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Voliza – As I was reading John E. Garst’s post, I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing!! He’s probably a research assistant for “Monsanto” and is one of the “scientists” who claims Round Up is a dream come true and Genetically Modified Corn should be made a 5th food group it’s so nutritious. Even more than Aspartame (I stay away from it) I am more concerned with all the harmful dyes that are in absolutely EVERYTHING!

@John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)

Were you paid off by Monsanto too?

All sugar and sugar substitutes are not good for you. I think the best solution would be to severely limit or completely remove sugar from the diet altogether. It has no nutritional value, and compromises our immune system. We ‘crave’ sugar. We don’t need it. If you’re a diabetic, eliminate sugar. Much the same way an alcoholic should eliminate alcohol. Yeah, it tastes good, but it’s killing you.

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Polly, I am pretty sure Stevia is a safe sugar substitute for diabetics. Do a little research before buying it, but I’m almost positive its OK. You can find this at Whole Foods.

Thank you for the info. I am on a fact hunt. Several young women (all under 24) in my life, have just been diagnosed with the weirdst stuff for young people. While some live in the same area, others do not live near but have recently visited. All are suffering from headaches/migraines. Each has received a different diagnosis but remarkably each have been told that what was found probably had nothing to do with their headaches/migraines. They were all “incidental” findings. I’m not in the medical field or anything, but something sure seems weird. The various diagnosis are: brain cycst, pituitary gland tumor, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, panic attack, late onset asthma. These are just among the young women that I have spoke with in the last month. I’m currently trying to find a common factor or food or anything that would tie these things together. None of them have the same doctor. All have been very healthy until this last year and most of them until the last six months. This is a shot in the dark, but does anyone know if prenatal vitamins contain aspartame? All of us moms were pregnant about the same time and all of us lived in the same relative geographic area at the time of pregnancies. Come to think of it, all but one of the women are first borns. Any ideas?

@Dave@Coleman
Childhood obesity is caused by “fruit roll-ups” Nutrigrain bars, pop from the drivethrough along with McDonalds fast food, KFC, donuts, candy, waffles, cookies, chips, Doritos, Taco Bell, pop, junk, and more junk and all ingested on the sofa while playing video games or watching movies in the home movie theater, or just in front of the tv. Breads aren’t homemade anymore, mom’s don’t cook anymore, everything is prepackaged and microwaved, while parents stuff junk and video games, toys, tv, in front of their little ones to keep them occupied and “happy”.
Children used to help parents with gardening, house chores, cooking, getting the animals taken care of , taking care of the property, gentling a colt or new horse, stable cleaning, and errands. Now they exist for us to groom, pet and teach them cute things to say for Utube. Although I don’t let my children eat any of this crap, they are not overweight, but under weight compared to classmates, they are healthy and we use “old school” parenting and helping our children be a part of the family doings, not be apart from them. Take a closer look at those kids who are overweight.

@Mary
I know , what is UP with THAT? How does Aspartame end up in EVERY freaking sugar free food and drink? Splenda this, Splenda that, in the gum and every blessed where. Even Diabetics are upset about this. Saccharin was ok with me! Now there is Stevia, and why isn’t it being used by these huge companies? Ask Monsanto?

@henry
Craig, I hate to say it, but it looks as though your mom was in classic menopause. Hair falls out, body aches, depression, mood swings. Was she overweight ? Was she diabetic? Aspartame supposedly causes weight gain, but so does menopause. I don’t drink any diet soda’s and do not purchase any “sugar free” foods. I only eat natural USDA organic, ( including corn starch, sugar, and meats from animals fed grass and no GMO corn/soy ) and I am in menopause, i have all those symptoms you describe about your mother. God Bless her . I am on an antidepressant to even out moods. I don’t drink diet soda’s or any sodas; ones with HFCS I don’t allow my sons to drink. We make our own, with selzer, stevia, and fruit juices or extracts like vanilla/rootbeer.
I don’t trust Monsanto right now . They are way too big, way to influential and way too aggressive/competitive with other chemical companies like Bayer, DuPont, etc…I realize there are chemicals in everything…but i draw the line in genetically modifying what nature created perfectly.

