ASPARTAME FACTS: SEPARATING FACT FROM FICTION - ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER REPORT

ASPARTAME CONSUMER SAFETY NETWORK FACT SHEET

(Written by NBC TV's former Network Physician and world class Pediatrician / Author: Lendon Smith, M.D.)

GREED vs HEALTH Which Will Win?

by Dr. Lendon Smith

I knew there was something wrong with aspartame (ASP, Nutrasweet /Equal),  but I could not quite put my finger on it.  Yes, the ingredients are  chemicals found naturally in foods, but is a little different when it is  ingested as a sweetner with little or no "food" around it. I just received  an eye-opener called "THE DEADLY DECEPTION," compiled by the ASPARTAME  CONSUMER SAFETY NETWORK (ACSN, PO Box 780634, Dallas, TX  75378.)  Founded  in 1987, it serves as a support group and clearinghouse for vital  information.  One of the opening pages hit me:    "85% of all complaints registered with the Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) concerns aspartame's adverse reactions."    It is now reported that FIVE DEATHS and at least 70 different symptoms have  resulted from its use.  The list includes neurological, dermatological,  cardiac, respiratory  all the symptoms I have ever seen reported for food  sensitivities, low blood sugar, Alzheimer's, Chronic Fatique syndrome,  amalgam-filling disease and methanol poisoning.  The Searle Pharmaceutical  Company has actually covered up or, at the very least, failed to report  adverse reactions just so the FDA would allow this product to be used by  millions worldwide.  Aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanyl-methyl-ester) is  about 200 times as sweet as sugar with virtually no calories.  It sounds  ideal for those who need to have the sweet taste, but not the calories.    This compound breaks down in the system to:  1) phenylalanine (50%) which can be neurotoxic and in some susceptible  people will cause seizures  2)  aspartic acid (40%) which can cause brain damage in the developing brain  3) methanol (10%) which turns into formaldehyde  embalming fluid  an  obvious toxin.    They all have adverse effects, but not everyone is affected equally.  This  is why the scientific community is having trouble evaluating these  anecdotal reports.  But I think you can see why Searle and the FDA have  minimized the adverse reactions;  there might be a loss of revenue.The  symptoms easily might lead a doctor to make a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue  Syndrome.  These chemicals "change the ratio of the amino acids in the  blood stream."      The MENTAL SYMPTOMS that ASP can produce in a person is thought to be  related to the increase in violence and suicides in our population.  ASP  causes a blockage of the formation of serotonin in the brain. Since  tryptophan has been taken off the market by the FDA, there are many people  who cannot make enough serotonin from their food, and they are more  susceptible to insomnia, depression, and/or PMS.  If these genetically  deficient people are also swallowing ASP, they will more readily have  headaches, insomnia, depression, hostility, anxiety, and a host of other  negative symptoms.  No wonder sales of the new drug, Prozac, have  skyrocketed. ASP is known to disturb thyroid function.  The pituitary uses  serotonin as its neurotransmitter to tell the thyroid what to do.  ASP will  inhibit the formation of that neurotransmitter.  It can do anything.  These  ingredients may not actually cause mental problems but can certainly  trigger them by interfering with the ratio of the various brain  neurotransmitters.  It is the same with sugar, additives, alcohol, or food  sensitivities.  A person may be susceptible to brain chemical alterations,  but the reaction only occurs when there is stress plus the ingestion of  ASP.    

