Aspartame

[Dr Steve]

I know this will stir up shit, but these are the notes I took for this year's show on Aspartame. Having much better things to do, we just never got to it. These are just notes, may cribbed wholesale from other websites; perhaps an article will come out of it someday.

DEAR DR STEVE:

IS ASPARTAME SAFE? I AM A DIABETIC AND USE A LOT OF THE STUFF.

Equal or Nutrasweet


a methyl ester of the dipeptide of the amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine

extremely sweet milligram per milligram

used in soft drinks and as a table sweetner

breaks down in heat, so not good for baking

losing its market share to sucralose which is much more sugar-like

breaks down to its component amino acids

including phenylalanine -à warning for people with PhenoKetonUria

In 1999, FDA scientists described the safety of aspartame as "clear cut" and stated that the product is "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved."




Internet misinformation was based on an article by Nancy Markle, allegedly based on her talks at the “World Environmental Conference.”



Claim: Aspartame is linked to an “epidemic of multiplesclerosis and systemic lupus.”

This is not true. On January 12, 1999, Dr. David Squillacote, Senior Medical Advisor of the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, unequivocally denied any links between MS and aspartame.



Claim: Aspartame intake results in methanol, formaldehyde,and formate production.

It is true that aspartame degrades in the GI tract to methanol and two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. When used by body cells, methanol forms formaldehyde and formate. Ms. Markle neglected to state that the amounts of methanol formed after aspartame ingestion are modest, similar to those formed when we eat fruits and vegetables. Higher levels of methanol are formed when we consume other foods, such as citrusfruits and juices, tomato, tomato juice, and ethanol.



Claim: Aspartame potentially mediates reproductive effects and is linked to birth defects.

This is not true. Results of experimental studies on animals indicate that aspartame does not mediate reproductive effects and birth defects even at doses many times higher than those to which humans are exposed.



The list goes on and on.



The manufacturers of aspartame convened an expert panel to look at its safety and found no rigorous studies that pointed to an adverse effect from aspartame. Of course, it was funded by the industry in question, so there’s some bias there.

Having said all this, it IS a dopey chemical. Soda is just adulterated water. Drink unadulterated water instead. :-)

your pal,


steve

[Recyclerz]

Hey Dr. Steve

Since it seems you broke into the Red Bull tonight (at least :wink:) let me run this by you.

Diet aka artifically sweetened soda. Recent studies that have made the news headlines link it to obesity. Some say the sweetness increases hunger and the desire to eat more despite the soda itself being calorie free. I suspect that fatties (like, increasingly, my own self) just drink it as a substitute for sugared drinks in the hope that we'll be able to see our toes again, making the connection correlation rather than causation.

Your thoughts?

[Snacks]

I also heard/read that too much aspartame could make you sick and isnt good for you at all? I dont drink diet sodas because they taste like shit and too me everyone I know who drinks diet drinks are fat. Now I need to get back in shape myself but I prefer water over anything with aspartame.

[Pitdoc]

If the people responsible for getting it approved for its use were Dick Cheney & Don Rumsfeld, there's GOTTA be something evil about it

[StanUpshaw]

But ARTIFICIAL "sugars" are the things to worry about.
Now , Splenda is just an isomer of glucose, as the molecule is turned so it still tingles those taste buds like sugar, but won't be absorbed and used as sugar ( Although it does go through some nasty chemical processes to turn it into a "L-sugar") .But Nutrasweet has been around for decades, and there's still controversy about that.One is that it uses something like formaldehyde to make it. But these problems were argued about even before it came out.
Fortunately , some right-thinking Americans had the juice decades ago to pass a law so it could sail by the FDA and become the cash-cow it is now.Those Americans? Don Rumsfeld & Dick Cheney!..Its why I never use it . If those fuckers have their hands in it,it CAN'T be good for you.

Doctor fight. GO!

[Serpico1103]

History of Aspartame Approval. (http://www.rense.com/general67/rum.htm)

Criminal investigation into Searle- manufacturer of Aspartame.
The grand jury investigation was led by U.S. Attorney Samuel Skinner. In July 1, 1977, while the investigation was being conducted, Skinner left the Justice Department and took a job with Sidley & Austin-the law firm representing Searle. The statute of limitations eventually ran out and the grand jury disbanded without reaching any conclusions regarding Searle and its lab practices.

Rumsfeld made CEO of Searle.
Amid this controversy, Rumsfeld was hired as Searle CEO on March 8, 1977 and immediately began cleaning house. Rumsfeld, who had no previous business executive experience before becoming CEO of Searle, reorganized several departments in the company and fired many of its high-level managers, replacing them with other politically-connected Washington, D.C., insiders.