@John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)
“The only solution is to take folate supplements, which replace that small amount lost to these causes. Some people believe a good diet is the answer, but you simply cannot get enough functional folate from natural foods or from dietary sources to prevent folate deficiency. The supplements are more effectively used too.”
Please reply to seaspir@yahoo.com, would you suggest how much folate we should take a day? I drink 2 cups of coffee, eat apples and love tomato sauce, ( homemade, home grown, frozen ) . Thanks Dr.!
I appreciate you replying to many sites and trying to enlighten many who fear aspartame. Have you written to Victoria Inness-Brown? Where are you employed? Thanks again, hope you have some time to email me . I wonder how much folate I should take a day .
Mary

Please remember to look at the labels of foods that you would think would not contain asparatme. Many gums and such now DO contain aspertame instead of regular (if you can call it that) sugar. So gums like Doublemint that are NOT sugarfree, are replacing sugar with aspertame. You can find aspertame-free gums at the Whole Food stores chain and such.

And I agree with most everyone here — They may be good at patching up broken bones, but doctors know nothing about nutrition, nor chronic ailments for that matter. I had a “terminal” cancer that I cured myself after doctors gave me up for dead. Think for your self.

@John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)
Aspartame took 8 years to be passed and then the guy who passed it became the presdint of the biggest aspartame company.

@John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)
u are such a liar how much do theyu pay u to say that u wanka

I got one name for y’all Donald Rumsfeld, He was behind aspartame getting approved through some pretty nefarious antics with good ole Ronnie Reagan and G.H. Bush………….Do you trust these characters lol.

Aspartame killed my mother with no doubt. She had all the classic symptoms hands tingling & going numb, Gas pains, Hair falling out,panic attacks,severe deppression, mood swings and when the aspartame built-up on her nerves her body attack itself trying to get out the poison and killed her.I had all the symptoms too and had a operation for severe stomach pain to no avail. I know it can take years to build-up in your system before it kills you (but maybe not?).Any my mom was young and vibrant looking at 63 years of age. I wish that I knew what I know now about Aspartame,I could of save her. Anyway I quit Aspartame and all
my symptoms are almost gone, I had a long list of symptoms in a very severe degree. Was at the ER 3 to 4 times a week in crippling pain!

to Polly… Equal and Nutra-sweet are both aspartame products…

I’ve been trying to lose weight. So I’ve been eating a lot of foods that say “sugar-free” or “light”. Which usually means that they contain aspartame. I’ve always been a little wary of artificial sweeteners and additives, but I know so many people who use them. Plus I really wanted to lose some weight, and I thought having some sugar free, low fat snacks around would help me stay on track. One day I started having nausea, then I felt really hot. I started getting really irritable. Then I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I got a sudden rush of panic and fear for no reason at all. I felt like I was going crazy or something. I was freaking out for no reason. I wasn’t stressed or scared about anything. So it didn’t make any sense. My hands started tingling and I got chills even though I was so hot. This lasted for about an hour. I researched the symptoms to see if I had a panic attack. I had every symptom of a panic attack. If you’ve never had one, let me tell you that they are UNPLEASANT. I had never had one before so I started doing some research. I couldn’t believe it when I read that there may be a link between aspartame and panic attacks. I’m usually the first person to tell other people ” oh you shouldn’t drink diet sodas or eat foods with artificial sweeteners because they’re bad for you”, but here I was doing the same thing that I always tell others not to do because I wanted to lose a few pounds. Needless to say I’ve gotten rid of all those sugar free chemically engineered frankenstein snacks. Now I just try to eat natural healthy foods and I exercise. So I’m not a doctor or an expert on aspartame, but I know when my body is telling me that something is just not right. Just because the government says it’s safe doesn’t mean that it is. Look how many years they told us that cigarettes were harmless. Trust your own instincts. There would not be this much controversy over aspartame if it was perfectly %100 safe. Even if you think it’s not a big deal and you continue to eat foods with aspartame, please don’t feed this crap to your children.

