The thing we most need to know about aspartame is seldom, if ever, reported. The sum total of how aspartame (and most artificial sweeteners) affects our biology can be devastating. The laundry list of documented side effects are astounding! Aspartame accounts for over 75% of all adverse food reactions reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some of these adverse reactions include seizure and death. With that said lets "detail" the side effects of each major component of aspartame.
Aspartic Acid
It has been pointed out in the media by various doctors, nutritionist and health experts that aspartic acid is a naturally occurring amino acid and is therefore harmless. While it is true that aspartic acid is a naturally occurring amino acid it is not true that it is totally harmless. Aspartic acid can be found in many foods such as certain fish, asparagus, and soybeans to name a few but it is never unbound or free. That is to say aspartic acid found in nature is always bound or combined with other amino acids to balance each other so that they may perform their jobs efficiently with no harm to the host organism (humans in particular). Aspartic acid is considered an excitatory amino acid that is important to our overall neurological health but if consumed in concentration without the proper combinations of other nutrients (like when aspartame is consumed) neurological disorders could occur. These disorders include Alzheimer's, dementia, memory loss, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
Phenylalanine
Phenylalanine is also an amino acid and again it is pointed out that it is naturally occurring which is true. However, just like aspartic acid if left unbound it has the potential to wreak havoc on the body, especially the brain where it is normally found. When consumed from whole foods phenylalanine is bound with other amino acids which causes a balancing effect where a person isn't exposed to excessive levels which could lead to reduced serotonin levels in the brain. Reduced serotonin levels lead to emotional disorders such as depression, rage (sometimes violent) and wide mood swings (ever had to stay away from someone who hadn't had their diet Coke or diet Pepsi?). By the way, serotonin is what gives us a sense a well being so decreasing your levels of serotonin is not advisable if you like feeling good about yourself and circumstances. For an interesting read please see an article titled "A Aspartame Nightmare" by John Cook.
Methanol aka Wood Alcohol aka POISON!
Ladies and gentlemen, there is not one aspect of aspartame that could be considered non-hazardous but methanol gives phenylalanine and aspartic acid a run for their money combined. Why, you ask? Well, what methanol does to the body has been known and documented for years. Back in the mid-seventies to early eighties unfortunate alcoholics desperate for a drink would consume methanol and go blind (these incidents weren't confined to this time but it seemed to hit epidemic proportions during this period). In aspartame free methanol is the main culprit because it is so readily absorbed by the body. Free methanol is produced when aspartame is heated to more than 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Soft drinks transported in hot trucks or aspartame used in cooking or baked items routinely produce free methanol. Once ingested methanol is broken down into formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid (multiple industrial uses) with formaldehyde being a very deadly neurotoxin. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that methanol "is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed." The EPA recommends a daily maximum consumption of 7.8 mg of methanol. One liter (34 ounces or about (1) 20 ounce Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi and half of another) contains about 56 mg or 7 times the EPA recommended maximum. Do you know anyone who drinks more than one 20 oz. diet beverage a day? Some of the signs and symptoms of methanol poisoning is dizziness, nausea, headaches, vertigo, chills and memory lapses to name only half.
One final point that is definitely worth making. Copious amounts of research on the effects of aspartame, and methanol in particular, in lab animals has been conducted. A fair amount of the research "demonstrates" (I put the quotes around demonstrates because some of the research is suspect) no harm or little harm to the animals. While some of the research may be questionable what is beyond question is that methanol is more easily processed and passed from the bodies of the test animals (usually rodents). That is because these animals have enzymes conducive to breaking down methanol while humans lack these enzymes which is why the EPA considers it a cumulative poison. I make this point because it is usually overlooked when aspartame defenders tout such research without considering some very important biological differences between man and beast. Just food for thought!
Addiction will be covered in the very near future. Until then keep an open mind and gird your loins for the thief is most definitely upon us.
Peace!
Aspartic Acid
It has been pointed out in the media by various doctors, nutritionist and health experts that aspartic acid is a naturally occurring amino acid and is therefore harmless. While it is true that aspartic acid is a naturally occurring amino acid it is not true that it is totally harmless. Aspartic acid can be found in many foods such as certain fish, asparagus, and soybeans to name a few but it is never unbound or free. That is to say aspartic acid found in nature is always bound or combined with other amino acids to balance each other so that they may perform their jobs efficiently with no harm to the host organism (humans in particular). Aspartic acid is considered an excitatory amino acid that is important to our overall neurological health but if consumed in concentration without the proper combinations of other nutrients (like when aspartame is consumed) neurological disorders could occur. These disorders include Alzheimer's, dementia, memory loss, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
Phenylalanine
Phenylalanine is also an amino acid and again it is pointed out that it is naturally occurring which is true. However, just like aspartic acid if left unbound it has the potential to wreak havoc on the body, especially the brain where it is normally found. When consumed from whole foods phenylalanine is bound with other amino acids which causes a balancing effect where a person isn't exposed to excessive levels which could lead to reduced serotonin levels in the brain. Reduced serotonin levels lead to emotional disorders such as depression, rage (sometimes violent) and wide mood swings (ever had to stay away from someone who hadn't had their diet Coke or diet Pepsi?). By the way, serotonin is what gives us a sense a well being so decreasing your levels of serotonin is not advisable if you like feeling good about yourself and circumstances. For an interesting read please see an article titled "A Aspartame Nightmare" by John Cook.
Methanol aka Wood Alcohol aka POISON!
Ladies and gentlemen, there is not one aspect of aspartame that could be considered non-hazardous but methanol gives phenylalanine and aspartic acid a run for their money combined. Why, you ask? Well, what methanol does to the body has been known and documented for years. Back in the mid-seventies to early eighties unfortunate alcoholics desperate for a drink would consume methanol and go blind (these incidents weren't confined to this time but it seemed to hit epidemic proportions during this period). In aspartame free methanol is the main culprit because it is so readily absorbed by the body. Free methanol is produced when aspartame is heated to more than 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Soft drinks transported in hot trucks or aspartame used in cooking or baked items routinely produce free methanol. Once ingested methanol is broken down into formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid (multiple industrial uses) with formaldehyde being a very deadly neurotoxin. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that methanol "is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed." The EPA recommends a daily maximum consumption of 7.8 mg of methanol. One liter (34 ounces or about (1) 20 ounce Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi and half of another) contains about 56 mg or 7 times the EPA recommended maximum. Do you know anyone who drinks more than one 20 oz. diet beverage a day? Some of the signs and symptoms of methanol poisoning is dizziness, nausea, headaches, vertigo, chills and memory lapses to name only half.
One final point that is definitely worth making. Copious amounts of research on the effects of aspartame, and methanol in particular, in lab animals has been conducted. A fair amount of the research "demonstrates" (I put the quotes around demonstrates because some of the research is suspect) no harm or little harm to the animals. While some of the research may be questionable what is beyond question is that methanol is more easily processed and passed from the bodies of the test animals (usually rodents). That is because these animals have enzymes conducive to breaking down methanol while humans lack these enzymes which is why the EPA considers it a cumulative poison. I make this point because it is usually overlooked when aspartame defenders tout such research without considering some very important biological differences between man and beast. Just food for thought!
Addiction will be covered in the very near future. Until then keep an open mind and gird your loins for the thief is most definitely upon us.
Peace!
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