Aspartame, which is marketed today as Equal, Nutrasweet, Spoonful and Equal-Measure, is a toxic artificial sweetener. Aspartame users may suffer from symptoms ranging from headaches, numbness, seizures, joint pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.

Aspartame is made up of 3 chemicals: Aspartic Acid, Phenylalanine and Methanol.
Dr. Russell Blaylock, professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, explains that aspartame is a neurotransmitter facilitating the transmission of information from one neuron to another. Aspartame allows too much calcium into brain cells, killing certain neurons, earning aspartame the name of “excitotoxin”. With aspartame now in over 9,000 products such as instant breakfasts, slimming shakes, breath mints, gum, cereals, frozen desserts, yogurt, “lite” gelatin desserts, and even multivitamins including children’s vitamins, it is no surprise that there is a virtual epidemic of memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

The chemical phenylalanine, a by-product of aspartame metabolism, is an amino acid normally found in the brain. You may have heard of testing infants for phenylketonuria (PKU), a condition where phenylalanine cannot be metabolized, which can lead to death. It has been shown that excessive amounts of phenylalanine in the brain can cause serotonin levels to decrease. How many people do you know who are currently taking Prozac? Perhaps the flooding of American foods and soft drinks with aspartame is contributing to this need for drugs like Prozac and Zoloft.

Dr. Blaylock writes that schizophrenia and susceptibility to seizures can occur as a result of high levels of aspartame. The MA Institute of Technology surveyed 80 people who suffered seizures following the ingestion of aspartame. The Community Nutrition Institute concluded that these cases met the FDA’s own definition of an “imminent hazard” to the public health, but the FDA made no move to remove this dangerous product from the market.

Methanol is another by-product of aspartame. Free methanol results when aspartame is heated higher than 86 degrees Fahrenheit. If you cook a sugar-free pudding that contains aspartame, you are creating free methanol. One quart of aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. The EPA states that methanol is “considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed.” Once methanol enters your body it breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and can cause birth defects by interfering with DNA replication. Our Desert Storm troops were treated to free diet drinks that sat in the hot sun of Saudi Arabia. Many of the unusual symptoms found in Desert Storm veterans are similar to those of people chemically poisoned by formaldehyde.
The artificial sweetener aspartame would certainly not sell if people knew what kind of a toxic chemical stew they were ingesting.

Information obtained from “Essential Oils Desk Reference”, Compiled by Essential Science Publishing

We strongly encourage our readers to become label readers in an effort to protect you, your children and your grandchildren’s health. If you’re asking “what about Splenda?” - it’s just as bad. We’d need another page to tell you of the perils of Splenda.
Visit Family Health Center for suggestions on true, natural sugar substitutes: Raw Organic Sugar, Stevia, Xylitol, Honey and Agave.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any condition of the body.