In a world where millions die of starvation every year, fashion magazines regale us with pictures of “famine chic”, stick insect “supermodels” whose cadaverous frames are hung with obscenely expensive rags. Surfing on the wave of these images is the multi billion pound “health food” industry with its reduced sugar, low calorie chemical gloop products aimed at image conscious, weight watching Western populations. Thin is most definitely in. Fat is an “ishoo” that only hairy-lipped, lesbian feminists and all round losers champion and, God forbid, you don’t want to be labelled one of those!
The culture of Image is big business and not just for the fashion industry. The pharmaceutical industry makes a bomb out of food additives that allow millions who possess an irresistibly sweet tooth to literally have their cakes and eat them. The biggest money-spinner has to be aspartame, marketed by Monsanto and more commonly known as NutraSweet. If a product is labelled “no added sugar” then it’s a fair bet it contains aspartame.
So what is this wonder chemical that gives us flavour but not flab?
Aspartame consists of three main ingredients: aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%).
Aspartate acts as a neurotransmitter and excess causes brain damage by “exciting” neural cells to death. It is particularly harmful to children since the blood/brain barrier that protects their brains from toxins is not fully developed during childhood. It can “seep” into adult brains with very little trouble. Disorders linked to chronic or long term ingestion are:
MS, memory loss, hormonal problems (notably disrupted menstrual cycle in women), hearing loss, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, hypoglycaemia (a major symptom of diabetes), brain lesions, neuroendocrine disorders (brain hormones).
Acute reactions to aspartate are:
Headaches/migraines, nausea, abdominal pains, fatigue (blocks sufficient glucose entry into brain), sleep problems, vision problems, anxiety attacks, depression, asthma/chest tightness.
Phenylalanine is an amino acid found in the brain. Excess phenylalanine can decrease production of serotonin and cause emotional problems such as depression. People suffering from phenylketonuria (PKU) cannot metabolise phenylalanine so it builds up in their brains. Excess is extremely harmful and can even be lethal. This is why all products containing aspartame warn of a phenylalanine content. People who do not have PKU but who ingest large amounts of aspartame have been found to have excess levels of phenylalanine in their blood. It is especially harmful to children and foetuses.
Methanol is more commonly known as wood alcohol and is very toxic. In very small quantities pure methanol causes blindness and death. Aspartame, when heated to 30 degrees Celsius and above releases free methanol that is easily absorbed by the human gut. It breaks down into formic acid (the poison in ant bits) and formaldehyde (used to embalm the dead) which is a deadly neurotoxin. Symptoms of methanol poisoning include:
Headaches, ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the extremities, behavioural disturbances, and neuritis. The most well known effects of methanol poisoning are vision problems including misty vision, progressive contraction of visual fields, blurring of vision, obscuration of vision, retinal damage, and blindness.
Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen, causes retinal damage, interferes with DNA replication and causes birth defects.
Aspartame has been classed as a food additive yet it was first synthesised during research into ulcer treatment. It causes brain tumours in rats and mice. Tests on rodents are less than helpful since they can metabolise both phenylalanine and methanol far more efficiently than humans and therefore give a “false” positive. Hypoglycaemia sends diabetics into comas yet most diabetics take aspartame as a sweetener.
This is how much your friendly neighbourhood chemical multinational cares about the health of people. The scandal of aspartame is slowly leaking out. But don’t despair – something nastier is waiting in the wings for a licence to poison the weight conscious masses.
Source: www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
