- I was on a long road trip last week and, feeling rather
drowsy, stopped at a convenience store for some coffee and refreshments.
As I walked up and down the aisles to find something to munch on for the
next leg of the trip, I discovered nothing that seemed to be real food
on any of the shelves. So I thought I would at least buy some chewing gum,
something I used to do decades ago when gum only cost a penny a stick.
I fondly remembered the refreshing taste of Wrigley's Doublemint, Juicy
Fruit or Spearmint gum.
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- Reading the fine print on the gum labels (a habit I always
urged my patients to adopt whenever making purchases in grocery stores),
I was annoyed and a bit alarmed to find that NONE of the 20 flavors had
good old dextrose or sucrose in them. Instead, 100 percent of the choices
contained, as their sweetener, a synthetic chemical called aspartame, a.k.a.
NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful.
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- Now I have read the book Excitotoxins: The Taste that
Kills, written by <http://www.russellblaylockmd.com/>Russell Blaylock,
MD, one of the neuroscientists who has thoroughly studied the toxicities
of the common food additives aspartame and monosodium glutamate (MSG).
I have also seen the sobering video documentary about aspartame poisoning
entitled: Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, which proves without any doubt
how dangerous this synthetic sweetener can be. (You can order a copy by
emailing <mailto:cori@soundandfuryproductions.com>cori@soundandfuryproductions.com.)
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- Aspartame, which is in thousands of processed food products
that are usually labeled "lite" or "diet" products,
was synthesized in 1965 by a G. D. Searle chemist who, when he was trying
to create an anti-ulcer drug, combined two amino acids, aspartic acid and
phenylalanine and found that the resulting dipeptide (a molecule consisting
of two amino acids) had an intensely sweet taste to the tongue. Searle
soon saw aspartame as a product that could compete in the low calorie food
industry and obtained, in 1974, FDA approval for its use in dry foods.
However the FDA approval was rescinded within six months because of toxic
reactions and widespread concerns by a number of scientists.
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- These scientists knew that aspartame was a lethal poison!
In fact, in a 1996 report compiled from 10,000 consumer complaints obtained
during the pre-marketing testing period, the FDA listed 92 aspartame-related
symptoms, ranging from seizures to death!
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- Still, the tenacious Searle, led by its cunning management
team, refused to give up its effort to obtain FDA approval and denied that
they had a sweet poison on their hands.
-
- Interestingly, Searle's CEO at the time was Donald Rumsfeld
(which is why some prefer to call Aspartame Disease Rumsfeld's Disease).
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- Here is an excerpt from an article entitled: Aspartame
(NutraSweet): Something Evil This Way Comes written by Betty Martini, of
Mission Possible World Health International, an organization devoted to
exposing aspartame as the dangerous substance it is:
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- "Listen to Attorney James Turner who, with famed
Dr. John Olney, tried to prevent aspartame's approval. Turner tells what
it took to get a deadly poison approved. The FDA attempted to have Searle
indicted for fraud and making false statements. Both U.S. prosecutors hired
on with the defense team and the statute of limitations expired. For 16
years, the FDA refused to allow it on the market. When Reagan was elected,
Don Rumsfeld, CEO of Searle, said he'd call in his markers to get aspartame
approved. This is documented by a UPI investigation and congressional record.
The day after Reagan took office Arthur Hayes was appointed as FDA Commissioner
to get it approved.
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- "Reagan knew it might take 30 days to get Hayes
installed, so he wrote an Executive Order making the outgoing FDA Commissioner
powerless to act against aspartame before he departed. Then the FDA set
up a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) that revoked Reagan's petition for
approval because it had not been proved safe and causes brain tumors. Hayes
overruled the PBOI and let slip the hounds of disease, disability and death
on an innocent, unwarned population. Soon he became a consultant for the
NutraSweet Company's public relations outfit on a 10-year contract at $1,000/day.
Hayes then refused to talk to the press."
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- In 1981, the Reagan FDA approved aspartame in dry food
and in 1983, aspartame was approved for use in soda pop. In 1985 Rumsfeld's
Searle was acquired by Monsanto, making Rumsfeld rich and Searle Pharmaceuticals
and The NutraSweet Company separate subsidiaries! And the rest, as they
say, is history.
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- Suffice it to say, I passed on the chemically-contaminated
chewing gum. I have learned to avoid swallowing synthetic flavor enhancers
(or other chemicals in food) whenever I am able, preferring to use natural,
unrefined and unbleached table sugar if I feel the need to sweeten tea
or coffee. Understanding the chemical breakdown products of aspartame informed
my decision long ago and will help the readers to try to break their diet
pop habits also. It is my professional duty to warn.
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- Each molecule of NutraSweet, when it reaches a temperature
of 86 degrees F (recall that the body's normal temperature is 98.6 and
warehouses in the summer's sun can reach temperatures far higher than that))
breaks down into its two amino acids (a molecule each of phenylalanine
and aspartic acid, both excitotoxins) and a molecule of methanol (wood
alcohol!) which then metabolizes into formaldehyde (embalming fluid and
a known carcinogen), formic acid (the acid that causes the intense itching
from the prickles of burning weed) and diketopiperazine (a known carcinogen).
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- Perhaps a small amount of any of these toxins can be
tolerated by some people, especially those who are well nourished, but
I wouldn't want to take the chance, for there is too much evidence for
its being a poison. The long list of neurodegenerative, psychological and
other health problems aspartame can cause can be found <http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html#symptoms>here.
They include seizures, multiple sclerosis, headaches, lupus, insomnia,
fibromyalgia, arthritis, depression, anxiety and dozens more.
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- If that isn't enough to convince readers to gradually
withdraw (diet soda is also addictive) from your NutraSweet habit, it might
give you extra motivation if you recall the list of evil geniuses listed
above that have played a part in this tragedy.
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- There, you've been warned.
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- (Coming up soon, an expose on another toxic artificial
sweetener that is in a lot of food products, the trichlorinated sucrose
molecule sucralose (Splenda), once marketed as a pesticide in Japan.)
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- For more on the health-destroying properties of aspartame,
check out these resources:
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- http://www.dorway.com/ Dorway to Discovery
- http://www.aspartame.com/ ASPARTAMEKILLS.COM
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- Gary G. Kohls. MD, is a retired family practitioner,
who specialized in holistic and preventive mental health care in Duluth,
Minnesota.
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