Aspartame... the un-comfortable truth


Aspartame had not been approved for use in foods up until 1981. For more than 8 years the FDA (Food and Drug Administration-Administrastion for Food & Medicinals) refused to approve the use of aspartame due to the convulsions and tumors to the brain that this substance provoked to animals in laboratories.

The FDA continued refusing approval up until the point where president Reagan was elected (he was a very close friend to G.D. Searle- now Monsanto) who then fired the commissioner for the FDA who had refused the use of aspartame. Consecutively Dott. Arthur Hull Hayes was nominated commissioner. The strong opposition for approval to the substance continued to the point where an Investigative Committee was nominated. This was the reply of the commission: 3 do not approve aspartame2. Anyway Dott. Hayes over ruled the decision and approved the use of aspartame.

Shortly after the decision to utilize aspartame in soft drinks containing gas, the commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes, signed a contract of collaboration with the public relations agency G.D. Searle.

LONG TERM DAMAGE
Aspartame causes slow & silent damages in all those people that unfortunately do not have immediate reactions and therefore lack reasons in avoiding it. It could require one, five, ten, forty years, but in the long run undoubtedly, grave problems will manifest ( some reversible others not ) to all those people that use it regularly.

METHANOL ( methyl alcohol / poison ) ( of which aspartame contains 10% ).

Methanol is a deadly poison. Some people may remember that methanol caused the death and blindness to a high number of wine consumers just a few years ago ( in Europe ). Methanol is gradually released in the small intestine when the methilic group of aspartame comes into contact with the chymotripsyne enzyme.

The absorption of methanol in the body is accelerated considerably when free methanol is ingested. Free methanol is formed when aspartame is heated above 30 C. This occurs when a product containing aspartame is stored and conserved impropriately or when it is heated for example, as a component in another food product.

Inside the body methanol is transformed in to formic acid and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin. A valuation by the EPA ( Environmental Protection Agency ) on methanol declares that it is considered an accumulative poison thanks to it1s low escrementation once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol becomes oxidized in to formaldehyde and formic acid; both when metabolized become toxic. Researchers from the EPA reccomend a daily absorption of no more
than 7,8 mg. One litre of sweetened drink with aspartame contains approx. 56 mg. of methanol. The on going users of products containing aspartame consume up to 250 mg. of methanol per day, 32 times the suggested amount from the EPA.

The main problems from methanol poisoning known to this day are related to the eyesight. Formaldehyde is a well documented cancerous agent and causes damage to the retina, interferes with DNA reproduction and causes birth defects. Due to some key enzymes that are missing, human beings are more highly sensible to the effects of methanol in comparison to animals.Therefore tests conducted on aspartame and methanol in laboratories, ( where the price is paid by animals ), do not reflect the correct danger for humans. As precisely stated by Dott. Woodrow C. Monte, director of the laboratory in the University of Arizona for Food Science and Nutrition 3 there have been no studies or research carried out in human beings or on mammals to value possible mutating, teratogenic or cancerous effects caused by chronic assimilation of
methilic alcohol.

It has been precisely stated that in fruit juices and alcoholic beverages there are small doses of methanol. It is important to remember that methanol contained in natural products is not alone. In any case ethanol is present, usually in higher quantities than methanol. Ethanol is a natural anti-oxidant against the toxicity of methanol in humans. American troops during the gulf war were given beverages sweetened with aspartame that had been heated by the Arabian sun to temperatures over 30 C. Many of them returned home with numerous disturbances similar to the ones verified in people poisoned by formaldehyde. Free methanol in the beverages could have been one of the factors that contributed to the manifestations. Other products in the dis-composition of the aspartame like diketopiperazine (DKP), could have been another factor in the triggering of the reactions.

In an act that can only be described as senseless and irresponsible, the FDA approved the use of aspartame as an ingredient in numerous food products that can be heated above 30 C.

In a more serious matter, on the 27th. of June 1996, without public notice, the FDA canceled all
limitations regarding the use of aspartame allowing the us of it in everything, including foods to be heated or cooked.

The truth concerning the toxicissity of aspartame is far diverse from what the Nutra Sweet Company publicizes and wants the public to believe. In February 1994, the DHHS ( Department of Health and Human Services ) in the U.S.A. published the list and informed the FDA, of the side effects. Aspartame has represented more than 75% of all side effects signaled to the ARMS ( Adverse Reaction Monitoring System ) of the FDA. The FDA itself admits that only ONE
PERCENT of those people that have problems relating to the consumption of what they eat inform the administration. This means that the 10.000 complaints received could, in reality, become 1 million.

