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So why am I writing about Aspartame again? Isn’t it a bit redundant? It would be if there were not still so many who do not know of its tragic effects, convinced by greedy big business advertising that it is safe. Sadly, a few years ago when I learned about aspartame I checked out every single package of gum and mints at the register and every single one had aspartame listed.
Beware everyone, but also you pilots and pregnant mothers! You both have others on board.
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ~Soren Kierkegaard
Excellent, illuminating video! 6 minutes.
If you are concerned about cancer, you will want to watch.
Aspartame has been linked to over 40 adverse health effects
In biomedical literature, it has been shown to exhibit both neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity.
Did you know that Aspartame literally turns into formaldehyde and methanol inside your body? It breaks down into, according to one paper, “phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid (40%) and methanol (10%) during metabolism in the body. The excess of phenylalanine blocks the transport of important amino acids to the brain contributing to reduced levels of dopamine and serotonin.”
What’s the Deal with Methanol?
Once ingested, methanol quickly converts to formaldehyde. Yes, that’s the embalming fluid used in preserving bodies. Formaldehyde causes gradual and eventually severe damage to the neurological system, immune system, and causes permanent genetic damage at extremely low doses.
And methanol easily passes thru your blood-brain barrier which normally protects your brain from toxins.
Methanol/formaldehyde destroys the myelin sheath of the nervous system.
It is a cumulative poison. Once injured, one can display symptoms that are commonly seen in diseases like MS, ALS, and Parkinson’s and also migraines that can include bizarre and inconsistent visual field disruptions.
When these clinical symptoms do occur, they may or may not be associated with aspartame consumption. The connection is obscured over time, and the cascade of multiplying health problems takes front and center stage.
Dangers for Fetuses (Babies), Young Children, and Pilots
It has been determined that babies in utero and infants are four times more sensitive to neurotoxic agents than adults. Cases of seizures, learning deficits, and irreversible brain damage are not unusual (source and source). If a mother consumes drinks (or foods) with aspartame while pregnant or nursing, it is passed to the baby. Despite this, the American Dietetic Association still recommends aspartame for pregnant and nursing women! Would it be overstatement to say this has the potential to dumb us down just a bit?
While having NO methanol in the body makes most sense, the EPA has accepted that a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day is still OK. According to Woodrow Monte, Ph.D, director of the Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory at Arizona State University:
“When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used to replace fluid lost during exercise and physical exertion in hot climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 32 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limit of consumption for this cumulative toxin.”
A stunning FDA docket (a PDF download) shows the KNOWN EFFECTS of Aspartame. (See Objections to FDA Approval). This was understood for quite some time, yet marketing pushed onward anyway.
If you are looking for specific studies, you can check out these ones published in the US National Library of Medicine:
- Consumption of artificial sweetener and risk of lymphoma and leukaemia
- Effect of chronic exposure to aspartame
- Long-term consumption of aspartame and brain antioxidant defense status
- Aspartame-induces impairment of spatial cognition and insulin sensitivity
- Synergistic interactions between food additives in a developmental neurotoxicity test
- Multipotential carcinogenic effects of aspartame
Evidence & Warnings
Both the U.S. Air Force’s Flying Safety Magazine (May, 1992) and the U.S. Navy’s magazine Navy Physiology (early 90s) published articles warning about the many dangers of aspartame including cumulative deleterious effects of methanol. The articles goes on to note that the ingestion of even small amounts of aspartame could mean a pilot who drinks diet sodas is more susceptible to flicker vertigo, or to flicker-induced epileptic activity. It also means that all pilots are potential victims of sudden memory loss, dizziness during instrument flight, and gradual loss of vision. (source)
Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) surveyed 80 people who suffered brain seizures after eating or drinking products with Aspartame. Findings: “These 80 cases meet the FDA’s own definition of an imminent hazard to the public health, which requires the FDA to expeditiously remove a product from the market.” (source)
Oh, the greed.
According to an article from General Aviation News, “hundreds of pilots have reported life-threatening adverse reactions due to aspartame.” USAF Major Michael Collings suffered from seizures whenever he drank diet soda. When he stopped using aspartame products, he remained seizure-free. Unfortunately, he lost his medical certification and can no longer fly. (source)
Many pilots appear to be particularly susceptible to the effects of aspartame ingestion. They have reported numerous serious toxicity effects including grand mal seizures in the cockpit. (Stoddard 1995). This susceptibility may be related to ingesting methanol at altitude, or it may simply be that some pilots tend to ingest large quantities of aspartame during a flight. Whatever the case, numerous warnings have appeared in piloting journals. (source).
“According to Lendon Smith, M.D. there is an enormous population suffering from side effects associated with aspartame, yet have no idea why drugs, supplements, and herbs don’t relieve their symptoms. Then, there are users who don’t ‘appear’ to suffer immediate reactions at all. Even these individuals are susceptible to the long-term damage caused by phenylalanine, methanol, and aspartic acid.” (source)
More scientific Studies that still remain accessible to public. The rest have been scrubbed!
- Stroke, April 2017 DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.016027
- Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 2017; DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.01.024
- Is soda bad for your brain? (And is diet soda worse?) Science Daily
A Sweetener By Any Other Name?
Look for the usual names and the rebrand names of Aspartame: Neotame®, Equal®, NutraSweet®, Blue Zero Calorie Sweetener Packets™, Advantame®, NutraSweet New Pink, Canderel®, Pal Sweet Diet®.
Acesulfame K is just as bad. These two products are in almost all brands of sugar free chewing gum, soft drinks and a plethora of daily use items.
Updated: Aspartame may be disguised as a new name in your favorite foods – AminoSweet®.
“Excitotoxins have been found to dramatically promote cancer growth and metastasis. In fact, one aspartame researcher noticed that, when cancer cells were exposed to aspartame, they became more mobile.” ~Dr. Russell Blaylock, a retired neurosurgeon
Please Mamas, think twice or even three times before bringing diet sodas, ‘sugar-free’ drinks, gum, or foods for your family or for yourself. If you are wondering why you, your husband, or children are often sick, feeling out-of-control, or incapable of focusing on a task, you may be unwittingly consuming a cumulative poison.
I write this not to cast blame, fear, or make you feel guilty. My goal is to inform so you can make healthy choices and hopefully bless your family with good health.
You Can Detox Aspartame Safely and Gently
I have written a short post on how to remove toxins from aspartame as well as many other environmental toxins. Find it here.
See the complete list of adverse reactions and side effects to aspartame both medical and psychological.
Let’s stop this insidious assault on our bodies and minds now. Let’s spread the word about aspartame and its tragic effects until everyone knows better than to believe the deceptive marketing so common today.
Are you an ingredient label reader? Will you accept my challenge to become one?
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