Some top recognized "sweeteners" are: Equal, Nutrasweet, Equal Measure, Spoonful, and Canderal.
Aspartame was not approved until 1981 in dry foods. For over eight years the FDA refused to approve it because of the seizures and brain tumors that Aspartame produced in lab animals. The FDA continued to refuse to approve it until President Reagan (a friend of Searle) took office and fired the FDA Commissioner who wouldn't approve it. Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes was appointed as commissioner. Even then, there was so much opposition to approval that a Board of Inquiry was set up. The Board said: "Do not approve aspartame". Dr. Hayes OVERRULED his own Board of Inquiry. Shortly after Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. approved the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages, he left for a position with G.D. Searle's Public Relations firm.
Aspartame appears to cause slow, silent damage in those of us unfortunate enough to not have immediate reactions (thus having a reason to avoid it). It may take one year, five years, 10 years, or 40 years, but it seems to cause some reversible and some irreversible changes in health over long-term use.
Methanol (also known as wood alcohol) is 10% of aspartame. Methanol is a deadly poison. People may recall that methanol was the poison that has caused some "skid row" alcoholics to end up blind or dead. Methanol is gradually released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounter the enzyme chymotrypsin. The absorption of methanol into the body is sped up considerably when free methanol is ingested. Free methanol is created from aspartame when it is heated to above 86 Fahrenheit (30 Centigrade). This would occur when aspartame-containing product is improperly stored or when it is heated (e.g., as part of a "food" product such as Jello). Methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body. Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin.
An EPA assessment of methanol states that "Methanol is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, alcohol needs to be oxidized in order to be removed from the body, which is done in the liver; methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." The recommended limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day. A one-quart aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily, or 32 times the EPA limit. The most well known problems from methanol poisoning are vision problems. Formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication, and causes birth defects.
Due to the lack of a couple of key enzymes, humans are many times more sensitive to the toxic effects of methanol than animals. Therefore, tests of aspartame or methanol on animals do not accurately reflect the danger for humans. As pointed out by Dr Woodrow C. Monte, Director of the Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory at Arizona State University, "There are no human or mammalian studies to evaluate the possible mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic effects of chronic administration of methyl alcohol." It has been pointed out that fruit juices and alcoholic beverages contain small amounts of methanol. It is important to remember, that the methanol in natural products never appears alone. In every case, ethanol is present, usually in much higher amounts. Ethanol is an antidote for methanol toxicity in humans. The troops of Desert Storm were "treated" to large amounts of aspartame-sweetened beverages which had been heated to over 86 degrees F. in the Saudi Arabian sun. Many of them returned home with numerous disorders similar to what has been seen in persons who have been chemically poisoned by formaldehyde. The free methanol in the beverages may have been a contributing factor in these illnesses. Other breakdown products of aspartame such as DKP, may also have been a factor.
In a 1993 act that can only be described as "unconscionable", the FDA approved aspartame as an ingredient in numerous food items that would always be heated to above 86°degrees F (30°Degrees C). Much worse, on June 27 1996, without public notice, the FDA removed all restrictions from aspartame allowing it to be used in everything, including all heated and baked goods. The truth about aspartame's toxicity is far different than what the NutraSweet Company would have you readers believe (Nutrasweet's benefits, as posted on their website). In February of 1994, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the listing of adverse reactions reported to the FDA (DHHS 1994). Aspartame accounted for more than 75% of all adverse reactions reported to the FDA's Adverse Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS). By the FDA's own admission fewer then ONE PERCENT of those who have problems with something they consume ever report it to the FDA. This balloons the almost 10,000 complaints they once had to around a million. The fact remains that MOST victims don't have a clue that aspartame may be the cause of their many problems!
The solution: never drink DIET soda or consume anything containing ASPARTAME! Next, read "Health and Happiness: an owner's manual for the mind and body" - this book offers up some very healthy (and delicious) alternatives to anything artificial.
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