Every parent wants their children to be healthy. Providing a healthy balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables lays the groundwork. But could there be dangerous chemicals that your children may be ingesting that you may not be aware of? Destructive chemicals in common foods that are FDA approved?
In today's chemically laden society, many foods are laced with harmful and destructive (yet totally legal) substances that can destroy all that a parent has worked to establish.
Would you be surprised if a food additive you were led to believe was a harmless, benign substitute for sugar turned out to be a damaging and often deadly neurotoxin and excitotoxin? An additive drug that changes brain chemistry and interacts with drugs and that destroys the central nervous system -- causing nerve transmitter disruption, brain malnutrition and neurotoxicity? A substance that is particularly harmful to the undeveloped nervous systems of children. And that causes brain damage that ranges anywhere from ADHD to neurological problems that mimic MS, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's?
What's worse is that this is a highly addictive and cumulative substance that causes serious withdrawal symptoms when stopped. Believe me, you do not want your children addicted to this substance. However, you may be shocked to discover that they may be already.
This harmful chemical substance is found in so many common, everyday foods - foods everyone likes to eat. All parents should know that it is called aspartame.
Aspartame (APM), also sold as NutraSweet and Equal, is an artificial sweetener found in thousands of foods and diet drinks. These are common foods like diet soda, sugarless versions of Dentyne and Bubble Gum, yogurt, Jello, puddings and pies, baked goods, sugarless jams and jellies, Metamucil for adults and children, children's vitamins and even medications. You'll even find it in Slim Fast, listed as phenylalanine.
Some doctors are now speaking out and saying that aspartame disease is epidemic and rising. Just to give you an idea of some of symptoms of aspartame disease, here's a short list: diabetes, MS, lupus, migraine headaches, liver disease, seizures, brain tumors, dizziness, unsteadiness, confusion, severe drowsiness and sleepiness, numbness, hyperactivity--especially in children (ADD, ADHD), hearing impairment, visual changes and blindness, palpitations, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain, itching and hives, menstrual changes, marked weight loss or gain and aggravated low blood sugar, severe depression, irritability, anxiety, aggression, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, personality changes, insomnia and phobias.
It's interesting to note that aspartame accounts for 80 to 85% of all complaints received by the FDA. By 1987, the FDA had received more than 6,000 complaints, including 250 involving epileptic seizures. But, what's even more surprising is that the consumption of aspartame continues to increase every year. The average American consumes over 14 pounds of aspartame each year and this amount has been rising daily.
Especially Harmful to Children
Besides causing a wide variety of diseases in adults, aspartame particularly harms growing children. The undeveloped nervous systems of children are more vulnerable to even mild doses. In a recently published medical
journal article, Dr. H.J. Roberts points out that since aspartame was introduced, there has been an enormous increase in the incidence of brain cancer in the United States, especially in children. He is the author of the book, Aspartame (NutraSweet): Is it Safe?
What makes aspartame particularly dangerous is that it contains three
neurotoxins: Methanol, Phenylalanine and aspartic acid. As the APM (aspartame) molecule is metabolized, it releases methyl alcohol, plus phenylalanine and aspartic acid. The methyl alcohol breaks down into formaldehyde, then formic acid.
Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, is a very powerful neurotoxin. Normally the EPA allows only very minute levels of Methanol to be found in foods or in environmental exposures. But, the level allowed in NutraSweet is seven (7) times the amount what the EPA normally allows. Methanol can produce blindness, cellular destruction in the brain and spinal cord and in the optic nerves, not to speak of liver damage.
Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are both well-recognized neurotoxins. The second amino acid, aspartic acid, is an excitotoxin that causes cellular
excitation. It can overstimulate and kill brain cells, causing mild to severe brain damage. It can alter the way the brain is formed in newborn babies that permanently changes the brain formation and results in behavioral changes in children, usually hyperactivity.
Some say aspartame is only dangerous when heated. It is true that aspartame breaks down when heated. Initially, the FDA would not approve aspartame in foods that were heated. But, in l993 they approved it for baked goods! And consider this -- according to the National Soft Drink Association, aspartame breaks down at 86 degrees. Our body temperature is 98.6. If you ingest aspartame, it will get heated as soon as it reaches your stomach!
Can be Fatal to Fetuses and Infants
In, "Aspartame Murders Infants" by James Bowen, M.D., Dr. Bowen shows that aspartame causes abortions, birth defects, triggers immunologic attack and fetal wastage, and chelates metals -- promoting heavy metal poisoning.
The phenylalanine can also alter how the brain is formed during the fetal
formation of the brain. After that, it can produce lowering of the
seizure threshold causing greater likelihood of seizures.
Research shows that these chemicals are passing through the blood-brain barrier and accumulating in critical areas of the brain.
Aspartame causes destruction at every point in the fertility process: it ruins female sexual response and induces male sexual dysfunction, it disrupts fetal development by inducing defects or by aborting. A child born live to a mother who used aspartame may have damaged DNA forever.
