Is aspartame too dangerous?
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Karen McNew
WSLS 10
Published: April 16, 2008
I have condensed this week’s question because it was in e-mail form asking about an e-mail going around regarding aspartame and possible dangers associated with it. It basically blamed aspartame for everything from Gulf War Syndrome to multiple sclerosis, lupus and ADHD. That being said, here’s what I have been able to find out from a local dietitian regarding aspartame and any complications that may come from ingesting it.
Registered dietitian Dorothy Shaver says, “If someone has PKU (phenylketonuria) they are unable to metabolize phenylalanine (which is in aspartame), and some fibromyalgia/MS symptoms have occurred in people with PKU when they ingest something that contains phenylalanine.”
She says, about 1 in 20,000 people will see those symptoms because of PKU.
“As far as being dangerous for others, I have not heard that and no studies say that it causes sickness such as MS, cancer or fibromyalgia. There have been many studies that show it causes cancer in animals (rats), but not in humans. Epidemiological studies don’t provide clear evidence,” Shaver says.
However, this is not a recommendation for people to ingest aspartame.
Shaver says, “I wouldn’t recommend eating and drinking items that contain aspartame all of the time because it is an unnatural, lab-made food, but it is generally recognized as safe.”
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Posted by ( Dave ) on May 01, 2008 at 9:09 am
This isn’t directed at anyone…just some thoughts…
During the Elizabethan era, women would consume small amounts of Arsenic on a daily basis.
Arsenic kills red blood cells and by having less blood, women would have the pale complexion that was in fashion at the time. This would eventually lead to death, and many could keep this up for decades. Because the death rarely occurred immediately after consuming the arsenic, it was assumed that the arsenic must be “perfectly safe.“ This is the same “junk science” people self-apply when diagnosing the effects of other poisons on their person.
“I did shots last night, but I was fine.“
No, you poisoned yourself and your constitution was sufficient to shrug off the effects. Thank God for your resilience, but it’s easily proven that doesn’t last forever.
The effects of Arsenic are due to poisoning. It’s not an allergic reaction. It is poison. Its effects are universal. However, the symptoms of being poisoned vary from one person to the next, but all people are poisoned.
This is true with any of the base components of Aspartame. There is no question that these compounds poison the body. Find me a fool that thinks it’s ok to drink any amount of wood grain alcohol and hand them a bottle of antifreeze or rubbing alcohol. In there it seems obvious, but in a diet soda?
“But the packaging is so pretty.“
We want to believe it’s good, just as Snow White wanted to believe the beautiful red apple was perfectly safe too.
We also want to believe that everything we read on Snopes or Wkipedia is 100% accurate and without bias or error, but this is a fool’s dream as well.
Just as in the Agatha Christy mystery novels, the effects of slow poisoning are often difficult to diagnose. People can often get so used to symptoms they don’t regard them as anything but normal.
Again, this junk science is applied to Aspartame. The biochemical evidence is overwhelming in regards to the poisonous effects of any one of the compounds that make up Aspartame.
According to the playbacks of Congressional testimony in the 80s, Searle reported in the Absorption, Metabolization and Excretion section of their approval petition to the FDA that these compounds individually enter the blood stream. I think you can see these playbacks in the DVD “Sweet Misery.“ Now I could be mistaken, but that seems like a significant issue.
Let’s just take one component: Glutamate. As Aspartic Acid, there is simply no question that free glutamate damages cells. Your immune system manufactures glutamate to inject into “rogue cells” and kill them.
The free glutamate found in Aspartame is the same as the glutamate manufactured by your immune cells to kill cells—not just bacteria and other invading pathogens, but your own cells as well (e.g., cancerous cells).
Ok, how about wood grain alcohol? AKA Methanol, this poison constantly builds up in the body, like arsenic, and can eventually cause vision problems and eventually blindness. Oh yeah, and death as well.
Have you ever wondered why diet sodas have “freshness dates” and regular sodas don’t? From my research, I found that Aspartame is known to break down in liquids (which is why it was only approved for dry good originally). If you drink an old diet soda, or one that has been exposed to heat, you could suffer from acute effects of methanol poisoning.
