Graves Disease - Aspartame Link

What's this I've heard about Grave's Disease and Aspartame?
"A University of North Texas Professor came down with Graves Disease. She was checked into the hospital. Her doctor said: We must now irradiate your thyroid, young lady. And, she said, No, I don't think so. She checked herself out and went to a Nutritionist. He took her off Aspartame, put her on a healthy diet and she cured her Graves Disease."

Aspartame (also known as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonfuls, DiabetiSweet, Canderel in Europe, NatraSweet, in Brazil, etc.) is composed of Phenylalanine and Aspartic Acid held in chemical bond by Methanol. Aspartame is 10% Methanol by weight. But, Methanol breaks down further into Formic Acid (the venom in ant stings), Formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and Diketopiperazine, the brain tumor
agent . This breakdown occurs at temperatures above 85 deg F (29.4 deg C) or when the product is stored for long periods of time. Keep in mind that the average human body temperature is 98.6 deg F (37 deg C) and that summer temperatures in many parts of the world routinely rise above these temperatures. There have been links between aspartame and any number of diseases, including Grave's Disease, Lupus, Alzheimer's disease, macular degenerative retina, brain cancer, etc. The list goes on and on. I received the following message from a friend: "I'm not sure if you've heard how Chris is doing lately but he is considerably worse than he was a few years ago. I was talking to him yesterday and his doctors have a new diagnosis. Unspecified encephalitis. They believe that aspartame may be responsible for either triggering it and/or for the deterioration of his condition."

Aspartame is currently found in over 9,000 different consumer products, from sugarless gum to cough syrup. The history of how aspartame came to be and the back room dealing to get it approved for consumer use reads like a thriller novel. Unfortunately, this isn't the movies; this is real life.

Other papers in the New England Journal of Medicine seem to sway to one side of the argument or the other.

In 1981, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved aspartame as a food additive in that country. Walle J. H. Nauta, M.D., Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote to FDA Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes, "As data stood, we were unable to reach a communal feeling of confidence in aspartame's innocuousness on this score and expressed this unease in our report to you. By the same token, we wish to express our endorsement of your final decision in this matter..." Soon after approval of aspartame, Commissioner Hayes left the FDA to work for NutraSweet's PR firm, Burson and Marsteller, for a thousand dollars a day. Several other members of the FDA have subsequently been hired by Monsanto Corporation's affiliates as well.

From the U.S. Congressional Record; August, 1985:
"Aspartame has been demonstrated to inhibit the carbohydrates induced synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin (Wurtman affidavit).
Serotonin blunts the sensation of craving carbohydrates and thus is part of the body's feedback system that helps limit consumption to appropriate levels. Its inhibition by aspartame could lead to the anomalous result of a diet product causing increased consumption of carbohydrates."

The U.S. Air Force has formally warned all pilots to abstain from consuming Diet Drinks in their official Flying Safety publication (May & August 1992.)

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 reported to the FDA's Adverse
Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS). Many reactions to aspartame were very serious including seizures and death.


(please click on the titles on each page to be directed to the original article (where possible)
Abuse of the Scientific Method Seen in Monsanto Aspartame Research (from the Aspartame (NutraSweet) Toxicity Information Center)
Analysis Shows Nearly 100% of Independent Research Finds Problems With Aspartame
Fit to Fly - Aspartame & Diet Drinks (Canadian General Aviation News)
How Safe IS Aspartame?
How Safe IS Aspartame? - Daily Uptake
Increasing Brain Tumor Rates: Is There a Link to Aspartame? (by Dr Erik Millstone)
More information on Aspartame
The Threat of Neotame (by: H. J. Roberts, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.C.C.P.)
Transcript of Aspartame Lecture - UT Southwestern Medical School (given by Mary Stoddard)


Some Aspartame Related Links:

A Case of Aspartame and Grave's Disease
Aspartame and Gulf War Syndrome
Aspartame Consumer Safety Network (Mary Stoddard's website - founder of the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network)
Aspartame/ Nutrasweet Scientific Review Chapters
(this site has a lot of information on the history of aspartame, the components, and the effects. Long, but well worth reading. The amount of covered up information is unbelievable. (The "quality" of the pre-approval experiments were so horrendous that FDA officials at the time urged prosecution for fraud.)
Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Toxicity Information Center (linked to the above site)
Aspartame Radio Interview Transcript (KRLD Radio - Ernie Brown with Mary Nash Stoddard)
FDA Officials Order Books Destroyed [On Stevia - Natural Herbal Alternative to Aspartame] (by Charles Levendosky)
High School Student`s Winning Study: Research Shows Artificial Sweetener Hurts Performance
Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology
Metacrawler Query - aspartame(a list of links from the more popular search engines concerning aspartame)
Quick Review of Monsanto/ NutraSweet's PR Statements (Published by Dr. John W. Olney, et al. in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology)
Use of Aspartame By Pharmaceutical Companies (cough syrup, laxatives, children's acetaminophen tablets, children's multi-vitamins...the list goes on and on. "Pumping aspartame into children is a priority.")
Welcome to NutraSweet(the industry's website on the 'truth' about aspartame)