The dangers of artificial sweetner

We've all heard of aspartame, it's the worlds most notable artificial sweetner sold under the brand names of Equal and NutraSweet. Aspartame was actually an accidental discovery by James Schlatter in 1965. He was trying to produce an anti-ulcer drug and found aspartame instead. The company he worked for, G.D. Searle & Company was able to convince the FDA to approve aspartame for commercial use.

I say 'convince' because its unnerving that aspartame is still available despite its contribution to 75% of adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Aspartame also continues to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things. If you see what's in aspartame this might make these claims seem more reasonable. Aspartame is made up of the following three chemicals:

1) Aspartic acid - an excitatory amino acid that can be neurotoxic (a few of the many chronic illnesses linked with neurotoxins include: Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Epilepsy & Hearing loss).
2) Phenylalanine - an amino acid which can build up in the brain and cause decreased serotonin, leading to emotional disorders.
3) METHANOL (aka wood alcohol/poison). This is broken down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body, a deadly neurotoxin. The following is from the Material Safety Data Sheet on Methanol - Hazards Identification:
Ingestion: Swallowing even small amounts of methanol could potentially cause blindness or death. Effects of sub lethal doses may be nausea, headache, abdominal pain, vomiting and visual disturbances ranging from blurred vision to light sensitivity.
Effects of Long-Term (Chronic) Exposure: Repeated exposure by inhalation or absorption may cause systemic poisoning, brain disorders, impaired vision and blindness. Inhalation may worsen conditions such as emphysema or bronchitis. Repeated skin contact may cause dermal irritation, dryness and cracking.

I hope this opens some eyes and makes you avoid aspartame in the future. I thought I'd share this knowledge because I read an article saying the makers of aspartame are rebranding it under the name "AminoSweet" due to the growing awareness about the dangers of artificial sweetners.

If you need a sweetner, try honey or Stevia (a natural, zero-calorie sweetner). I personally would use unrefined sugar over aspartame (in modest amounts, of course ;) ). If you drink diet pop/soda, hopefully this encourages you choose healthier options such as water or green tea instead.

Yours in health,
Sarah