Freshness date? Or Lawsuit protection?
Think Agatha Christy….If something is labeled as expired, it can’t be your fault if someone gets sick drinking it right? You can’t sue the dairy if you drink clearly labeled expired milk, right?
Then the pro-death camp (Aspartame supporters) argues that we consume such small amounts, that these issues don’t matter. That’s always a great argument for knowingly poisoning someone. I wonder if that would hold up in court if you were knowingly feeding someone trace amounts of arsenic with the same defense.
So what is a “safe” amount of Aspartame?
The FDA had an answer for that. 50mg per 1kg of body weight.
Why would the FDA set a maximum allowable limit to a compound that so many ignorant journalists want to call “perfectly safe” when writing about it in the media?
Could it be because Asparame was originally developed as a peptic ulcer drug and has an established LD50 in order to get approval as a drug?
So it has a known lethal dosage, but it’s “perfectly safe.“ Nice conclusion.
How about this 1985 article in the NY Times reporting that the average consumer was already exceeding this established “safe limit.“
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E06E4DC1639F936A35751C0A963948260&scp=39&sq=aspartame&st=nyt
Pop Quiz: Americans are consuming more or less Aspartame today as they were 20 years ago?
Hint: There are now over 6,500 products which contain Aspartame including an entire new market category of “health waters” for the gym.
I could go on, but I’m reminded of the passage “those who have ears, let them hear.“
Those who wish to argue the nonsense of Aspartame being safe are like the blind being led by the blind…enjoy the ditch.
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Posted by ( jegarst ) on April 21, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Aspartame is perfectly safe used as directed in healthy people. First, all the misguided concern about aspartame has been wrongfully created by a combination of errors that started with the original Searle work, were perpetuated by a misguided aspartame internet conspiracy theory, and supported by two also wrongly designed 2006 and 2007 studies. In the eyes of misguided FDA evaluators of the original Searle work, there were tumor concerns evident in the original Searle safety study. Then the internet conspiracy theorists have kept this fable alive for twenty years. But those original results were simply false positives stemming from an error that nobody, even FDA, caught. The Searle work and everything since (including both highly quoted Soffritti et al (that is Rammazini), 2006 and 2007 studies) used a simple, yet wrong experimental design. They used control rats (fed no aspartame) and treated rats (fed different, graded doses of aspartame to get a dose response). The problem with this design is that it is simply improperly balanced. Even a high school science fair student can recognize this fact once it is made clear. Methanol from aspartame degradation is converted to formaldehyde. Formaldehyde has long been known to react with and deplete a portion of the vitamin folate in exposed rats, but that issue is resolved if folate is replaced by daily and microgram sustenance supplements. But this degradation of folate only happens in the treated animals, because only they get the aspartame source of the methanol. Control animals were not given equivalent methanol. The consequence is that only the rats receiving the aspartame will show a dose-dependent increase not in tumors arising from aspartame, but from a dose-dependent induction of folate deficiency induced tumors. Proper design would involve feeding folate supplements; it would best have used three groups, control rats, aspartame treated rats, and folate supplemented, aspartame treated rats. This design would not have given rise to tumors, because the rats would not have been depleted of folate, which causes exactly those tumor types reported in the 2006 and 2007 lifetime exposures.
Second, all the matter above deals with the rat experimental studies, but there is another totally separate issue, human safety. That issue only exists because of the false claims that aspartame causes problems including tumors in humans. In a corollary of the first line, the fact of the matter is that many people in this country are not healthy; they are intrinsically susceptible to a natural cause of tumors that internet conspirators have wrongly attributed to aspartame. Many people, particularly women, are deficient in this vitamin (folate) and some are seriously deficient in it. The “health weight” trend not to eat sweet rolls, doughnuts and other grain products that have been fortified with folate since 1998 only worsens the underlying problem. Still others have biochemical issues with their folate processing enzymes called polymorphisms that raise their susceptibility to folate deficiency. Widespread folate deficiency, not aspartame, is the real problem causing much of the tumors and cancers epidemic in America today. And alcohol abuse by women is a major factor in increased folate deficiency and contributes greatly to the incidence of breast cancer today.
