanol is converted to formaldehyde and formic
acid. Formaldehyde is very neuro-toxic and takes
considerable time to dissipate from the body. An EPA assessment
of methanol states "In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and
formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." The EPA recommended exposure
limit is 0.5 mg/kg/day, that is 7 mg/day for a 32 Lb. child or 27 mg/day for a
120 lb adult. This is based on a reference dose estimate they note
that can be off by a factor of 10 either way. One liter (approx. 1 quart)
of an aspartame sweetened beverage contains approximately 56 mg
of methanol. Aspartame industry safety statements invariably
fail to mention this lower EPA exposure toxicity estimate and compare
intake instead to an immediately lethal dose. There is much
bad health to be found between good health and immediate death.
Methanol (methyl alcohol), Aspartic acid and Phenalalinine (amino acids) are all indeed naturally occurring
substances, however they do not occur naturally in the synthetic combination
found in Aspartame. If they did it would not be legal to get a patent
for a naturally occurring substance. What is an issue here is a matter of
balance. When these substances occur in nature they do so in combination
with other alcohols such as ethanol and many other amino acids
that mitigate the harmful effects of these isolated compounds.
Long-term exposure to highly refined compounds such as these can be a
pernicious precipitator of chronic illness. I do not believe that just
one or two occasional servings are much of a problem for most
people. For someone that is highly sensitive to phenalalinine
one serving can be too much
and immediately bring on a brain seizure. For most people the constant consumption
of an unnatural substance can still lead to subtle problems that can be
very difficult to pinpoint. So why risk it anyway? Drink something healthy
instead. If you have a sweet tooth and blood sugar problems many doctors
consider the herbal sweetener stevia to be an excellent natural alternative
to sugar and other chemical sugar substitutes such as
the chloronated sugar known as splenda
http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/.
|
|
Long term exposure to aspartame has been implicated in many
diseases such as ADD, Diabetes, Asthma, Cancer, Depression,
Bipolar Disorder, Sexual Dysfunction, Birth Defects, Autism and
many others.
For more information please visit
Betty Martini's web site at http://www.dorway.com
INTERNATIONAL ANTIAGING SYSTEMS BULLETIN
Excitotoxins: The Ultimate Brainslayer by James South MA
http://www.antiaging-systems.com/extract/excitotoxins.htm
or purchase
Dr. Russell Blaylock's book Excitotoxins The Taste That
Kills
|
|
An Analysis Showing That Nearly All Independent Research Finds
Problems With Aspartame Excerpted From
SURVEY OF ASPARTAME STUDIES: CORRELATION OF OUTCOME AND FUNDING
SOURCES http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html
An analysis of peer
reviewed medical literature using MEDLINE and other databases was
conducted by Ralph G. Walton, MD, Chairman, The Center for
Behavioral Medicine, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry,
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine. Dr. Walton
analyzed 164 studies which were felt to have relevance to human
safety questions. Of those studies, 74 studies had aspartame
industry-related sponsorship and 90 were funded without any
industry money. Of the 90 non-industry-sponsored studies, 83
(92%) identified one or more problems with aspartame. Of the 7
studies which did not find a problems, 6 of those studies were
conducted by the FDA. Given that a number of FDA officials went
to work for the aspartame industry immediately following approval
(including the former FDA Commissioner), many consider these
studies to be equivalent to industry-sponsored research. Of the
74 aspartame industry-sponsored studies, all 74 (100%) claimed
that no problems were found with aspartame. This is like the old
tobacco industry research that never found any problems with the
product, but nearly all independent studies find problems.
|
|
Excerpt From the
US EPA Chemical Summary for Methanol
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemfact/s_methan.txt
...
B. Acute Toxicity
Acute methanol intoxication is manifested initially by signs of
narcosis. This is followed by a latent period in which formic
acid accumulates in the body causing metabolic acidosis. Severe
abdominal, leg, and back pain occur and visual degeneration can
lead to blindness.
1. Humans - Ingestion of 80 to 150 mL of
methanol is usually fatal to humans (HSDB 1994). One worker died
from exposure to vapor ranging from 4000 to 13,000 ppm over 12
hours (ACGIH 1991). The concentration of 4000 ppm is roughly
equivalent to a total of 1140 mg/kg over the 12 hour period (see
end note 2). Poisoning by nonlethal doses can be described in
three stages: (1) narcotic stage similar to ethanol; (2) latent
period of 10-15 hours; (3) visual disturbances and central
nervous system lesions (Rowe and McCollister 1981). Visual
disturbances can lead to blindness due to edema of the retina and
atrophy of the optic nerve head (HSDB 1994). Third-stage CNS
lesions include headache, dizziness, abdominal, back, and leg
pain, delirium that can lead to coma, and nausea (HSDB 1994).
Formic acid production causes severe metabolic acidosis (Rowe and
McCollister 1981).
...
C. Subchronic/Chronic Toxicity
Chronic exposure to methanol, either orally or by inhalation,
causes headache, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, and
blindness in humans and hepatic and brain alterations in animals.
EPA has derived an oral RfD (reference dose) (see end note 3) for
methanol of 0.5 mg/kg/day, based on the absence of liver and
brain effects in animals exposed by mouth to 500 mg/kg/day.
1.
Humans - "Chronic" exposure to methanol vapors (no time or dose
given) caused conjunctivitis, headache, giddiness, insomnia,
gastric disturbances, and bilateral blindness (ACGIH 1991).
Marked vision loss occurred in one worker exposed to 1200 to 8000
ppm vapor for 4 years (ACGIH 1991).
...
G. Neurotoxicity
Methanol causes central nervous system depression in humans and
animals as well as degenerative changes in the brain and visual
system.
1. Humans - Methanol causes narcosis similar to ethanol
intoxication and nonlethal doses can lead to blindness. Autopsy
of individuals after lethal doses revealed edema and hyperemia of
the brain and degeneration of the ganglion cells of the retina
(Rowe and McCollister 1981).
...
End note 2. Calculated using the factor 1.33 (Verschueren 1983)
to convert 4000 ppm to 5320 mg/m3 which is multiplied by 0.214
(the 12-hour breathing rate, 15 m3 [from the occupational
standard 8-hour breathing rate, 10 m3] divided by the assumed
adult body weight, 70 kg) to obtain the dose in mg/kg (U.S. EPA
1988).
End note 3. The RfD is an estimate (with uncertainty spanning
perhaps an order of magnitude) of the daily exposure level for
the human population, including sensitive subpopulations, that is
likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects
during the time period of concern.
...
|
|
|
Legal Stuff - All information contained
in this site is
Copyright 2003 Steven D. Frahm
Unless Otherwise Indicated
All other copyrighted information and trademarked names are the
exclusive property of their respective owners.
We are not responsible for the information contained
in other web sites that are linked to from this site.
|
|