Aspartame (L-alpha-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester) is a low-calorie sweetener used to sweeten a wide variety of low- and reduced-calorie foods and beverages, including low-calorie tabletop sweeteners. Aspartame is composed of two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, as the methyl ester.
Here is Dr. Mercola’s comment about Aspartame:
Aspartame is a poison that does not belong in your body, and this is not an exaggeration. Yet, this toxic substance is consumed by over 200 million people around the world and is found in more than 6,000 products.
Everything from soda and chewing gum to desserts, yogurt, and even some vitamins and cough drops contain it.
When you drink, say, a can of diet soda sweetened with aspartame, what are you REALLY consuming? Here’s a breakdown of aspartame’s three chemicals: the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and methanol.
1. Aspartic acid (40 percent of aspartame)
Aspartate acts as a neurotransmitter in your brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Too much aspartate in your brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into your cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill your cells.
The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate is why Dr. Russell Blaylock refers to them as “excitotoxins.” They “excite” or stimulate your neural cells to death.
Now, when aspartic acid is consumed, it significantly raises your blood level of aspartate, which leads to a high level of those neurotransmitters in certain areas of your brain, where they slowly begin to destroy neurons.
Your brain cells could be dying right now, but you likely would not notice the symptoms until 75 percent or more are gone. Then, chronic illnesses such as the following, which may by caused by long-term exposure to excitatory amino acid damage, may occur:
- Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease
- Memory and hearing loss
- Hormonal problems
- Epilepsy
- AIDS
- Brain lesions
- Neuroendocrine disorders
2. Phenylalanine (50 percent of aspartame)
Phenylalanine is an amino acid normally found in your brain, however people with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) cannot metabolize phenylalanine. This leads to dangerously high — and sometimes lethal — levels of phenylalanine in your brain. It has been shown, though, that ingesting aspartame, especially along with carbohydrates, can lead to excess levels of phenylalanine in your brain even if you do not have PKU.
Even consuming aspartame one time has been found to raise your blood levels of phenylalanine. What’s the risk of this?
Excessive levels of phenylalanine in your brain can cause the levels of serotonin in your brain to decrease, leading to emotional disorders such as depression. It can also cause schizophrenia or make you more susceptible to seizures.
3. Methanol (aka wood alcohol) (10 percent of aspartame)
Methanol/wood alcohol is a deadly poison, and the absorption of methanol into your body is sped up considerably when free methanol is ingested. Well, free methanol is created from aspartame when it is heated to above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Centigrade). This would occur when an aspartame-containing product is improperly stored (in the sun, for instance) or when it is heated, such as part of a “food” product like Jello.
Meanwhile, methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde — a deadly neurotoxin — in your body.
Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that methanol “is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic.”
They recommend a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day, but a one-liter aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily — or 32 times the EPA limit!
The symptoms of methanol poisoning are numerous and varied. They include:
- Vision problems
- Headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness
- Nausea and gastrointestinal disturbances
- Weakness, numbness and shooting pains in your extremities
- Behavioral disturbances
- Memory lapses
Filed under: health | Tagged: aspartame, aspartic acid, diet soda, Dr. Mercola, methanol, phenylalanine
