Aspartame and Cancer!

STOP before you buy that sugar-free chewing gum, dessert, soft drink or yoghurt and consider the long term health risks!!!

Since its discovery in 1965, controversy has raged over the health risks associated with the sugar substitute known as Aspartame or Additive 951.

This man-made sweetener is found in more than 5000 products in Australia, usually those labeled as ‘diet’ or ‘no added sugar’. Many of our children are consuming this in large quantities. It is also often known under brand names such as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, Benevia, and Equal Measure.

Artificial sweeteners are chemicals known as amino acids.

These particular amino acids are foreign to the human body, hence the body is unable to process them effectively. As a consequence, the body unwittingly turns them into toxic proteins, which then act as neurotoxins (toxins which damage the nerve tissue).

As the nervous system co-ordinates every cell of the body, the effects of the toxin can be wide spread and systemic. In the stomach, the aspartame reacts with natural stomach enzymes to form methanol.

Methanol, without its chemical partner ethanol, is broken down into chemicals, one of which is the deadly neurotoxin and carcinogen, formaldehyde.¹

“Scientists have found an increase of malignant tumours in rats fed the artificial sweetener, Aspartame. Rats which were given a high dose showed a significant increase in all tumours, while the low dose group showed an increase in lymphomas and leukemia’s in both sexes and breast cancer in females.”²

The above mentioned study was published in the Environmental Health Perspectives, a US government sponsored, peer reviewed journal. While other scientists refuted the safety of Aspartame and claimed the methodology of this study was questionable, the study was put forward by the Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, an independent, non-profit foundation.³

The study demonstrates that Aspartame is particularly potent when animals are exposed in the womb. “On the basis of our scientific data, we believe that Aspartame should be avoided as much as possible, especially by pregnant women and children” said the lead researcher of this recent study.⁴

This team of scientists has called for an urgent reconsideration of regulations by the Food and Drug Administration.⁵

The accepted daily intake of aspartame for adults is 40ml per kg of body weight, that’s 18 cans of diet soft drink for a 68 kg adult and for a 23kg child it’s closer to six cans. As aspartame is found in all diet foods and drinks, gums, yoghurts and medicines the daily consumption rate is often under estimated.

In 1996, Dr Ralph Walton conducted a survey of the studies on the effects of aspartame in peer-reviewed medical literature. Of 92 independent studies, 92% found one or more health related problems caused by the chemical sweetener. However every single one of the 74 studies with aspartame industry-related funding, claimed that it was totally safe.⁶

So who do we believe???????

In 1995 the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the States were forced, under the Freedom of Information Act, to release a list of 90 adverse reactions reported over the years by thousands of people.

The following list contains some of the signs and symptoms attributed to aspartame use:
Abdominal Pain, Anxiety, Bloating, Brain Lesions, Chest pain, Death, Dizziness, Hair loss, Headaches, Insomnia, Impotency, Itching, Joint Pain, Laryngitis, Miscarriages, Migraine, Nausea, Palpitations, Phobias, Seizures, Tremors, Tinnitus, Vertigo, Visual Problems, Wheezing.⁷

Aspartame has also been linked with the following syndromes and diseases:

Alzheimer’s disease, Arthritis, Asthma, Attention Deficit Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Depression, Diabetes & Assoc Complications, Fibromyalgia Lymphoma, Mental Retardation, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.⁸

In most cases, people are unaware that aspartame could be one cause for their ill health.

Next time you reach for a diet drink or buy ‘No Added Sugar’ option, check exactly what you are putting into your body or what you may be unknowingly giving your children.

Decide if it’s really worth the risk!!!!!!!!!

Yours in Health.

 

References