I am diabetic and am supposed to stay away from sugar products and food with sugar in them and was told to use sugar subsatutes. I used to use Equal but had trouble with that so now am using Nutra Sweet. I have had a lot of problems with my joints, knees, hips, etc. Could this be the problem? What else can I do?????

Here is a fairly scientific admonition against Aspartame citing the specific problems and number of complaints:
http://www.medicinemd.com/Med_articles/Aspartame_en.html

When I was in the University of California, Irvine as a Biology major we had a guest lecturer who warned us all..DON’T EAT ANYTHING WITH THE NEW SWEETENER ASPARTAME..IT EXPLODES BRAIN CELLS WE HAVE FOUND IN OUR RESEARCH! Then he went on to discuss other things but I never forgot. Now I have suffered a mysterious seizure after eating a bunch of candies in a serving dish at a hotel. MANY people on the internet report Aspartame sensitivity. I am trying to do everything I can to NOT have to take the medication which has lot’s of side effects. I can’t seem to find out if those candies contain aspartame…

I don’t have time to write a book.
I am a Retired Nurse and believe me it is toxic.

Many cases of horrible rash that disfigured the patient.
It showed uo after it was used for a diet food and it was the only
thing that was different in the group diet that had to cause the horrible body rash.

planning on doing a “60-day fast” from aspartame products to see what happens. I recently began consuming “diet” products in an effort to lose some weight. Strange…I found myself craving carbs more often. Drinking more diet sodas too. I have experienced heart palpitations and nervousness. So, while I am also exercising, I am not losing much if any weight, for no apparent reason. Moderation can be one respected advice, but that would also be like saying that eating Rat Poison in moderation would be okay too? Or sniffing toxic fumes in moderation…that would be okay? Eating apples in great quantities is bad?
Further, common sense is not the same as “smart”. If something is bothering your body/health, test out why. Form your own results by your own tests. Don’t count or depend on the “professionals” to be telling you the whole truth!

@Conversion Vans

Having a PhD from a respected research DOES make you smart. It doesn’t make you infallible. Money talks foo.

As with all things in life… It’s about moderation. Anything in large quantities will result in serious problems.

Four weeks ago, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and graves disease. My RAI scan showed by thyroid was craving 55% of the iodine during this test.

Wanting to find answers about this disease, I went to the book store and bought a book on the subject. A few chapters into the book it mentioned that aspartame can cause hormonal issues in the body and that Endocrinologists should be interrogating their patients on the amount of aspartame they are consuming since aspartame poisoning can mock the same symptoms as Graves disease. Stunned by this, I stopped consuming aspartame a week ago and I’m happy to report that I’ve been able to reduce my medication by half. In the next couple weeks I plan to be completely weaned off my medication for good and to never to touch aspartame ever again.

My doctors plan was to have me on thyroid medicine for about a year and than proceed with a radioactive cocktail to permanently kill my thyroid since hyperthyroidism is more difficult to treat then hypo.

Thankfully, I found all of this out before that happened. So, don’t tell me that aspartame is safe.

To the doctor above, I would point out that for years the published “studies” done on cigarettes showed that they weren’t addictive, while the unpublished studies that did prove cigarettes were addictive were sent to big tobacco’s attorneys so the documents could then be deemed privileged and unavailable to the public. There is a lot of money tied up in the diet food industry in this nation and with that comes the power to control what information is released to the general public about the product. I know firsthand what aspartame can do to a person. I just spent this past year taking test after test and seeing specialist after specialist in an attempt to find out what was wrong with me. Long story short, I had all the symptoms of MS, but my MRIs showed no MS lesions — I had aspartame poisoning. I am just now starting to feel okay again — now that I am no longer consuming anything with aspartame in it. I am hoping that my vision will return to normal, otherwise I may have to deal with double vision for the rest of my life. I encourage every person out there to READ LABELS, make sure you stay away from aspartame and be very careful about what you are feeding your children.