MARY NASH STODDARD, who heads up the ACSN, has been diagnosed with that  devastating EMS  (EosinophiliaMyalgia Syndrome) because of her severe generalized aches and  an elevated eosinophil count.  When she stopped the ASP the disease  disappeared. (And we all thought that disease was only due to the tainted  tryptophan from the Japanese company.) The FDA and Searle (the Nutrasweet  Co.) claim that all the symptoms reported are just anecdotal, and these  people should see their doctor for a definitive diagnosis. (most of them  have, and the doctor could not name the disease.)  Three out of five of the  negative responders have headaches, to the point of being diagnosed as  migraines.This company feels that because so many millions of doses are  being taken everyday and the numbers of reactions are so few, ASP is very  safe as a sugar substitute.  But if people are using ASP as a sugar  substitute they are living in a fools' paradise.  Research has shown that  most people who are sensitive to ASP will notice an increase in hunger  pangs.  The blood sugar actually falls when the sweet taste in the mouth  from the ASP send a message to the brain that some sugar is going down the  gullet, and the pancreas better kick in with some extra insulin.I think  that most intelligent people might notice that they do not feel good after  drinking ASP loaded drinks and just quit the stuff.  When the symptoms  disappear, we would not necessarily call Searle or the FDA.  Many people  cannot drink red wine, or eat chocolate, but they do not call the companies  or sue the grocer.    

"Deadly Deception Story of Aspartame" cites chapter and verse of the coverup by Searle and  the FDA. Here are some highlights from the book "Deadly Deception Story of Aspartame":    

1969 - Dr. Harry Waisman fed ASP mixed with milk to monkeys.  One died  after 300 days of ASP and five others had grand mal seizures.  Searle  deleted this negative study when the company submitted safety evidence to  the FDA.    

1970 - The FDA banned cyclamate during the time that the safety of  saccharin was being questioned.  The time seemed ripe for ASP.    

1971 - Dr. John Olney, a research psychiatrist, told Searle that aspartic  acid caused "holes in the brains of mice."    

1974 - Searle people said these studies raised "no health problems."  Searle told the FDA about these findings after approval was granted.    

1975 - Many of the test animals fed ASP developed large TUMORS.  These were  NOT reported to the FDA.    

1977 -  Despite the many complaints about ASP, William Conlon and Thomas  Sullivan, the US attorneys, took no action, in five years the statute of  limitations for a grand jury investigation expired.  A year later, Conlon  took a position with the law firm that represents Searle. (U.S. Attorney,  Samuel Skinner did the same and ended up Chief of Staff in Bush's White  House. ed.)    

1980 - A Public Board of Inquiry of three scientists was activated.  These  (2 MDs and one PhD) voted to ban ASP.  Because of those negative findings a  five member Commissioner's Team of Scientists was impaneled: Three said  ban; two said it was safe.  Another member was added.  You guessed it:  deadlock. Dr. Jacqueline Verrett, PhD, toxicologist on the team said,  "Bureau officials were working up to a whitewash.  Safety questions remain  unanswered."    

1981 - Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. was appointed the new FDA Commissioner  and overruled the Public Board of Inquiry's recommended ban of ASP.  He said  his approval was part of the Reagan administration's new reform! Throughout  the 1980's Searle has pointed out that the best evidence of ASP's safety  was the fact that it had been approved in more than 60 countries.  But  these foreign approvals had been based on these controversial test, and the  questionable approval of the FDA. It was approved as a "food additive," and  hence, exempt from continued safety monitoring. (Searle is not obligated to  monitor any adverse reactions.)    

1983 - THE NATIONAL SOFT DRINK ASSOCIATION wrote to the FDA that ASP was  breaking down in warm climates.  But the Association later accepted ASP.  Dr. Hayes office approved the use of ASP in soft drinks just two months  before he quit his job as FDA chief.  He then obtained a job with a public  relations firm who represents NutraSweet.    

1984 - Seven million pounds of NutraSweet are swallowed by about 100,000 people.    1985 - Reports of side-effects mount.    

1987 - ACSN is founded by Mary Nash Stoddard and consumer advocate, James  Turner, Esq.  They believe ASP should be recalled and retested as a drug.    (Also, former US Atty. prosecuting G.D. Searle for falsifying original  tests, recused himself at the last minute, taking a position with Sidley &  Austin, Searle's law firm. He was later appointed head of the Dept. of  Transportation, over the FAA, and then moved into position of Chief of  Staff in Bush's White House. Skinner was honored by the Epilepsy Foundation  in Chicago as their man-of-the-year. Former MONSANTO ATTORNEY, JUDGE  CLARENCE THOMAS was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, amidst swirling  controversy. Ed.)    A grass-roots effort to stop the use of ASP would be like us common folk  trying to get Columbia to stop producing heroin. 