However, the FDA has a big problem in replying and keeping track of the complaints they receive ( they have never replied to the letter sent by the WEB MASTER of this internet site,www.holisticmed.com...one of the major victims ! ) and furthermore they tend to discourage any form of protest. The fact is that the GREATER PART of the victims have no evidence or
information that aspartame is the probable cause to their problems! Most of the physiological reactions caused by aspartame are highly dangerous and lead to convulsions and death.

These are the reactions and side effects:
- abdominal aches
- anxiety attacks
- arthritis
- asthma
- asthmatic reactions
- swelling, edema ( liquid retention )
- problems related to the sugar level in the blood ( Hypoglycemia or Hyperglycemia )
- brain cancer ( studies on animals conducted before it's approval )
- respiratory problems
- burning sensations in the eyes and in the throat
- burning sensation when urinating
- difficulties in thinking logically
- aching chest
- chronic coughing
- chronic fatigue
- confused state
- death
- depression
- diarrhea
- head spins
- excessive hunger or thirst
- tiredness
- distorted reality
- blushing of the face
- hair loss and / or thinning
- headaches / migraines
- loss of hearing
- palpitations
- nettle rash
- hypertension
- impotency and other sexually related problems
- weak concetracion
- predisposition to infections
- insomnia
- irritability
- itches
- aches in the limbs
- laryngitis
- drowsiness of the thought
- accentuated personality changes
- loss of memory
- problems and changes in the menstrual cycle
- muscular spasms
- nausea and vomit
- pins and needles at the extremities
- allergic reactions
- panic attacks
- phobia
- reduced memory
- accelerated cardiac rhythm
- skin reaction
- convulsions
- speech difficulty
- pain when swallowing
- tachycardia
- tremors
- Vertigo
- loss of eyesight

Aspartame can make worse or imitate the following illness symptoms:
- Fibromyalgie
- Arthritis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson1s disease
- Lupus
- High sensibility towards a vast amount of chemical agents
- Diabetes and complications related to such
- Epilepsy
- Alzheimer1s Disease
- Birth defects
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Lynphoma
- Lyme1s disease
- Problems in concentrating
- Panic attacks
- Depression and other psychological problems


HOW DOES ALL THIS HAPPEN:

Methanol when derived from aspartame, is liberated in the small intestine when the methilic group in aspartame meet1s with the chimotripsina enzyme ( Stegink 1984, Pg. 143 ). Free methanol begins to form when ever any liquiform product containing aspartame reaches an above 30 C. temperature...this occurs naturally in the human body.

Methanol therefore is converted in to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde then creates formic acid, the poison in ants. Formic acid is toxic and is used as an activator in paint strippers for urethan coverings and as an epoxidic resin. Imagine what it does to your human tissue!

Phenylalanine and aspartic acid constitute 90 % of aspartame and these amino acids, if ingested with food, are used in a normal manner by our organism for the synthesis of protoplasm.However when they are not accompanied by the other amino acids that we ingest in any normal containing protein ( we use approx. 20 ), they become neuro toxins.

This is the reason why we find on products such as EQUAL and other products containing aspartame, warnings regarding Phenylketonuria ( PKU ).The population suffering from this disturbing condition is 2 % which causes an extreme sensibility to this substance, unless it does not derive from food. This provokes problems to the brain and numerous defects at birth. The end
result is that the phenylalanine is transformed into DKP ( diketopiperazine ), a substance that causes brain tumors.

In other words: Aspartame converts itself into a series of dangerous sub-products for which there are no natural counter measures. The empty stomach of a person on a diet accelerates the conversion and amplifies the damage. The components in the aspartame go straight to the brain, causing strong migraines, mental confusion, convulsions and balance problems. Rats and other animals used in laboratory tests all died from brain tumors.

In spite of defensive assertions from Monsanto and other associations:

1. Methanol from alcohol and fruit squashes is not converted into formaldehyde in any significant amount. There is strong scientific evidence to confirm this fact regarding alcohol and reasonable proof for the squashes.

2. Formaldehyde obtained from methanol is highly toxic even in *very low* amounts as highlighted in recent scientific research.