Not only does APM encourage attack of the fetus by breaking down the normal functions of the maternal immune system, but APM directly damages the fetus. Consider that even moderate use of alcohol by the mother endangers the fetus and its future. Yet, the methyl alcohol in aspartame is fifty times as potent an intoxicant as ethyl alcohol [beverage alcohol]. Children born with fetal alcohol syndrome experience lifelong deformity, disability and loss of mental acuity. Imagine what their lives are like when born to mothers who consumed aspartame?
Actually, there have been many -- cerebral palsied children who live their entire life laying on their back unable to move or turn their heads.
According to James Bowen, M.D., formaldehyde is 5,000 times more potent. The neurotoxins in the carefully crafted APM molecule are about 20,000 times more potent than beverage alcohol.
"Because of APM's extreme toxicity, even minute doses are destructive --
damaging fetal nervous systems and related structures. Eyes and hearing
come to mind. All tissues are similarly damaged as beyond its functional
neurological intoxicating effects, methyl alcohol/formaldehyde is the
strongest organic base in the living organism and is a polymerizing
agent, turning tissue into plastic. From such poisoning there is no
escape, it is obligatory metabolism by alcholdehydrogenase of methyl alcohol into nascent formaldehyde, occurring 75% in the cytosol [cytoplasm] and 25% in the mitochondria."
When isolated, the amino acid, aspartic acid, is excitotoxic -- it excites neurons or brain cells to death. APM is 40% aspartic acid. Also like formaldehyde, APM damages chromosomes. But what's even more horrifying is that the chromosomal damage in the mother may be passed on to the fetus and future generations forevermore.
Nature normally operates under a system of checks and balances in order to ensure health and balance. Isolated chemicals have no such system. Natural foods are complex mixes of amino acids -- no food is merely one or two isolated amino acids, as is APM. While phenylalanine and methanol occur naturally in foods, they occur in a form the body cannot use and with other mechanisms that protect the body against any damage.
According to Dr. Bowen, the isolated phenylalanine from APM causes mental retardation. As he describes it:
"The PHE (phenylalanine) in a plate of beans is absorbed in about 20 hours in competition with the other amino acids. The PHE in a Diet Coke is absorbed in a few minutes in competition with nothing. This is highly significant because amino acid biochemistry at enzyme sites is competitive and PHE out-competes all the others, which means isolated PHE from APM, in the fetal brain with no competition, destroys it!"
The further breakdown of APM creates carcinogens responsible for brain tumors.
Michael B. Schachter, M.D., F.A.C.A.M. states:
"If an approved drug had as many complaints as aspartame, it would have been removed from the market long ago. But, aspartame has been approved as a safe food additive and not a drug. The manufacturer does not have to track adverse reactions once the food additive has been approved, as in the case of new drugs. Aspartame was approved for use in dry foods and as a sugar substitute in 1981 and for soft drinks in 1983."
"The history of the FDA approval process for this substance raises many questions about possible conflicts of interest. Suffice to say no less than 10 officials involved in the approval process took jobs with aspartame-related
companies, soon after leaving their governmental posts."
For more information, go to Dr. Schachter's website: http://www.mbschachter.com
How could aspartame have ever received FDA approval?
The April 17 CAMA newsletter stated:
"Aspartame/NutraSweet/Equal was invented by the G.D. Searle Co., acquired by Monsanto in 1985. For 16 years the FDA denied approval. In 1981, Commissioner Arthur Hayes ignored the objections of a Public Board of Inquiry and the American Soft Drink Association and blessed it. The tests submitted by Searle were so bad the Department of Justice initiated
prosecution of Searle for fraud, but the defense lawyers hired the
prosecutors, Sam Skinner and William Conlon, and the case died with the
statue of limitations expiring."
If the FDA won't protect you and your children from these destructive poisons, do it yourself. Read labels and stop buying or ingesting any products containing aspartame, phenylalanine, NutraSweet, or Equal. Educate your children, make sure they know what to avoid and why. If you care about your family's health and its future generations, protect yourselves.
Here are two excellent books on the subject for further reading:
Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, by neurosurgeon Russell
Blaylock, M.D., (available at amazon.com)
Aspartame (NutraSweet) Is It Safe? Charles Press, H. J. Roberts, M.D,
If you're wondering what you can use instead, try Stevia -- its all-natural,
non-caloric, and full of vitamins and minerals. This super-sweet herbal product has centuries of safe usage by native Indians in
Paraguay behind it. With a glycemic level index of zero, and loaded with vitamins
and minerals -- including magnesium, niacin, riboflavin, zinc,
chromium, and selenium, its hard to beat.
In addition, it lowers and
balances blood sugar levels, supports the pancreas and digestive system,
protects the liver, combats infectious microorganisms -- and, it
actually inhibits the growth of the bacteria that promote tooth decay!
According to David Richard, author of "Stevia Rebaudiana: Nature's Sweet
Secret," Blue Heron Press, Stevia has been thoroughly tested in dozens
of tests around the world and found to be completely non-toxic. It has
also been consumed safely in massive quantities (thousands of tons
annually) in other countries for the past twenty years.
For more information on Stevia CLICK HERE
Fructose, available at your local health food store, also makes a healthy sweetener. Even plain sugar is a better choice than aspartame. Whatever you use, use your head and protect yourself and your family.