Thank you very much Kristie for that valid information ! I will inform others about the serious link between aspartime and illnesses and I also strongly believe that aspartime is linked to any other diseases. Yet again thanks x =)

Hi…I just have two things to say. First, don’t trust everything the government tells you. Look at the effects of tobacco. My mother died of lung cancer 13 years ago, and it was completely obvious that smoking was the cause; however, the doctors would not say for sure that the pack a day of cigarettes she had been smoking for years, caused her cancer…She was 40 years old.

And secondly, my daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy a year and a half ago. The neurologist started her on meds that didn’t seem to be working. My husband and I weren’t thrilled with the side effects of any of the other possible meds so I started doing some research on treating her epilipsy naturally. On the first page of this book, Treating Epilepsy Naturally, it states that aspartame has been known to cause seizures. We immediately started checking all of our foods for aspartame and found that it was in the yogurt that we were all eating. Being just four years old, my daughter was consuming about three of these yogurts a day. We removed the aspartame from her diet and guess what? She hasn’t had a seizure since! None of her doctors will acknowledge this connection, but my husband and I are convinced that the aspartame played a big part of her epilepsy.

My opinion, not that it may matter much to you, is to STAY AWAY FROM ASPARTAME!!!!

Hi really enjoyed reading your post.
is childhood obesity the result of genetically modified foods,electrosmog,or aspartame?
Dave

I do agree that there is a lot of evidence showing why aspartame just should not be used. I can say though, that there are obviously some conflicting views on the substance, so I think for many people, when you can’t be totally sure that what you are putting in your body is safe, you choose to discontinue use of it. However, there are plenty of people in the world that still smoke cigarettes, for example, and we can’t stop them, or people that still eat plenty of fast, fatty foods, and we can’t stop that either, so just be happy that you are making a conscious decision to eat as many natural foods as you can. I do want to say, though, that just because you have a Ph.D does not mean, by any means, that you have a “big, beautiful paycheck.” For anyone looking for more journals (orginally NON internet publications, try searching on googlescholar.com if you haven’t yet. Very interesting stuff.

@John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)

I’m sure that your big beautiful pay check is evidence enough for you, right? I’d also like to add that since you think that you are so clever, linking to pages that claim that there is no scientific evidence or “merit”…Show me something BESIDES a web-page that can prove to me otherwise. Tell me, WHY is it being used? What purpose does it serve? Same with Water Fluoridation…To prevent tooth decay? WHAT? The bullshit answers that I hear every day are ridiculous. Any person with half of a brain (or what’s left of it after ingesting all of these toxins) can clearly see that there truly is no NEED for any of it. If there are even “rumored” side-effects to the degree in which these so called conspiracy theories claim then shouldn’t the FDA choose to rid the foods, drinks etc. of it anyway? I certainly think so.

