The FDA has received more complaints about adverse reactions to aspartame than any other food ingredient in the agency’s history.
	There are over 90 registered side effects to this food supplement (42 are listed below).
	Aspartame is the combination of two amino acids (phenylalanine and aspartic acid) and methanol.
	These products are especially dangerous when heated.
	Did you know some toothpastes even have Nutrasweet® in them?  Protect yourself, read labels.
	Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, seems to stimulate the appetite.
	There are over 5000 products containing aspartame as of 1995, the time the World Environmental Conference and the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation met about aspartame and neurological symptoms.
	As of 1994, 6,888 cases of adverse reactions had been reported to the FDA and included 75% of all non-drug complaints.

Aspartame is a molecule composed of three ingredients, aspartic acid, 40% (an excitotoxin as an isolate, product that stimulates the neurons of the brain to death causing brain damage), a methyl ester that immediately converts to methyl alcohol, (10%) then breaks down to formaldehyde and formic acid (ant sting poison), and 50% phenylalanine, as an isolate a neurotoxin that lowers the seizure threshold and depletes serotonin triggering psychiatric and behavioral problems. The molecule breaks down to a witch’s brew of toxins including diketopiperazine, a brain tumor agent that triggered brain tumors in original studies. This methanol production is hastened with heat.

Hmm. wonder about the Gulf War Syndrome where pallets of pop sat in temperatures of 120 degrees for weeks and was consumed quite readily by all our troops. Methanol AND the off gassing of the plastic bottles—what a combination, huh?

Aspartame should be avoided by people with phenylketonuria (PKU). People with PKU lack the enzyme needed to convert phenylalanine into tyrosine, another amino acid. So, high concentrations of phenylalanine accumulate and can cause brain damage.

People with iron deficiencies and kidney disease may also have a problem breaking phenylalanine down. This seems to be validated in my practice. Many people test low in tyrosine. I wonder if they are balancing and correcting for the aspartame in their diets.

Depressed people: Most of these people suffer from various forms of depression. I usually send them home on tyrosine-rich foods such as sesame seeds, halvah, or tahini.

Children: We learned in veterinary school that aspartame should never be given to children under the age of 5 as their blood brain barriers are not fully developed. The aspartame molecule is quite large and normally does not pass through this barrier in older adults, but in children, DKP, a breakdown product of aspartame can cause brain tumors and paranoia. Personally, if I want an occasional soda, I drink full-sugared. I think it’s safer.

People with eye problems: Retinal degeneration is caused from the methyl alcohol produced when the amino acid breaks down. Retinal damage is attributed to methyl alcohol (wood alcohol) which is released when the aspartame is broken down or heated. Methanol is specifically toxic to the optic nerve. Remember those stories of prohibition when people were becoming blind who bootlegged whiskey that contained methanol? Methanol can also cause brain swelling, inflammation of the pancreas and of the heart muscle. Hmm, now diabetics already have problems with their eyes and memories. Seems like this would only make it worse.

Obese people: Studies show people actually eat more food when using artificial sweeteners. One study done with aspartame-sweetened and sucrose-sweetened soft drinks on food intake and appetite ratings showed that calorie intake was actually lower when subjects were drinking the sucrose-sweetened rinks prior to eating. The Congressional records state that a Dr. Roberts found that the formaldehyde seems to store in the hips and thighs area. How he figured this out, I don’t know.

Seems like I see lots of women with heavy hips and thighs. Does the formaldehyde glom onto the fat cells or it is transported there because of estrogen influence, and does this occur more in women? I don’t have those answers. However, when Dr. Roberts got his patients off aspartame, they lost and average of 19 pounds over a 12-month period.

Migraine sufferers: I have noticed that the migraines associated with allergens (including aspartame) can occur up to 36 hours after ingesting the offending substance.

People with neurological diseases: New studies coming out are linking aspartame side effects to diseases looking like multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. It’s your choice. Will you gamble with your health and the health of your family?

Men who has any kind of sexual dysfunction (Aspartame causes or makes it worse.)

In July 2005, the most impeccable study ever done on aspartame (Ramazzini) confirmed what the FDA knew a quarter of a century ago, that aspartame is a multipotential carcinogen triggering leukemia, lymphoma, kidney cancer and cancer of the peripheral nerves, especially the cranial nerves. Only the rats fed aspartame developed malignant brain tumors. Originally the FDA revoked the petition for approval because it could not be proven to be safe and triggered brain tumors. It also triggered mammary, uterine, ovarian, testicular, thyroid and pancreatic tumors. Unfortunately, once aspartame was approved no drug on the market could be considered safe because aspartame interacts with all drugs and vaccines.

