SAOIRSE32

Daily Ireland

**I am including this article on aspartame from Daily Ireland because I didn’t know all this controversy surrounded something I use every day.

Diet foods: more harm than good?

Aspartame is the name of an artificial sweetener which is probably by far the most dangerous substance knowingly added to our food today. Also known by the name “NutraSweet”, you will find aspartame in many foods, particularly foods labelled “diet” or “no added sugar”, such as Diet Coke and other “diet” drinks, yoghurts, ready meals, chewing gum – the list goes on and on. Aspartame can lurk in many products masquerading as “healthy”. New lower sugar healthy baked beans? Check the label, chances are they now contain sugar and aspartame!
But we all know that sugar is bad. So, a tin of Diet Coke has to be better for you than ordinary coke, right?
Wrong. Refined sugar is extremely toxic, and causes blood sugar imbalances, hyperactivity in children, and weight gain. But aspartame is actually even worse. And it doesn’t even work as a “diet” product!
Dr Julian Whitaker, MD says: “Aspartame has been proven to increase appetite, especially cravings for sweets”. It upsets your blood sugar levels, affects insulin levels, and can cause diabetes, just like sugar does. Also, it is highly addictive.” Dr HJ Roberts, MD says: “Addiction to aspartame products is as real as abuse of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.”
According to researchers and physicians, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by aspartame: Brain tumours, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.
Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.
Aspartic acid makes up 40 per cent of the structure of aspartame. Under excess conditions, the structure of aspartic acid can cause endocrine (hormone) disorders and vision problems. It also causes hyperactivity. Aspartic acid is a neuroexicter, which means its structure affects the central nervous system. Adverse reactions to aspartic acid are: headaches/migraines, nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue, sleep disorders, vision problems, anxiety attacks, depression, and asthma.
The second isolated amino acid in aspartame’s chemical structure is phenylalanine, fifty per cent of aspartame’s 3-D structure. Too much phenylalanine causes seizures, elevated blood plasma, is dangerous for pregnancy (causing retardation), PMS caused by phenylalanine’s blockage of serotonin, insomnia, severe mood swings, and even schizophrenia.
Aspartame’s third component is methanol. In this structure, methanol bonds the two amino acids together, but when released at a mere 30 degrees centigrade, the methanol becomes a poisonous free radical. This would occur when an aspartame-containing product is improperly stored or when it is heated. Symptoms from methanol poisoning include headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioural disturbances, and neuritis. The most well known problems from methanol poisoning are vision problems which can lead to blindness.
Dr. Morgan Raiford, MD, DSc (Med) Ophtl, said: “Methyl alcohol has no place in a product, whole or in part, to be allowed to be produced by any manufacturer for human usage.”
Since “diet” drinks and foods containing aspartame have come onto the market, the incidence of brain tumours has shot up.
It has been found that the introduction of aspartame into the US was followed by an abrupt increase in the reported incidence of brain tumours. There has also been a marked change in the incidence of particular types of brain tumours, with an increase in the aggressive (and all too often terminal) type of tumour (glioblastomas). This rise in the incidence and aggressiveness of brain tumours has also been seen here.

“Methyl alcohol has no place in a product, whole or in part, to be allowed to be produced by any manufacturer for human usage.”

Manufacturers assure us that aspartame is completely safe. But, Professor Ralph Walton of Northwestern Ohio Universities states: “I believe Aspartame increases risk of cancer. Virtually all the studies attesting to its safety have been funded by the industry.”
They are also ignoring the growing victims’ support groups and the increasing number of health practitioners who are talking about people “cured” from serious diseases just by stopping taking aspartame.
Dr. Reuben Matalon, a pediatrician and geneticist said: “Let us say cigarettes were invented today, and you give 20 people two packs a day and after six weeks, no one has cancer, would you say that it was safe?”
But perhaps things are about to change. Last April lawsuits were filed in three separate California courts against 12 companies (including Coca-cola, Pepsi and Nutra Sweet) who either produce or use the artificial sweetener aspartame in their products.
And, in September, The National Justice League in America filed a $350 million class action lawsuit against companies for manufacturing and marketing aspartame.
Perhaps these companies will finally be brought to task; in the meantime the best thing we can do is read labels carefully, and avoid aspartame and other artificial sweeteners like the plague!