NutraSweet -Aspartame
Quotes from:
Sweet Poison: How the World's Most Popular Artificial Sweetener Is Killing Us
"NOVEMBER 3, 1987 I am concerned over the escalating number of aspartame-related complaints documented by or reported to interested investigators, the FDA, and consumer groups such as Aspartame Victims And Their Friends and the Community Nutrition Institute. The most serious reactions I have encountered among 551 aspartame reactors in my nationwide computerized study include severe headaches (45.2%), dizziness (39.4%), decreased vision or blindness (27.9%), epileptic attacks (17.8%),"
"In the next few days, I read as much as I could about the methanol in aspartame from the various books and articles I had on loan from the library. The methanol in aspartame is released in the small intestine when it encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin. It is also “free form,” so it immediately is absorbed into the bloodstream. As a matter of fact, the absorption of methanol is sped up considerably when it is ingested in “free form.” Methanol found in natural foods is always in combination with ethanol or ethyl alcohol. The ethanol counteracts the dangerous effects of methanol as it is metabolized. In every case, natural ethanol is present in much higher amounts than methanol. Ethanol serves as an antidote for methanol toxicity in human beings. But, there is no ethanol in aspartame. No antidote present to stabilize the poisonous methanol. Methanol’s function in aspartame is to bond the phenylalanine and aspartic acid molecules together. When aspartame is heated above 86 ° Fahrenheit, the methanol breaks “free.” This can occur when aspartame products are improperly stored, transported in hot delivery trucks, or cooked. Yet, in 1993, the FDA approved aspartame as an ingredient in foods heated above 86 ° Fahrenheit."
"...Phenylalanine within the brain, altered neurotransmitter function, severe caloric reduction and increased release of insulin and other hormones. Recent data also raises the possibility that selective amino acid imbalance of phenylalanine and aspartic acid may accelerate or aggravate Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinsonism, behavioral abnormalities and other neuropsychiatric afflictions. The problems of aspartame reactions assume even greater importance for certain high-risk groups. They include the many children, pregnant women, older persons and patients with diabetes, migraine, hypoglycemia, epilepsy, allergies and..." "...profound confusion and memory loss (28.5%), extreme depression (25.2%), and marked personality changes (16%). Hives, other rashes, itching, mouth reactions, hyperactivity, extreme fatigue, insomnia, menstrual disorders, diarrhea, intense thirst, ringing in the ears, aggravated hypoglycemia, loss of diabetic control, severe weight loss (suggestive of anorexia nervosa), a paradoxic gain of weight, and joint pains also have been prominent. These observations, which have been reported in the references listed, are supported by FDA data. An unexpected finding has been the occurrence of reactions to aspartame in the relatives (up to seven) of twenty-two percent of persons so affected. The causative or contributory role of aspartame is supported by (1) the gratifying relief or disappearance of these complaints (except for blindness and severe neuropsychiatric features) after its cessation; and (2) their predictable recurrence on rechallenge. Damage to the retina, optic nerves and brain can be caused by methyl alcohol in heavy consumers. (Aspartame promptly releases ten percent methanol by weight when metabolized.) Other complications may reflect the combination of high levels of methanol."
"...liver or kidney disease who consume large amounts of such products. Severe deficiencies pertaining to the evaluation, licensing, promotion and surveillance of aspartame must be addressed in the face of this potential “recipe for disaster.” They encompass (1) the need for accurate clinical data collected by the responsible governmental agencies, including an analysis of tumors (especially brain and urinary bladder) and blood disorders, (2) the arbitrarily high maximum allowable daily intake, (3) the prior resistance by Congress to enactment of legislation that would mandate the proper labeling of aspartame products, (4) the failure to challenge the alleged safety and effectiveness of aspartame in massive promotional campaigns, especially for long-term weight loss, and (5) unfounded bias against saccharin based on limited and controversial studies concerning urinary bladder tumors in male rats. It is now the burden of regulatory agencies that have minimized or denied the accumulated clinical data to convincingly explain them in terms other than isolated idiosyncratic reactions. The informational gap caused by the biases and other misgivings of reluctant editors, publishers and chairmen of major medical conferences is a public health and scientific disservice. Concerning my credentials, I have been certified and recertified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, and am a member of the Senior Active Staff of the Good Samaritan Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital in West Palm Beach. I have authored more than 200 original scientific publications and five texts, and am listed in The Best Doctors in the U.S. and Who’s Who in the World. REFERENCES"
"Dr. Elsas stated, “Aspartame is a well-known neurotoxin. Aspartame ingestion in some as yet unidentified doses, will produce adverse effects both reversibly in the adult brain and irreversibly in the developing child or fetal brain. For the past twenty-five years, I have studied the prevention of mental retardation and birth defects related to the consumption of phenylalanine."
"I have learned that many people have much more difficulty giving up diet
foods than I realized. Since aspartame came on the market, my neighbor has had a
diet drink in her hand every day. It was nothing for her to drink at least a
dozen diet colas at work alone. Having met me, she stopped using aspartame—or
tried to, anyway. She had no idea she would have bad withdrawal symptoms. She
stopped aspartame cold turkey, and became violently ill. She suffered severe
abdominal cramping and horrendous headaches. Drinking a diet cola relieved those
symptoms, but induced worse ones. What she experienced was not unusual while
trying to withdraw"