Yesterday, in the first part of this Aspartame series, we uncovered a comprehensive list of many of the Aspartame-related symptoms that have been reported to the FDA. In this section, we’re going to look at some of the reasons why Aspartame has been proven to be dangerous to the human (and animal) health.
How Aspartame Affects the Body
Aspartame is a neurotoxin whose by-products (explained below) can bind to specific receptors within the brain and nervous system. Because of this, Aspartame appears to cause slow, silent damage, especially in the brain and nervous system, in those unfortunate enough to not have immediate reactions to it. For such people, it may take one year, 5 years, 10 years, or 40 years, but it seems to cause some reversible and some irreversible changes in health over long-term use.
The real danger with Aspartame consumption, it now seems, pertains to pregnant women and the developing fetus. A startling 2007 animal study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives showed that rats fed roughly twice the “acceptable daily intake” (ADI) amount of aspartame from the 12th day of fetal life until their natural death had significant increases in malignant lymphomas/leukemias and mammary tumours!
Although the study was conducted on rats (not humans) and at a dosage higher than the FDA’s ADI levels, it is the second study from the same researchers to show Aspartame’s cancer-causing potential, especially when administered during fetal development.
In their previous study from 2006, Dr. Morando Soffriti and his team showed that Aspartame is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg of bodweight (milligrams per kilograms per body weight), much less than the current ADI for humans in Europe (40 mg/kg of bodyweight) and in the United States (50 mg/kg bodyweight).
On the basis of these research results, the Italian research team recommended a re-evaluation of the present guidelines on the use and consumption of Aspartame as “urgent and cannot be delayed.”
These studies provide alarming findings on Aspartame, even if they were conducted on rats. Their merit lies in the fact that the dosages used were similar to what most humans would normally consume and that they studied the rats for the entirety of their lives, not just for 1 or 2 years like many flawed studies showing Aspartame’s safety have used.
Aspartame is a compound molecule and its effects on the body can be studied on numerous levels. To that point, it is helpful to understand that upon ingestion, Aspartame breaks down into 3 components: methanol, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid.
Methanol…Formaldehyde…and Formic Acid
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, comprises 10% of Aspartame and is considered toxic if consumed frequently.
Most of the methanol in Aspartame is absorbed and quickly converted into formaldehyde, and then to formic acid. While some scientists (and interested companies such as Monsanto and Ajinomoto) believe that the metabolism of aspartame into methanol does not damage the body, other experts disagree.
Their disagreement stems from the fact that Aspartame-containing beverages have no ethanol to prevent the conversion to the lethal methanol. In natural products, methanol never appears alone. In every case, it is balanced by the presence of ethanol, which helps to block the body’s enzymes from converting methanol into formic acid.
The researchers also believe that even low levels of methanol (and its by-products formaldehyde and formic acid) can accumulate in the brain, liver, and kidneys of rats while also proving toxic to humans.
Once in the body, methanol is converted to formaldehyde, and then to formic acid. These 2 final by-products of methanol metabolism are well-known toxins! Along these lines, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stated 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.”
Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin and a known cancer-causing substance. It causes damage to the retina of the eyes, interferes with DNA replication, and can lead to birth defects.
Formic acid is toxic because it inhibits a key mitochondrial enzyme, depriving the body’s cells from oxygen, resulting in metabolic acidosis (which is associated with bone density loss, kidney problems, and cancer), among a variety of other metabolic disturbances.
According to the EPA, the recommended limit of methanol consumption is 7.8 mg/day. But really, how much of a poison is safe to ingest?? A 1-litre Aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol – that’s about 7 times the EPA’s recommended limit! Maybe 1-litre is excessive for most. So why not consider that a single 12 oz. can of diet coke contains 20 mg of methanol. So either way, you lose!
Phenylalanine and Aspartic Acid
Phenylalanine and aspartic acid, which comprise 90% of aspartame, are amino acids normally used by the body’s cells when supplied by the foods we eat. Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that is needed for normal growth and tissue maintenance, but sustained high blood levels of phenylalanine can lead to brain damage.
This is of particular concern to roughly one out of 20,000 children born with phenylketonuria or PKU. These children cannot metabolize phenylalanine properly, so it builds up to dangerous levels in their brains.
For this reason, it is law in the United States for Aspartame-containing products to contain a warning of the presence of phenylalanine.
Aspartic acid belongs to a class of chemicals that in high concentrations act as an excitotoxin, inflicting damage on brain and nerve cells. Aspartatic acid does not normally cross the blood-brain barrier in most parts of the brain without active uptake by specific transporters, yet high levels of this excitotoxin has been shown in numerous animal studies to cause damage to areas of the brain unprotected by the blood-brain barrier, leading to variety of degenerative diseases.
While some experts agree that typical use of aspartame does not spike aspartic acid to extremely high levels in adults, they are particularly concerned with its potential effects in infants and young children, as they have undeveloped blood-brain barriers.
It’s a far stretch to think that small children will consume diet sodas because they want to lose weight, but parents should pay attention to infant formulas and other infant foods that may contain Aspartame, even at small doses. More importantly, mothers-to-be should seriously refrain from putting any Aspartame in their bodies in light of the startling “fetal” study alluded to earlier.
Summing Up
Without a doubt, the three breakdown products of Aspartame are all toxic at high doses. But even at small doses, why would you put a poison into your body? Would you put even a small dash of paint thinner (a deadly toxin) into your morning smoothie if it tasted sweet? Of course not!
Counter-arguments have been put forth by experts such as Joe Schwarcz, author of “An Apple a Day”, who claim that the typical Aspartame user consumes far less than the FDA’s “acceptable daily intake” (ADI) rendering Aspartame more or less harmless. But let’s not forget about the corruption inherent in the FDA that led to the approval of Aspartame in the first place or the fact that roughly 100 studies have demonstrated serious detrimental neurological effects from frequent use of Aspartame, even at a lower than ADI levels!
Any chemical that is chronically ingested will accumulate over time. Whether the body can properly metabolize it or not will depend on the health of the body and its major filtering (ie. the liver) and enzyme systems.
Unfortunately, based on most peoples’ current state of poor health, their compromised liver, kidney, and immune function, and their depleted enzyme levels from eating dead foods, it is highly unlikely that, in the long run, their bodies will not show the effects of chronic contamination!
In the case of Aspartame, it has been said that roughly 60 days are required for its by-products to be eliminated from the human body! That’s quite the decay time for a chemical that is often consumed on a daily basis by millions of dieting individuals.
There’s the information. Now, the choice is yours. I hope you make the right one!
References:
Soffriti, et al. (2007). Lifespan Exposure to Low Doses of Aspartame Beginning During Prenatal Life Increases Cancer Effects in Rats Environment Health Perspectives 115: 1293-1297.
Soffritti, et al. (2006). Aspartame induces lymphomas and leukemias in rats. European Journal of Oncology, 10(2): 107-116.
Trocho, C. et al. (1998). Formaldehyde derived from dietary aspartame binds to tissue components in vivo. Life Sci, 63(5):337-49.
http://www.epa.gov/
Liesivuori J, Savolainen H (September 1991). “Methanol and formic acid toxicity: biochemical mechanisms”. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 69 (3): 157–63.
Olney, J. (1994). “Excitotoxins in Foods”. Neurotoxicology 15 (3): 535–544.
