By Larry Cook
You might want to think twice before reaching for that diet six-pack. Check the label-see the word "aspartame?" You probably will, since it is an ingredient in almost all sugar-free products. An artificial sweetener, aspartame is used in over 4,000 products worldwide, including some vitamins. It is marketed as a diet aid, which is ironic considering research has shown that it causes the brain to stop producing serotonin, which results in feeling as though you haven't had enough to eat-even when full!
Virtually all scientific and anecdotal evidence available-except
from those studies funded by the groups which would benefit from
the sale of aspartame-indicate that this additive is an extremely
potent excitotoxin and is responsible for a myriad of health problems,
especially in the nervous system.
Excitoxins are substances added to foods and beverages that over-stimulate
neurons and cause brain damage in varying degrees. Damage caused
by these additives is not usually dramatic and in most instances
the effects are subtle, cumulative, and develop over a prolonged
period of time. However, more serious and instantaneous symptoms
are also possible. In fact, over 75% of ALL the recorded complaints
received by the FDA were concerning Aspartame! These included
reports of headache, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, loss of control
of limbs, blurred vision, blindness, memory loss, slurred speech,
mild to severe depression, suicidal tendencies, hyperactivity,
gastronomical disorders, seizures, skin lesions, rashes, anxiety
attacks, muscle and joint pain, numbness, mood changes, menstrual
cramps out of cycle, hearing loss or ringing in the ears, loss
or change of taste, and symptoms similar to a heart attack, to
name a few.1
Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., author of: Excitotoxins, The Taste
That Kills, states: "In my book on excitotoxins,2 I explain
in detail how these substances damage the nervous system, leading
to severe disorders, and what can be done to reduce your risk.
It is my opinion that aspartame is a dangerous neurotoxin, as
well as a significant carcinogen for many organs, and should be
avoided at all cost."3
Excitotoxins have also been shown to stimulate the generation
of free radicals, which can have a negative impact on tissues
and organs outside the central nervous system. Evidence indicates
that free radical production accelerates many degenerative illnesses
such as atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease and especially
arthritis. Joint pain is a major complaint among those who have
reported adverse reactions to aspartame.
In 1991, the National Institutes of Health listed 167 symptoms
and reasons not to use aspartame. Studies of the additive in peer
reviewed medical literature were surveyed for funding source and
study outcome. Of the 166 studies felt to have relevance for questions
of human safety, 74 had NutraSweet-related funding and 92 were
independently funded. One hundred percent (100%) of the industry-funded
research attested to aspartame's safety, whereas 92% of the independently
funded research identified problems.4
Scientifically known as 1-aspartyl 1-phenylalanine methyl ester,
aspartame has three components: phenylalanine (50 percent), aspartic
acid (40 percent) and methanol, also termed wood alcohol (10 percent).
Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are amino acids that are normally
supplied by the foods we eat; however, they can only be considered
natural and harmless when consumed in combination with other amino
acids. On their own, they enter the central nervous system in
abnormally high concentrations, causing aberrant neuronal firing
and probable cell death. The effects of these amino acids, when
consumed as isolates, can be linked to headaches, mental confusion,
balance problems and possibly seizures. Potentially more worrisome
is that 10 percent of aspartame is absorbed into the bloodstream
as methanol (wood alcohol). The Environmental Protection Agency
defines safe consumption of methanol as no than 7.8 milligrams
per day. A one-liter beverage, sweetened with aspartame, contains
about 56 milligrams of wood alcohol-eight times the EPA limit!
Aspartame's breakdown products, or metabolites, present an even
greater cause for concern than its components. Phenylalanine decomposes
into diketopiperazine (DKP), a known carcinogen when exposed to
warm temperatures or prolonged storage. And, even at cool or cold
temperatures, methanol will spontaneously give rise to formaldehyde
(a colorless toxin used as an embalming agent). Independent studies
have shown formaldehyde formation resulting from aspartame ingestion
to be extremely common. It accumulates within the cells, and reacts
with cellular proteins such as enzymes and DNA. This cumulative
reaction could spell grave consequences for those who consume
aspartame-laden diet drinks and foods on a daily basis.5
Furthermore, it has been determined that infants are four times
more sensitive to excitotoxins than adults. During the first year
of life, irreversible brain damage can occur through tainted agents
in breast milk. Despite this, the American Dietetic Association
still recommends aspartame for pregnant and nursing women!
