Aspartame is an artificially created substance consisting of two amino acids grown by bacteria, aspartic acid and phenylalanine combined with methanol in free form. The resulting chemical compound, 50 percent phenylalanine, 40 percent aspartic acid, and 10 percent methanol, is two hundred times sweeter than natural sugar. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are never found in isolation in the foods we eat, except when they are chemically broken down and reintroduced as additives.
Aspartame is found in most soft drinks, many baked goods, and anything that says “no added sugar,” “sugar free,” or “diet.” NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful are just brand names for aspartame. Don’t assume for a minute that drinking diet soda will allow you to lose weight. Aspartame interferes with brain chemistry and will actually increase food cravings, resulting in weight gain.
Aspartame hydrolyzes when it reaches the gastrointestinal tract. That means it breaks down into its constituent parts as described above; methanol and the two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. One of the things phenylalanine is very good at is blocking serotonin levels in the brain and digestive tract. The body produces serotonin from the amino acid tryptophan found in carbohydrates, and the desire to eat disappears as soon as the brain detects an adequate level of serotonin. But with a constant supply of phenylalanine from aspartame blocking serotonin production, adequate levels are never reached and we continue to crave carbohydrates.
Researchers at Purdue University in Carolina found that rats gained an average of 20 percent more weight on artificial sweeteners than on natural sugar. They couldn’t say why, but they believed that “…the artificial sweetener somehow disrupts the body’s ability to regulate or record the number of calories it has consumed, resulting in carbohydrate cravings and/or reduced metabolism.”
Depression
Serotonin is a very important neurotransmitter and, in addition to appetite control, is heavily involved in mood regulation. Depression is on the rise all over the world and to combat it, pharmaceuticals have created a series of drugs called SSRIs or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. Neurotransmitters work in a circular fashion: they are released, hit the receptor, and then turn off to be ready to be released again, in very quick succession. Essentially, what SSRIs do is prevent the deactivation or reuptake of serotonin, breaking the chain of events and resulting in, theoretically, more mood-elevating serotonin anyway. So, on the one hand, we’re consuming large amounts of an isolated amino acid in our food that specifically blocks serotonin production, and on the other hand, we’re swallowing pills that claim to retain more serotonin in the brain. Presumably it makes sense to someone, but not to this writer, I confess.
methanol
Once aspartame is ingested, the methanol is released and is converted to formaldehyde and then to formic acid. Numerous tests show that methanol decomposes to formaldehyde in vivo in laboratory rats. Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin, is a known carcinogen, causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication, and causes birth defects. In natural foods such as fruits and alcoholic beverages, methanol is always found together with ethanol that neutralizes toxicity.
Chronic low-level exposure to methanol has been shown to cause heart disease and pancreatic inflammation; everything from weight gain to seizures, strokes, liver and kidney failure, antisocial behavior, depression, and hair loss. In fact, there are more than 90 known disabling conditions, too numerous to list here, attributed to regular ingestion of aspartame. You should be aware that aspartame is a neurotoxin and an excitotoxin. Meaning that it will ‘excite’ the activity of the neuron cells to the point where the brain cells will self-destruct and you may experience memory loss, anxiety, dementia and even blindness. Studies with aspartame in France related to calcium depletion have found that it triggers an acute release of bone minerals.
Aspartame has a very murky pedigree and Donald Rumsfeld as CEO of GD Searle while Reagan was president bullied it up the food chain, despite killing several monkeys during safety tests and the FDA’s initial refusal to sanction it for its use in food. As soon as it was (mysteriously) approved by the FDA, the rest of the world followed suit without further delay and can now be found in over 6,000 food products. It can honestly be said that aspartame is not fit for human consumption and should be removed from food products, but it is commonly found in diet foods, soft drinks, chewing gum, pharmaceuticals, and a variety of vitamin products.
Aspartame poisoning undoubtedly affects many people, but it is commonly misdiagnosed because it primarily affects the brain and the symptoms mimic many serious neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, lupus, and Alzheimer’s. The list of complaints, including death, related to the use of aspartame is beginning to say the least and it is the most frequently reported food additive for adverse reactions.