• http://www.wnho.net/new_aspartame_studies.htm

• http://www.wnho.net/fda_petition1.doc 
  http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_interacts.htm

We MUST get aspartame out of the schools. Even where pop machines have been removed from grammar schools or middle schools diet drinks are being sold in high schools to addict and maim the students. The free methyl alcohol causes chronic methanol poisoning, and this affects the dopamine system of the brain causing the addiction. It reduces IQ as well. Aspartame is in an estimated 6000 products including pediatric prescription drugs and pediatric vitamins. After demanding Wrigley's remove it from gum for years because it goes straight to the brain, they have now put it in most all gums, and it may be blended with acesulfame potassium which caused cancer and leukemia in original studies.

I once met the adult son of a couple that used to work in the aspartame lab developing the NutraSweet product. He was telling us that his parents were let go for voicing their opinions. The company wanted to push the product through to marketing before the tests on its safety had been completed. He told us that his parents had pointed out that, if licensed, there should be a warning on the label never to use the product in things that would be heated because it was dangerous. As he tells it, his parents were asked to leave the research group.  

Agave Nectar-Agave syrup or nectar is commercially produced in Jalisco, Mexico from a variety of agave plants including Agave tequilana (the plant they make Tequila from) and from Agave salmiana, and the green, grey, thorny and rainbow varieties.

Agave syrup is 1.4 times sweeter than sugar, is less viscous, does not crystallize like honey and has a shelf life of 3 years. Mexican Indians harvest the nectar by hand by cutting off the tops of the leaves, hollowing out the core of the plant and allowing the nectar to flow to the center of the plant where they dip it out after a few days and cook the filtered nectar down. It then hydrolyzes the carbohydrates into sugars and makes a syrup.  It is organic and Kosher.

Total Carbohydrate Grams= 16/Tablespoon. Total calories/serving = 60. Agave Nectar was found to have a glycemic index of 32. In contrast, honey has a reported glycemic index of 58, due to its higher ratio of glucose to fructose, as compared to the ratio of glucose to fructose in Agave Nectar.

Reference:  http://www.madhavahoney.com/agave.htm   

Blackstrap Molasses- A leftover sludge of the sugar making process. Teeming with minerals and vitamins. Ounce per ounce it contains more calcium than milk, more iron than eggs, and more potassium than ANY other food. What I love about blackstrap molasses is that the body seems to assimilate all the minerals quite readily. It’s great for anemia problems. Carbs: 4 grams/teaspoon.

Gymnema sylvestre-is a sugar-blocking herb. It acts on sugar receptor sites in the small intestine preventing sugar from being absorbed. I guess this could be considered in the same category as Chitosan, which blocks fat from being absorbed into the intestines. Gymnema is a woody climbing plant grown in the tropical forests of central and southern India. It has been used in India for the treatment of diabetes for over 2000 years. Gymnema comes in powder, tincture, or tea form and can block up to 50% of the sugar going into the system. Some people put a few drops of the tincture on their tongue before eating anything sweet. It seems to dull the sweet taste buds.

The use of Gymnema for adult-onset diabetes takes a while to help the body produce more insulin and work on those insulin resistance challenges. The suggested dose is 400mg per day used for up to 24 months. It cannot be used in the place of insulin. Work with a naturopath for best results. Take with Cataplex GTF (A whole food based Chromium) for best results. Studies have shown Gymnema also can lower cholesterol and triglycerides.

Just Like Sugar- An analysis on Just Like Sugar (now sold in Whole Foods and Wild Oats) has shown it is free of excitotoxins. It is chicory, orange peel, Vitamin C and Calcium. Stevia can be gotten from any health food store which helps in the metabolism of sugar, and is a sweet herb.

Stevia is many times sweeter than sugar. The herb grows well as an annual in most of the United States. The leaves can be harvested, dried and ground then used to sprinkle on foods. I find that stevia does have a bit of a strange aftertaste, but it is good for liver disorders and seems to have other positive medicinal properties. You can get it in little packets at the Moscow Co-op.

• Julian Whittaker Newsletter: www.Whittakerwellness.com

• Book: Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Dr. Blaylock

• Book: Healthy Healing by Dr. Linda Rector Page

• Aspartame and children: http://www.wnho.net/report_on_aspartame_and_children

• Book: Prescription for Nutritional Healing by James F. Balch, M.D. and Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C.

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