Aspartame's toxic side effects

[Guest guest]

Aspartame's neurological side effects include blurred vision, headaches,

seizures and more

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 by: Aurora Geib

http://www.naturalnews.com/035242_aspartame_side_effects_neurological.html#ixzz1\

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(NaturalNews) Aspartame, an artificial sweetener commercially known as

Nutrasweet, Spoonful and Equal, has infiltrated the world market and has

become almost as ubiquitous as the sugar it seeks to replace. From soda

drinks to chewing gum, it offers a low-fat, low-calorie and no-sugar option

enticing to diabetics and people who are trying to lose weight.

Strangely, diet products containing aspartame has been shown to actually

cause weight gain, and the components that make up aspartame have also been

found to be toxic in themselves. Why then, despite the numerous studies

conducted on this substance finding it to have potentially harmful effects,

is it still considered safe for human consumption?

Interview with Blaylock

In an interview conducted by Betty i and Jon Baum over Personal

Achievement Radio, Dr. Blaylock, a respected neurosurgeon and author

of the book " Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, " speaks about excitotoxins

and shares his thoughts on why he believes aspartame is dangerous.

According to Dr. Blaylock, excitotoxins are substances that excite brain

cells or neurons to the point of exhaustion and death. Normally, these

substances act as transmitters, a substance allowing brain cells to relate

with one another. However, these compounds are so harmful that the body

keeps them in low concentrations. Anything that alters or increases these

substances can cause neurodegeneration, degeneration of the spinal cord and

the brain. Excitotoxins are normally found in plant substances, and, where

most people are concerned, in food additives.

One of the components of NutraSweet or aspartame is aspartic acid, a

powerful excitotoxin similar to glutamate. Moreover, phenylalanine, one of

its components, an amino acid and a neurotoxin at high levels in the rain,

has been known to cause seizures.

Dr. Blaylock goes on to add that what makes aspartame so dangerous is that

it contains three neurotoxins: methanol, phenylalanine and aspartic acid.

Methanol is a powerful neurotoxin whose exposure is carefully allowed by the

EPA in minute levels in food and environmental exposure. Nutrasweet,

however, provides levels that are seven times the amount the EPA will allow

anyone to use. It's been known to produce blindness and cellular destruction

in the brain and spinal cord, particularly the optic nerves.

Aspartic acid, on the other hand, produces cellular excitation. It is an

excitotoxin that causes cell death in the brain and significantly affects

neural developments in infants, resulting in behavioral changes and even

hyperactivity in children. Phenylalanine, like aspartic acid, can also alter

brain development during fetal formation and create a lowering of the

seizure threshold.

Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are both well-recognized neurotoxins and

according to Dr. Blaylock, three neurotoxins in one mix are just

unbelievable.

Neurological side effects

Today, aspartame is found in over 6,000 products and consumed by 250 million

people world wide. There has been more report for aspartame reactions to the

FDA than all other food additives put together. In 1988, 80 percent of

complaints to the FDA about food additives were aspartame related. After

more than 8,000 complaints on the side effect of NutraSweet, the FDA

released a list of 92 side effects associated with aspartame consumption.

This is without taking into account other findings that show what aspartame

can cause:

a.. Destruction of kidney function - In a study conducted by scientists

from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, it was discovered that subjects

who drank more than two artificially sweetened beverages daily increased

their risk of rapid kidney decline.

a.. Headaches/migraines - In a study published in Headache: The Journal of

Head and Face Pain, it was discovered that ingestion of aspartame by those

who suffer migraines caused a significant increase in headache frequency for

some subjects.

b.. Increase of hunger and body weight - In an article published in the UT

Health Science Center, it was revealed that diet soft drink consumption

seemed much more related to the chances of becoming more overweight or

obese.

c.. Increase of the risk of preterm delivery - In a study funded by the

Center for Fetal Programming, Division of Epidemiology, a connection was

discovered between the intake of artificially carbonated drinks and

increased risk of preterm delivery.

d.. Seizures and Convulsions - As early as 1987, a study was already

conducted by Maher and J. Wurtman who, through their work,

discovered that aspartame potentially induces seizures.

e.. Cancer - In a remarkably recent study conducted by the Ramazzini

Institute, it was discovered that in rodents, aspartame was a carcinogenic

agent in multiple sites with autopsies that showed a significant risk to

lung and liver cancer.

Why is it still legal?

Laws were meant to protect people from harm. Despite this, the FDA has

continued to ignore years of research pointing to aspartame's negative

effects and continue to declare that aspartame is safe for use. This

artificial sweetener openly sold in the market has caused many recorded

health issues and was never tested in humans prior to its approval. We are

now the unwitting subjects in a grand experiment whose results have long

been foretold by the questionable way this additive came to be approved.

It's about time we stop relying on the government and do our own thinking.

Perhaps, if we are not complacent, we can choose not to be victims.

Sources for this article:

http://aspartamekills.com/blaylock.htm

http://www.wnho.net/aspartame_potential_danger.htm

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/027758_aspartame_kidney_failure.html

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com

http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=1539

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20592133