The United States Air Force, though, recognizes its dangers. The
May, 1992 issue of their official publication, "Flying Safety,"
stated: "In pregnancy the effects of aspartame can be passed
directly on to the fetus, even in very small doses." Both
the U. S. Air Force and Navy have warned pilots about adverse
reactions that can come from using aspartame products. Since some
people have suffered aspartame related disorders with doses as
small as that carried in a single stick of chewing gum, this could
mean that a pilot who drinks diet sodas is more susceptible to
flicker vertigo, or to flicker-induced epileptic activity. Since
1988, over 600 pilots have complained about aspartame to the Aspartame
Consumer Safety Network, an organization devoted to exposing the
dangers of aspartame to the public.6
Aspartame was originally listed in the U.S. military's Chemical
Warfare division; whether it was used as a sweetener to hide the
taste of poison, or as a poison itself, is not clear.7 Even the
National Soft Drink Association expressed concern over the use
of aspartame in soda pop. In 1983, they drafted a 30 page protest
that was entered into the congressional record two years later.
The draft included these words: "G. D. Searle and Company
has not demonstrated to a certainty that the use of aspartame
in soft drinks, without quantitative limitations, will not adversely
affect human health as a result of the changes such use is likely
to cause in brain chemistry and under certain reasonably anticipated
conditions of use."8
Approved by the FDA for use in food in 1974, that approval was
revoked after it was shown to cause brain tumors in rats. The
FDA did not sanction G.D. Searle's aspartame testing procedures
between 1967 and 1975. However, after objecting members of the
FDA vacated their positions in 1981, new members re-approved aspartame
for general consumption. There is convincing evidence that Searle
manipulated its tests to get FDA approval9 , and that the new
management of the FDA was well aware of this.10
On Jan. 10, 1977, FDA Chief Counsel Richard Merrill recommended
to U.S. Attorney Sam Skinner, "We request that your office
convene a Grand Jury investigation into apparent violations of
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the False Reports
to the Government Act, by G.D. Searle and Company and three of
its responsible officers for their willful and knowing failure
to make reports to the Food and Drug Administration, and for concealing
material facts and making false statements in reports of animal
studies conducted to establish the safety of the drug Aldactone
and the food additive Aspartame."
Why was Searle not indicted? Searle's law firm met with Attorney
Skinner on January 26. A week later they offered him a job. On
April 17 the Justice Department advised Skinner to proceed immediately
because of a looming statute of limitations deadline. On July
1 Skinner switched sides to work for Sidney and Austin, Searle's
law firm. His successor, Attorney William Conlon, after convening
a grand jury, let the Statute of Limitations run out on the aspartame
charges. Fifteen months later he, too, went to work for Sidney
and Austin. In all, TEN ranking FDA or federal officials involved
with the investigation and regulation of aspartame had left government
service to work for the substitute sweetener industry.11
In 1980 the FDA created a Public Board of Inquiry to determine
whether or not aspartame should be allowed onto the market. The
board consisted of Peter J. Lampart, M.D., Professor and Chairman
of the Department of Pathology at UCLA San Diego, Vernon R. Young,
Ph.D., from the University of Nutritional Biochemestry at MIT,
and Dr. Walle Nauta, Institute Professor at the Department of
Psychology and Brain Science at MIT. They voted unanimously to
recommend banning aspartame for human consumption.12 But as surely
as you see Nutrasweet for sale today, the board's recommendation
was never heeded.
Why? In 1985, St. Louis-based Monsanto Corporation bought C.G.
Searle. Monsanto manufactures pesticides, herbicides and other
toxic chemicals. Monsanto also manufactures and markets CelebrexTM,
which is promoted as a pain reliever for arthritis. Considering
that their other products (pesticides and aspartame) may cause
arthritis and significant health-related problems, and that they
now market an arthritis drug, it appears they've cornered the
market for pain and suffering-profiting from both the cause and
the band-aid to cover it.
