This was a totall shock for me!!..i have been drinking diet cola for ages now..and also my young daughter started having it to...since she was diagnosed with diabetes few months ago!!..and she uses some other diet products that contain aspartame too..like chocolates,jam..etc..
So before you open a new can of diet Pepsi or light coke cola go through this article and see if its worth it!!..as for me I am through of it starting this night and yes I throw away the diet colas and all products that contain spartame.. from my fridge!!..Allah save us from those greedy companies who don't care but for their own profits !!
please read on...
<b>Aspartame and the BBB</b>
As of 1995, aspartame accounted for 75 percent of adverse reactions reported to the FDA.1
<b> <font color="blue"> Aspartame is comprised of 40% aspartic acid, 50% phenylalanine and 10% methanol. Some of the metabolites of aspartame are methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, diketopiperazine and carbon monoxide.
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The body protects the brain from chemical imbalances through the blood brain barrier (BBB). However, the BBB matures during childhood, is compromised by ill-health and often allows substances to pass while functioning properly.
<b>Aspartic acid</b>
The body produces aspartic acid that serves as a neurotransmitter, facilitating the transition of information from neuron to neuron. Excess aspartic acid (an amino acid) creates too many neurotransmitters in certain areas of the brain. This excess damages or kills neurons by overstimulating them hence the term "excitotoxin."
Excessive amounts of aspartame over time begin to destroy neurons. Significant populations of people who consume aspartame develop a variety of symptomologies commonly diagnosed as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease. Undiagnosed, aspartame users commonly experience memory loss, sexual dysfunction, blindness, heart irregularities, headaches, loss of hearing, seizures, blood sugar anomalies, irritability and varying degrees of dementia.
Naturally, populations most vulnerable to excitotoxic neurological damage are infants and developing children, pregnant women, the elderly and the chronically afflicted.
<b>Phenylalanine</b>
Phenylalanine is also an amino acid produced in the body. Phenylalanine from aspartame can cross the BBB and cause an imbalance of it in the brain, causing serotonin to decrease leading to emotional disorders. Elevated phenylalanine levels have been seen in the blood and in areas of the brain of human subjects who chronically use aspartame.2 Dr. Louis Elsas showed Congress that such levels are dangerous to fetuses and infants. He also showed that lab rats metabolize phenylalanine more efficiently than humans.3
Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock shows earlier studies indicating concentrations of phenylalanine accumulate in the hypothalamus, medulla oblongata, and corpus stranium areas of the brain. Previous science has determined that phenylalanine buildup in the brain can cause schizophrenia or susceptibility to seizures.
Can we infer that aspartame use is partially responsible for increased sales of Prozac and other psychotropic drugs?
<b>Methanol</b>
Methanol is a well-known neurotoxin. The EPA recognizes it as a "cumulative" poison and that "methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." Methanol is slowly released in the small intestine when aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin.
Methanol metabolizes faster as "free" methanol which is created when aspartame is heated above 86 degrees F. In 1993, the FDA approved the use of aspartame in a wide variety of food items that would always be heated above 86 degrees F.
The symptoms of methanol poisoning include headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, nausea, digestive disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, vision problems, retinal damage and blindness, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioral problems and neuritis.
Humans, lacking a couple of key enzymes, are many times more sensitive to the toxic effects of methanol than animals. Therefore, animal studies with regard to the effects of methanol in the body are of no value.
Aspartame enthusiasts are quick to mention that many common foods such as fruit juices and alcoholic beverages contain methanol. However, in these instances, ethanol is always present, usually in higher amounts. Ethanol serves as an antidote to methanol.4 Aspartame contains no ethanol.
<b>Formaldehyde</b>
Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication and causes birth defects.5
Diketopiperazine (DKP)
A by-product of aspartame metabolism, DKP has been associated with the formation of brain tumors. DKP has been found to form in aspartame-containing beverages during prolonged storage, particularly above 86 degrees F. Gulf War troops drank copious amounts of aspartame-sweetened sodas that had been stored for extended periods in the hot Arabian sun.
<b>Conclusions</b>
Science has shown how the components of aspartame are metabolized in the body. Aspartame's three main ingredients are themselves problematic and break down into substances already known to be toxic to the body.
Tests conducted by Searle to support claims that aspartame is safe do not withstand peer review and were being investigated for fraud prior to aspartame's FDA approval.
This article was largely taken from the article "The Bitter Truth About Artificial Sweeteners" by Mark D. Gold as it appeared in the Oct.-Dec., 1995 edition of Nexus Magazine.
you will find more shocking details about this in its source: <a href="http://www.dorway.com/astimes1.html#7" target="_blank">web page</a>
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