There have recently been calls for a second round of grain product fortification to again overcome these problems. But the only real solution to the many folate deficiency linked tumors is use of folate supplements. Folate is made not by us, but by bacteria in our gut; given even a folate rich diet (“healthy living”), we simply cannot make sufficient folate to prevent the widespread occurrence of disease associated with folate deficiency. Then, many dietary substances including antibiotics, abusive levels of ethanol, and many commonly used pharmaceuticals (antiepileptic and others) adversely affect either folate or the bugs that generate the folate; they only make us more deficient.
(Information detailing the fatal error in all rat aspartame research is new. It was presented in March, 2008 at the national Society of Toxicology meeting in Seattle and last week (2008) at the Agriculture & Food Chemistry section of the national American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans).
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Posted by ( Dave ) on April 18, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I’m amazed at the absurd arguments supporting the “safety” of Aspartame. Research the facts.
http://www.squidoo.com/TheCaseAgainstAspartame
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Posted by ( DiabetesRD ) on April 17, 2008 at 10:34 pm
There has been a lot of controversy around the non-nutritive sweetener aspartame, marketed as Equal® in the United States. This sugar substitute is used in many lower-calorie foods and beverages and it is 200 times sweeter than sugar. This means that a tiny amount can be used to achieve the sweet taste of sugar with far fewer calories. The sweetener was discovered by accident in 1965 and is actually two amino acids or protein building blocks that when combined have an intense sweet taste. These two amino acids occur naturally in many foods such as meat and eggs. Aspartame is one of the most studied food ingredients to date and a published review of more than 500 studies appeared in the Sept. ‘07 issue of Critical Reviews in Toxicology.
The international team of experts from ten universities looked at studies from the 1970’s through today and then used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) to determine how much aspartame is consumed by the average person. The expert panel concluded that aspartame is safe for adults and children at current levels of consumption and even when consumed at levels many times higher than the average daily intake. The American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, the Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority have all issued statements affirming the safety of the sweetener. Some of the expert panel’s conclusions:
• No credible evidence was found to support the claim that aspartame is carcinogenic or has any cancer causing properties.
• Extensive testing of studies in humans shows no link to memory loss, learning problems or any other neurological effects.
• Aspartame has no effect on behavior, brain function or seizures in any of the groups that were studied.
• No adverse effects found on reproduction (the ability to get pregnant) or lactation (nursing babies.)
• Aspartame is safe for use by people with diabetes and may help them adhere to a lower-carbohydrate diet program to better control blood sugars.
• No evidence to support a link between aspartame and obesity. Many weight control programs use products with the low-calorie sweetener to aid in long-term management of calorie intake.
• There may be a very small subset of the population who shows some minor sensitivity to aspartame, with subjects reporting headaches after consumption, but even those studies showed conflicting results.
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Posted by ( stephenfox ) on April 17, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I don’t do my research from the Internet. I have learned the most from the clinical research of Dr. Russell Blaylock, Neurosurgeon; Dr. H.J. Roberts, Internist; Dr. Kenneth Stoller, Pediatrician, and Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder of Mission Possible International, who has kept thousands of case histories, autopsies, and first person reports for the past 14 years on Aspartame and its victims.
There will always be soothsayers and corporate lobbyists among the ranks of every profession, including dietitians, but it has been rare that I have encountered dieticians who do adequate research on these questions themselves; most prefer to accept willy nilly the corporate bilge put out by the manufacturers as gospel truth. This is pathetic, but even more pathetic for their patients, who rely on them for accurate advice. No one disputes that aspartame is metabolized as methanol and formaldehyde; maybe the reader can also look up diketopiperazine, or ask a neurotoxicologist or oncologist for a summary of the harm done by THAT aspartame byproduct. Lots of peer reviewed studies, like the Ramazzini Report from the European Foundation for Oncology Research in Italy; there are others from South Africa and from Greece. Once again: just google and read:
RUMSFELD’S BIOWEAPON LEGACY to get the real truth of how this ghastly chemical was approved. My claims about aspartame will hardly seem outrageous, once you know the truth.