3. The chronic toxicity, reactions and damage caused by aspartame derive from the transformation of methanol into formaldehyde and other products from it1s metabolization even if the industries try to demonstrate the opposite by limited researches using an experimental substance which is chemically different and is absorbed diversely in comparison to the original that is sold on to the public. Almost all the independent studies, strange as it may seem indicate that aspartame can cause grave problems to the health.

4. An easy way out used often by the Monsanto is to sustain that aspartame is 3 safe 3 but nonetheless some people could have some 3 allergic 3 reactions.This type of absurdity is a typical one from Monsanto. The tests carried out by them indicate that aspartame does not cause 3 allergic2 reactions. This is their way of trying to minimize and hide the numerous and dangerous reactions that people are enduring as a consequence of long term use of aspartame.

SUMMARY

Due to the following argumentations, for the researchers it is definitely premature to discard the
role of methanol in the secondary effects of aspartame:

1. The amount of methanol ingested thanks to aspartame is without precedents in human history. The amount of methanol intake from fruit juice does not even come close to the quantity ingested from aspartame, particularly for the people that drink 1-3 litres ( or more ) of diet drinks a day. In a diverse manner from methanol derived from aspartame, methanol from natural products probably is not absorbed or is not converted to the relative toxic metabolics in the amount discussed earlier.

2. The missing scientific comparisons relative to the changes of formic acid and formaldehyde in the plasma does not preclude that the damage is caused by these toxic metabolics. The changes in the levels often can not be detected if the methanol is taken for a short period of time.

3. The products that contain aspartame more often provide little or no nutritious substances that give protection against chronic poisoning from methanol and are often consumed between meals. The persons that ingest these products because their following a diet with a low calorie count frequently have nutritional prevations in respect to people that drink fresh juices.

4. People with certain health problems or that use certain drugs can be much more succepttable to chronic methanol poisoning.

5. A slow poisoning due to the prolonged ingestion of these substances will break out into chronic disease and side effects. A lot of chronic diseases that may appear all of a sudden are in reality have been maturing in the body for years.

6. A growing number of researches show that a vast amount of people are highly sensible even to low doses of formaldehyde in the ambient. Being exposed to formaldehyde in the ambient and swallowing methanol ( which is converted into formaldehyde ) derived from aspartame probably has a cumulative effect that is deleterious.

7. It has been acknowledged that formic acid tends to accumulate slowly in various parts of the body. The formic acid inhibits ( according to certain studies ) the metabolism of the oxygen.

8. A growing number of people after having ingested products that contain aspartame for a prolonged period of time, show chronic health problems similar to the side effects of chronic methanol poisoning. These include many cases of lesions to the eyesight apparatus similar to the lesions acknowledged in methanol poisoning.

An additional note on the toxic effects of aspartame:
Often sixty days without the assumption of aspartame ( NutraSweet ) to see a change for the better. Check thoroughly all labels ( comprised vitamins and pharmaceutical products ). Search for the word 3 aspartame 3 on the label and avoid that product (also avoid 3 acesulfame-k 3 or 3 sunette 3 ). On a final note, avoid all nutritional information coming from organizations that administer the public relations for the food companies that produce 3 junk-food 3 or organizations that accept financing from chemical food companies like The American Dietetic Foundation.

If you are a consumer of any product containing aspartame and have physical, eyesight or mental
problems...try something: avoid the assumption of aspartame for 60 days. If after two months without it your symptoms are gone or have diminished, participate with us in eliminating this neurotoxin from the market. Write to the FDA, also sending a copy to Betty Martini ( to prove that the FDA is not conserving the complaints it is receiving ). Write to your politicians. Give the
products that contain aspartame back to the shop where you bought them from..asking for a COMPLETE refund. Make a huge mess if they don1t refund you completely! Convince all your friends and family...that they will be better off if they stop using aspartame...and get them involved in doing the same.

Aspartame has become 3 an approved sweetener 3 thanks to a few avid and dishonest persons that speculate treading the on the lives and the health of people. Since the FDA and the politicians are heavily compromised in this scandal, only an informed and active public can obtain the reclassification of this 3 food additive 3 into TOXIC SUBSTANCE and it1s removal from the human food chain.

By Claudio Capozza MBBS (Italy), Naturopathic Doctor (Australia)