John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition) :The reader should know that aspartame is perfectly safe; it is perhaps the most studied substance in history. It is approved for use as a sweetener by all the world’s relevant regulatory authorities. Its safety has been assessed and affirmed by virtually every relevant regulatory authority in the world and just reaffirmed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, see their website). Aspartame is finding use in many products in the USA, because it is listed as GRAS (generally accepted as safe). That means it can be used in virtually anything, because it poses no known hazard at the dosages involved.
Aspartame has been used by millions and millions of people for over twenty years without any viable health issues. There is, however, an internet conspiracy theory claiming things both about its approval and its safety, attributing 90+ problems to aspartame. But FDA approval was over twenty years ago and is irrelevant now anyway. Aspartame’s methanol is metabolized by the folate enzyme system. If real at all, any health claims are likely personal sensitivity issues stemming from the still widespread folate deficiency, a folate enzyme (polymorphism) problem, or a homocysteine toxicity issue explained by folate and other biochemical issues. The interested reader can read my new discoveries explaining such sensitivity and confirming aspartame safety in my comments to http://blog.rv.net/2009/09/green-tea-a-natural-alternative-to-sugary-sodas/comment-page-1/#comment-85221.
The conspiracy theory also has no real scientific merit. For more on specifics, see Snopes comments: http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=aspartame&sp-a=00062d45-sp00000000&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=all&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-date-range=-1&sp-x=any&sp-c=100&sp-m=1&sp-s=0.
While there are no scientific papers that support any of this website’s claims, there is much evidence to deny every one. First, consider the extensive review of aspartame safety (Magnuson, http://www.fte.ugent.be/vlaz/Magnuson2007.pdf) that discusses aspartame science and addresses earlier criticisms. Second, consider that the only papers questioning aspartame safety have been or are in the process of being dismissed as valid criticisms. Only two groups report data suggesting any concern with aspartame that cannot be dismissed outright. These are multiple papers from the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF, Soffritti et al) and a single paper by a Spanish group (Alemany, actually Trocho et al). But both are mistaken scientific papers. The ERF papers are so badly done that they likely will be withdrawn by the journal. In work reported only in abstract form, I found in 2008 that the ERF experiments were fundamentally flawed in at least three ways fatal to their acceptance. Full presentation is in process. But another fatal flaw has just been reported. All the ERF rats in many studies, not just on aspartame but on other compounds as well, were infected likely with Mycoplasma pulmoni (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19430000?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum). The consequence of that infection is that everything the ERF has reported on the carcinogenicity of not only aspartame, but on many other chemicals they claimed to be carcinogenic is but an artifact of their animal’s standing infection. In turn their artifacts may well be a consequence of their prior and developing folate deficiencies or homocysteine toxicity issues. The other work by Alemany possessed similar flaws to what I suggest for the ERF work. But, because their flaws enhanced binding of radiolabeled methanol in aspartame and facilitated their investigation into its binding targets, they are mostly experimentally acceptable, if still unacknowledged. They found that aspartame’s methanol-derived radiolabeled binding to protein and to DNA in rats. But from this discovery they jumped to the conclusion that this meant aspartame constituted a hazard. They came to the wrong conclusions about aspartame safety, but their seemingly honest error arose because they simply did not identify the actual proteins and DNA bound. Good scientific evidence uncovered over the past years now suggests structures for those proteins and for the DNA that indicate this radiolabeled binding not only poses no hazard at all, but actually proves aspartame safety (also to be published). Scientific dismissal of both works leaves nothing left to dispute aspartame safety!
Third, another of multiple confirmations of aspartame’s safety was reported this year: Artificial sweeteners and the risk of gastric, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers in Italy, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661082?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum. Not only does this paper support aspartame safety, it came from the same country and a far more prestigious group than the ERF work that questioned aspartame (above). Time after time aspartame has been found to be perfectly safe.
John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)
(FYI, the author has absolutely no financial or biasing connection with the aspartame, the soft drink or their related industries. The author has a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry (Pharmacy) from the University of Iowa, postdoctoral experience at Yale University (Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry) and at Vanderbilt University and taught nutritional toxicology at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) besides having conducted federally funded research at Vanderbilt, UIUC, and at several other universities before recently entering into retirement.)