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Posted by ( nutriexpert ) on April 17, 2008 at 9:17 pm
This comment is to Mr. Fox: Yes, Aspartame is metabolized to methanol, formaldehyde and DKP, but in such small amounts they don’t account for much. You would likely get more methanol/formaldehyde from drinking juice or alcohol or eating meat.
There are other non-caloric sweeteners such as Splenda that are safe, why not use these instead of Aspartame?
Looking at the big picture, I think the biggest problem with the American diet is portion size and fast, fatty food, NOT a non-caloric sweetner.
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Posted by ( nareppert ) on April 17, 2008 at 2:42 pm
First of all, I disagree with Mr. Fox’s assertion that dietitians (the correct spelling) rarely “get it right.“ Most of us go through a good deal more education than a newspaper editor, and we know our stuff.
Secondly, I’d like to know what scientific, peer-reviewed studies Mr. Fox can cite to support his absurd claims against aspartame? Surely not all scientists are in the pockets of “Big Aspartame,“ and if there were legitimate causation between aspartame consumption (at safe levels) and the health conditions he lists, some astute researcher would have published such findings by now. I’d encourage Mr. Fox to spend more time doing research of his own, but using sources more reputable than Google.
Adam Reppert, MS,RD
WIC Nutritionist
Champaign, IL
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Posted by ( stephenfox ) on April 17, 2008 at 11:10 am
Occasionally, but rarely, dieticians get it right. This one is a bit ahead of the curve, but still didn’t get it right. Aspartame is metabolized as methanol and formaldehyde, and as diketopiperazine, a proven cause of brain tumors, after it has been heated.
Even the FDA has a list of 92 symptoms attributed to Aspartame. It was forced through the FDA in 1981 by Donald Rumsfeld as CEO of G.D. Searle, the patent holder at the time. Just google
“Rumsfeld’s Bioweapon Legacy,“ to read about that despicable and sordid chapter of the FDA’s checkered history!
We are trying to get it banned in New Mexico and in Hawaii (see Senate Concurrent Resolution 191 at the Hawaii Legislature website, under Bills and Documents), but that battle is tough with so many corporate lobbyists spouting the b.s. that it is “safe.“ As to your dietician’s advice, PKU is only a small part of the problem: them it can actually kill right away. For the rest of the aspartame consumers, would they actually continue to ingest a chemical metabolized as methanol and formaldehyde if they knew it was so deadly? I think not. Slowly, consumers awaken to these deadly facts and dozens of illnesses caused by aspartame that are misinterpreted by physicians as some other mysterious disease.
For example, since Aspartame dries up the synovial fluid between joints, the results are called arthritis and even fibromyalgia with unknown causes. This is happening right now to a good friend of mind in New Mexico who has excruciating back pain, yet still won’t give up her Diet Cokes!
In Hawaii, the native Hawaiians are really angry, because those with mild diabetes are encouraged by physicians and dieticians like yours to consumer aspartame products, and they end up, for the first time in thousands of years of their family histories, to have epileptic seizures and convulsions, two of the 92 symptoms recognized by the FDA.
In the Women’s Prison in Troy, Virginia, there is a woman, Diane Fleming, serving 50 years for the ostensible murder of her husband, who as an athlete frequently mixed Diet Drinks with Creatine and even Bourbon after playing basketball. He died of methanol poisoning, and even though she passed the lie detector tests administered by the Police, her lawyer, a Virginia lawyer by the name of Cooley, was somewhat incompetent and she was convicted. This is the tragedy of aspartame in the judicial setting; her appeals are moving forward, but most of the papers have forgotten her. I encourage your Lynchburg News Advocate to look into her case. Meanwhile, the real killers, the aspartame manufacturers and corporate users like Coca Cola, Wrigley’s, and Ajinomoto, the Japanese manufacturer, continue to get away with murdering hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting Americans and others in every nation, who continue to naively believe that the FDA is still there to protect them.
Truly,
Stephen Fox
Managing Editor Santa Fe Sun News
stephen@santafefineart.com
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