If we can't get Searle to  stop (because it is big bucks for them) we can at least ask our patients  and friends to STOP USING IT IF THEY HAVE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS:    Headaches  Nausea  Vertigo  Hearing Loss  Tinnitus  Insomnia  Numbness of Extremities  Blurred Vision  Blindness/Eye Problems  Memory Loss  Slurred Speech  Mild to Suicidal Depression  Personality Changes  Mood Changes  Anxiety Attacks  Hyperactivity (child or adult)  Gastrointestinal Disorders  Seizures  Skin Lesions  Muscle Cramps  Joint Pain  Fatigue  PMS  Menstrual Irregularities  Chest Pain  Arrhythmia  Edema  Increased Appetite    Sensitive people would more likely notice the connection between ingestion  and symptoms.  Some people do not notice anything until they stop taking  ASP in any form, and then they feel marvelous.    

Death is also listed as a symptom.    

ASPARTAME MAY TRIGGER OR MIMIC THE FOLLOWING ILLNESSES:    Chronic Fatigue Syndrome  Epstein-Barr  Post-Polio Syndrome  Lyme Disease  Meniere's Disease  Alzheimer's Disease  ALS  Epilepsy  Multiple Sclerosis  EMS  Hypothyroidism  Mercury Sensitivity from Amalgam Fillings  (add: Fibromyalgia, Graves, Lupus, non Hodgkins Lymphoma, ADD as well. Ed.)    These are more than allergies or sensitivities.  We're talking about ASP  actually producing diseases, or disease syndromes.How does one take Searle  to court for damages? Are there more suicides now because tryptophan is not  available?  ASP causes a blockage of levels of serotonin which is the brain  chemical made from tryptophan.  We get tryptophan and its end product,  serotonin, if we eat a decent diet, but if we add ASP, we may not be able  to make enough serotonin to keep us from the above symptoms.  It was  discovered long ago that serotonin is lower in the brains of the depressed  than in the brains of those not so.  Mary Coleman, MD, in the Jr Peds, 78:  985-990, wrote way back in 1971 that the serotonin concentration in the  blood platelets of hyperactive kids was lower than in the not so active.  The hyperactivity of the children became less as the serotonin levels rose.  Vitamin B6 will help to raise the serotonin.    

What about this connection:  

The National Cancer Institute has discovered  an increased incidence of malignant brain tumors in the years following the  1983 licensing of ASP for beverages.  In the research on rats ingesting ASP  back in the early 1970's, brain tumors were observed. Doctors are not  helpful to their patients who complain of the above symptoms because the  connection with symptoms and aspartame are anecdotal and there are no tests  for the condition except the improvement when ASP is discontinued. Dr. Paul  Toft, a chiropractor from Alexandria, Minnesota, felt awful until he  stopped ASP.  He finds that the media will not touch this controversy,  because, as we all might suspect, it will definitely hurt advertising  revenue.

Can you get your patients and friends to write for "Deadly  Deception Story of Aspartame," and then do what you can to stop this menace?  The Nutrasweet  people have a commercial on TV bragging that they now have 200,000,000  people consuming the ASP in over 4,000 different products. ("That many  people couldn't be wrong!")  Next time you're mugged ask the perpetrator if  he is getting ASP; or when you see someone sitting on the sidewalk, tired,  alone and depressed, ask him if he is drinking soft drinks.  Chances are,  ASP IS RESPONSIBLE FOR A LOT OF SICKNESS AND CRIME.  It is not what Mother  Nature wants us to eat.  

(reprinted with permission)  Dr. Lendon Smith's "The Facts", October 1991

Mary Stoddard

marystod@gmail.com