>
>abdominal pain feeling "unreal"
>anxiety/panic attacks flushing of face
>arthritis hair loss/thinning of hair
>asthma headaches/migraines
>asthmatic reactions hearing loss
>bloating/fluid retention heart palpatations
>blood-sugar control problems hives
>Hypoglycemia/Hyperglycemia hypertention (high blood pressure)
>brain cancer (studies in animals) sexual problems
>breathing difficulties inability to concentrate
>burning eyes or throat infection susceptibility
>burning urination insomnia
>chest pains irritability
>chronic cough itching
>chronic fatigue joint pain
>mental confusion/foggy thinking laryngitis
>death marked personality changes
>depression memory loss/poor memory
>diarrhea menstrual problems or changes
>dizziness muscle spasms
>excessive thirst/hunger nausea or vomiting
>fatigue numbness or tingling of extremities phobias rapid heart
>beat
>seizures and convulsions slurring of speech
>swallowing pain Tachycardia
>tremors tinnitus
>vertigo vision loss/cloudy vision
>weight gain rashes
>
>
>
>
>You have just read an actual list of the many reactions to aspartame which
>have been reported to the FDA's Adverse Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS).
>
>The truth about aspartame's toxicity is far different than what the
>NutraSweet Company would have you believe. In February of 1994, the U.S.
>Department of Health and Human Services released the listing of adverse
>reactions reported to the FDA (DHHS 1994). Aspartame accounted for more
>than 75% of all adverse reactions (over 10,000 and climbing) reported to
>the FDA's Adverse Reaction Monitoring System.
>
>In addition to the symptoms on the previous page, Aspartame Poisoning can
>mimic or worsen the following diseases and syndromes:
>
>Fibromyalgia
>Arthritis
>Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
>Parkinson's Disease
>Lupus
>Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS)
>Diabetes and Diabetic Complications
>Epilepsy
>Alzheimer's Disease
>Birth Defects
>Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
>Lymphoma
>Lyme Disease
>Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
>Panic Disorder
>Depression and other Psychological Disorders
>
>
>How it happens:
>
>Aspartame is 10% methanol, 10% phenyalanine,and 80% aspartic acid.
>
>In the body, the methanol in aspartame is released into the small intestine
>when the "methyl group" of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin.
>Methanol then break down into formic acid and formaldehyde, a deadly
>neurotoxin.
>
>"Free methanol" is created from aspartame when it is heated to above 86
>Fahrenheit (30 Centigrade). This would occur when aspartame-containing
>product is improperly stored or when it is heated (e.g., as part of a
>"food" product such as Jello). In its free form, methanol is absorbed in
>the stomach more quickly.
>
>When people are dieting or have not eaten for a while, there's little gut
>fermentation producing the protective factor, ethanol. Whether absorbed
>quickly as free methanol, or somewhat slower in the small intestine from
>fresh aspartame, the total amount of methanol absorbed will be
>approximately 10% of aspartame ingested. The absorbed methanol is then
>slowly converted to formaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver.
>
>If methanol is co-ingested with significant amounts of ethanol, the
>methanol conversion is temporarily blocked, since ethanol has 9 times the
>affinity for alcohol dehydrogenase as does methanol. This allows the body
>time to eliminate methanol via the lungs and urine before it gets converted
>to formaldehyde. The formaldehyde is then converted to acid by aldehyde
>dehydrogenase in the liver, by formaldehyde dehydrogenase in the blood, or
>through the tetrahydrofolic acid-dependent one-carbon pool.
>
>A one-liter (approx. 1 quart) 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.
>
>Despite the claims of Monsanto and bedfellows:
>
>1. Methanol from alcohol and juices does not get converted to formaldehyde
>to any significant extent. There is very strong evidence to confirm this
>fact for alcoholic beverages and fairly strong evidence for juices.
>
>2. Formaldehyde obtained from methanol is very toxic in *very small* doses
>as seen by recent research.
>
>3. Aspartame causes chronic toxicity reactions/damage due to the methanol
>to formaldehyde and other break down products despite what is claimed
>otherwise by the very short, industry-funded experiments using a test
>substance that is chemically different and absorbed differently than what
>is available to the general public. "Strangely enough", almost all
>independent studies show that aspartame can cause health problems.
>
>4. A common ploy from Monsanto is to claim that aspartame is "safe" yet a
>few select people may have "allergic" reactions to it. This is typical
>Monsanto nonsense, of course. Their own research shows that it does not
>cause "allergic" reactions. It is there way of trying to minimize and hide
>the huge numbers of toxicity reactions and damage that people are
>experiencing from the long-term use of aspartame.
>
>
>
>Summary
>
>Given the following points, it is definitely premature for researchers to
>discount the role of methanol in aspartame side effects:
>
>1. The amount of methanol ingested from aspartame is unprecedented in human
>history. Methanol from fruit juice ingestion does not even approach the
>quantity of methanol ingested from aspartame, especially in persons who
>ingest one to three liters (or more) of diet beverages every day. Unlike
>methanol from aspartame, methanol from natural products is probably not
>absorbed or converted to its toxic metabolites in significant amounts as
>discussed earlier.
>
>2. Lack of laboratory-detectable changes in plasma formic acid and
>formaldehyde levels do not preclude damage being caused by these toxic
>metabolites. Laboratory-detectable changes in formate levels are often not
>found in short exposures to methanol.
>
>3. Aspartame-containing products often provide little or no nutrients which
>may protect against chronic methanol poisoning and are often consumed in
>between meals. Persons who ingest aspartame-containing products are often
>dieting and more likely to have nutritional deficiencies than persons who
>take the time to make fresh juices.
>
>4. Persons with certain health conditions or on certain drugs may be much
>more susceptible to chronic methanol poisoning.
>
>5. Chronic diseases and side effects from slow poisons often build silently
>over a long period of time. Many chronic diseases which seem to appear
>suddenly have actually been building in the body over many years.
>
>6. An increasing body of research is showing that many people are highly
>sensitive to low doses of formaldehyde in the environment. Environmental
>exposure to formaldehyde and ingestion of methanol (which converts to
>formaldehyde) from aspartame likely has a cumulative deleterious effect.
>
>7. Formic acid has been shown to slowly accumulate in various parts of the
>body. Formic acid has been shown to inhibit oxygen metabolism.
>
>8. The are a very large and growing number of persons are experiencing
>chronic health problems similar to the side effects of chronic methanol
>poisoning when ingesting aspartame-containing products for a significant
>length of time. This includes many cases of eye damage similar to the type
>of eye damage seen in methanol poisoning cases.
>
>** It often takes at least sixty days without any aspartame NutraSweet to
>see a significant improvement. Check all labels very carefully (including
>vitamins and pharmaceuticals). Look for the word "aspartame" on the label
>and avoid it. (Also, it is a good idea to avoid "acesulfame-k" or
>"sunette.")
>
>
>
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