Aspartame: Approved In 90 Nations, But Damages Brain
Sayer Ji, Contributor
Activist Post
A new study on aspartame has the potential to reignite the decades-old
controversy behind this artificial sweetener's safety, or lack thereof.
As far back as 1996, folks were writing about the potential link between aspartame and increasing brain tumor rates.
Indeed, its intrinsic
neurotoxicity and
carcinogenicity has been confirmed in the biomedical literature. Yet, aspartame has
been approved for use in thousands of consumer products in over 90
countries,
[ii] and is still being consumed by millions worldwide on a daily basis – despite the fact that over 40
adverse health effects of aspartame have been documented.
The new study, published in the September edition of the [i]Journal of Bioscience
and titled, "Effect of chronic exposure to aspartame on oxidative
stress in the brain of albino rats," aimed to test the hypothesis that
chronic consumption of
aspartame may be causing neurological damage in exposed populations.
They found that chronic (90 day) administration of aspartame to rats, at
ranges only 50% above what the FDA considers safe for human
consumption, resulted in blood and brain tissue changes consistent with
brain damage.
Aspartame is metabolized into three distinct components: aspartic acid,
methanol and phenylalanine. While aspartic acid is a well-known
excitotoxin, phenylalanine only presents a serious health concern to
those with a genetic disorder known as phenyletonuria. Methanol, on the
other hand, is far more problematic, as it is not naturally found in
significant quantities in the human diet.
According to a recent review:
<blockquote class="tr_bq">Until 200 years ago, methanol was an extremely
rare component of the human diet and is still rarely consumed in
contemporary hunter and gatherer cultures. With the invention of canning
in the 1800s, canned and bottled fruits and vegetables, whose methanol
content greatly exceeds that of their fresh counterparts, became far
more prevalent. The recent dietary introduction of aspartame, an
artificial sweetener 11% methanol by weight, has also greatly increased
methanol consumption.
[iii]</blockquote>Moreover,
the aspartame metabolite methanol (also known as wood alcohol) is
highly toxic and is metabolized into the known human carcinogen
formaldehyde and formic acid,
[iv] which is known to be highly toxic to the central nervous system.
Considering the fact that the normal human body temperature is
approximately 98.6 degrees Farenheit, and that aspartame will convert to
its toxic metabolites at temperatures as low as 86 degrees Farenheit,
the finding that aspartame is neurotoxic to animals is not a surprise.
The authors of the new study surmised that the observed adverse brain
changes were due to the generation of oxidative stress in brain regions.
Aspartame,
of course, is a proprietary synthetic chemical not found in nature, and
exists primarily because plants like stevia, which have significant,
clinically-substantiated healing properties, can be grown in your back
yard for free and are therefore not profitable commodities that can be
produced and controlled only by a few.
But, aspartame is not the only toxic sweetener on the market. A growing
body of research now shows that sucralose, known by the brand-name
Splenda, is also capable of suppressing the immune system, causing
inflammatory bowel conditions such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis,
migraine headaches, and DNA damage.
[v]The trick is to stick with naturally occurring compounds, whose
sweetness is not associated with adverse health effects. Below is a list
of natural alternatives, along with the number of potential health
benefits associated with each, as indexed on our website.
Compounds whose sweetness is not associated with adverse health effects:
Honey (69)
Xylitol (21)
Erythritol (2)
Stevia (16)
Source:-
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/09/aspartame-approved-in-90-nations-but.html