This is no accident. Concious efforts have been made to ensure
that the truths concerning aspartame are not revealed. DORway,
one of many websites that exposes the dangers of aspartame, states:
"Monsanto and the FDA would like you to believe that the
entire media and medical system is pure as the driven snow...
and that those of us exposing the dangers of aspartame are 'Toxic
Terrorists' (CNN), or that we are weaving a 'WEB of Deceit' (Time).
Every last one of them have a VESTED interest in aspartame remaining
an unfettered product. Monsanto has a billion dollars in sales
annually....the media has tens of billions of dollars invested
in advertisements for over 5,000 products, and the medical system...
has hundreds of billions in expensive but useless tests that cannot
pinpoint patients' problems with certainty... and then there
are the many expensive drugs that don't seem to get the job done."
Who has the vested interest here, after all?
So, now you know. For vibrant health, avoid aspartame and other
synthetic sweeteners. An alternative to aspartame (or sugar for
that matter) is the herb stevia, which is completely safe. Unfortunately,
the FDA has made it illegal for manufacturers of stevia to state
that it's a sugar substitute (they even tried to burn books about
stevia-but that's another story). The aspartame industry knows
very well that if we all knew of a sugar substitute that was not
only calorie free, but completely safe, our choice would be an
easy one. But alas, that may not be in their best-or most profitable-
interests.
For more information on aspartame go to:
http://www.aspartame.com
http://www.aspartamekills.com
http://www.dorway.com
Endnotes
1 The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological and Electromagnetic
Manipulation of Human Consciousness by Val Valerian, Leading Edge
Research Group, pg. 138
2 Excitotoxin: a substance added to foods and beverages that literally
stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees;
http://www.whale.to/Hazards/excitotoxins.html
3 Aspartame Kills - website, http://www.aspartame.com/blalockpilot.htm
4 Ralph G. Walton, M.D., Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine,
Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Northeastern
Ohio Universities College of Medicine; DORway, http://www.dorway.com/peerrev.html
5 Information for last three paragraphs: "Could There Be
Evils Lurking In Aspartame Consumption?"
By Christine Lydon, MD, OXYGEN MAGAZINE October issue; reprinted
at Aspartame Kills, http://www.aspartamekills.com/lydon.htm
6 DORway, http://dorway.com/betty/avmags.html
7 Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, http://web2.airmail.net/marystod/extraord.html
8 MonSatano (Mocking Monsanto, maker of aspartame), http://www.tincan.co.uk/seizetheday/main.htm
9 Pages S5507 through S5511 of the Congressional Record dated
May 7, l985; DORway, http://www.dorway.com/nsda.html
10 Dr. Marvin Legator, Director of Environmental Toxicology at
the University of Texas, who helped pioneer the mutagecity testing
at the FDA, is quoted as saying, "All of Searle tests are
scientifically irresponsible and disgraceful;" and on April
8th, 1976, Senator Edward Kennedy, a member of the Senate Subcommittee
that oversaw an investigation into Aspartame and other drugs of
Searle, stated, "The extensive nature of the almost unbelievable
ranges of abuses discovered by the FDA on several major Searle
products is profoundly disturbing;" The Psycho-Social, Chemical,
Biological and Electromagnetic Manipulation of Human Consciousness
by Val Valerian, Leading Edge Research Group, pg. 152-153
11 The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological and Electromagnetic
Manipulation of Human Consciousness by Val Valerian, Leading Edge
Research Group, pg. 138
12 "Aspartame - The Condoned Lethal Sweetener", by Phil
Macdonald, The Latest Magazine, reprinted at DORway: http://www.dorway.com/lethal.html
13 The Psycho-Social, Chemical, Biological and Electromagnetic
Manipulation of Human Consciousness by Val Valerian, Leading Edge
Research Group, pg. 155
14 DORway, http://www.dorway.com/liars.html