Rumsfeld involved in appointing FDA commissioner that approves aspartame.
Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president January 21, 1981. Rumsfeld, while still CEO at Searle, was part of Reagan,s transition team. This team hand-picked Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., to be the new FDA commissioner. Dr. Hayes, a pharmacologist, had no previous experience with food additives before being appointed director of the FDA.

Leaves office in disgrace, rewarded by Searle for approving aspartame.
One of Hayes, first official acts as FDA chief was to approve the use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener in dry goods July 18, 1981. In order to accomplish this feat, Hayes had to overlook the scuttled grand jury investigation of Searle, overcome the Bressler Report, ignore the PBOI,s recommendations and pretend aspartame did not chronically sicken and kill thousands of lab animals. Hayes, left his post at the FDA in November, 1983, amid accusations that he was accepting corporate gifts for political favors. Just before leaving office in scandal, Hayes approved the use of aspartame in beverages. According to The Post, Hayes, next job was in the private sector where he served as a high-paid senior medical advisor for Searle,s public relations firm.

Whether or not it is as bad as the alarmists say, it is an amazing example of abuse of the political system.

[Chigworthy]

Due to the toxicity and danger of aspartame, I've switched to sweetening everything with Li Hing powder. I feel much healthier now.

[Crispy123]

Aspartame
Aspartayou
Aspartallofus

[Dr Steve]

Hey Dr. Steve

Since it seems you broke into the Red Bull tonight (at least :wink:) let me run this by you.

Diet aka artifically sweetened soda. Recent studies that have made the news headlines link it to obesity. Some say the sweetness increases hunger and the desire to eat more despite the soda itself being calorie free. I suspect that fatties (like, increasingly, my own self) just drink it as a substitute for sugared drinks in the hope that we'll be able to see our toes again, making the connection correlation rather than causation.

Your thoughts?


I haven't seen those studies (links pls) but as you said (very correctly) a "correlation" does not necessarily imply "causation". Could be (again, as you implied) that overweight people gravitate to artificially sweet stuff because they think it may help them lose weight (we kinda know that's true already).

I'm always interested in counterintuitive findings, though...they usually mean we're about to learn something interesting.

your pal,


steve

[Dr Steve]

I also heard/read that too much aspartame could make you sick and isnt good for you at all? I dont drink diet sodas because they taste like shit and too me everyone I know who drinks diet drinks are fat. Now I need to get back in shape myself but I prefer water over anything with aspartame.


Yeah, I'm not a proponent of Aspartame, but I don't like pseudoscience either. I'm just putting it out there! I like your strategy a lot. as I said in my original post...just drink water! :-)

[Dr Steve]

History of Aspartame Approval. (http://www.rense.com/general67/rum.htm)



Whether or not it is as bad as the alarmists say, it is an amazing example of abuse of the political system.


No argument there, if that's all accurate (and I don't doubt it, I just don't know). The research on the substance SINCE all this has all been "no significant findings" with regard to the safety of aspartame in the diet.

[Pitdoc]

No argument there, if that's all accurate (and I don't doubt it, I just don't know). The research on the substance SINCE all this has all been "no significant findings" with regard to the safety of aspartame in the diet.

Steve, the biggest questions I have about studies is WHY is there a report EVERY year about HRT & cancer? One year its good for women, the next year its bad. I could have sworn in one year there were two stories; 1.HRT reduces breast cancer 2. HRT INCREASES uterine cancer .

[jlehane3]

The artificial chemo-inducing effect is the alien nature of the non0sugar. That makes no sense to many people.Sugar breaks down easily and gets used by the body.Even corn syrup,like sticky glue to your system gets eventually broken down or stored as fat.What happens when you eat taint-flavored ass-partame? The body says WTF???? and the cancerfest begins.Body says "how do I get rid of this ass-@#$%^& ? The white blood cells flex their muscles like ferocious Fez,and try to fuck the ass-partame,but get TASERED,and have regrets. http://flic.kr/p/8QSdbH :devil2::wallbash::flush: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20681986@N03/5147485773/ http://flic.kr/p/8QSdbH

[torker]

The artificial chemo-inducing effect is the alien nature of the non0sugar. That makes no sense to many people.Sugar breaks down easily and gets used by the body.Even corn syrup,like sticky glue to your system gets eventually broken down or stored as fat.What happens when you eat taint-flavored ass-partame? The body says WTF???? and the cancerfest begins.Body says "how do I get rid of this ass-@#$%^& ? The white blood cells flex their muscles like ferocious Fez,and try to fuck the ass-partame,but get TASERED,and have regrets. http://flic.kr/p/8QSdbH :devil2::wallbash::flush: http://www.flickr.com/photos/20681986@N03/5147485773/ http://flic.kr/p/8QSdbH

QFT

[jlehane3]

Care to spell it out for me? I guess it's something immortal like QuitFucking______ ? but I don't know.:help:

[A.J.]

QFT = Quoted For Truth.