WOW!
THIS DUDE IS A COMPLETE TOOL BOX,WITH NO TOOLS IN IT!
I GUESS IGNORANCE IS BLISS,SPECIALY WHEN HE SAYS,”HAS BEEN APPROVED BY regulatory authorities AND EFSA” AND,” Aspartame has been used by millions and millions of people for over twenty years without any viable health issues” AND,”The conspiracy theory also has no real scientific merit”……SO I GUESS ALL BIG GOVERNMENTS ARE OUR FRIENDS,AND WHEN THEY ARE THE ONE’S FUNDING,BACKING AND APPROVING THEN HEY,WHO’S TO SAY THEY ARE WRONG,BECAUSE ITS THE CLASSIC,”WE ARE BIG BROTHER,WE ALL TELL THE TRUTH”…WHEN WE ALL KNOW THAT IS A FARSE AND COMPLETE SHAM,BEFORE YOU GO LISTENING TO WHAT YOU READ IN THESE ARTICLES WRITTEN BY PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY ON PAYROLLS OF THE COMPANYS USING ASPARTAME AND BIG BODY GOVERNMENTS GIVING EXTRA HUSH MONEY AND IGNORE EVERY TRUE SCIENTIFIC FACT AS IF THE TRUTH WERE FICTION,JUST LIKE THEY ALL DO WITH MARIJUANA BUT TURN AROUND AND LEGALIZE SALE OF TOBACCO WHICH HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT ITS KILLING MORE PEOPLE EVERY YEAR,INCLUDING CHILDREN….,WHEN YOU RUN THING,AND ARE ABLE TO GAG PEOPLE LEGALLY OR FINACIALLY THEN PEOPLE WILL DO AS THEY ARE TOLD AND THAT IS FACT!!!
AND YOU SHOULD ALSO WATCH THE MOVIE,”Aspartame: Sweet Misery A Poisoned World” AND THAT WILL SHOW YOU ALL YOUR SCIENTIFIC PROOF,I SWEAR HUMAN BEINGS ARE SHEEP,SO EASILY BEING LED OFF TO THE EUTHINIZING OF OUR SOCIETY,JUST BECAUSE IT DOES’NT KILL YOU NOW,DOES NOT MEAN IT WON’T,IT’S CALLED A “SOFT KILL CHEMICAL AGENT”

Oh no! I’m currently consuming like 3 of those things. *freaks out*

I was about the age of 9 when I discovered Sweet and Low packets in a DunkinDonut shop. I took one and put it into my coat pocket for later consumption. That being in the cab ride home from downtown Brooklyn. I opened my mouth and dumped the content into to it. I immediately started to gag from the poison I had dumped into my mouth. I don’t remember what I did with the substance in my mouth but I can tell you this I didn’t swallow. To this day I stay away from anything that states it is sugarless. From the fear of an ominous after taste and burning in my throat. Spooky,:(

I just wanted to point out Dr. John that GRAS actually is an acronym for “generally recognized as safe”, not for “generally accepted as safe” as you said. I think it’s important when discussing such a vital subject to get the terminology correct….especially if you have a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition. I’m actually shocked you would confuse this acronym considering the field you’re in.

Aside from that, I do not assume everything else you said is bullshit because you confused one important term, I know everything you said is bullshit due to common sense and researching the history of aspartame, the purposely botched scientific studies conducted be Searle and research groups hired and paid by Searle, and how it was approved onto the market place. I pray to god that people find the information they need to make the choice NOT to ingest poison, which is what aspartame is. I also pray to god that most parents have the common sense and concern for their children’s well being to NOT let them consume aspartame and pray to god that pregnant women do NOT subject the fragile life form developing inside of them to the serious health effects of aspartame poisoning.

Always some brainiac to put us in our place. Just trust the Government or some short term study that PROVES something is safe. Having a pHD doesn’t make you smart. There is no conspiracy. The human body was not designed to consume artificial crap. There is no reason to use this product as the natural and real sweeter is available. Some people are so “smart” they can’t see how stupid they are.

The reader should know that aspartame is perfectly safe; it is perhaps the most studied substance in history. It is approved for use as a sweetener by all the world’s relevant regulatory authorities. Its safety has been assessed and affirmed by virtually every relevant regulatory authority in the world and just reaffirmed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, see their website). Aspartame is finding use in many products in the USA, because it is listed as GRAS (generally accepted as safe). That means it can be used in virtually anything, because it poses no known hazard at the dosages involved.

Aspartame has been used by millions and millions of people for over twenty years without any viable health issues. There is, however, an internet conspiracy theory claiming things both about its approval and its safety, attributing 90+ problems to aspartame. But FDA approval was over twenty years ago and is irrelevant now anyway. Aspartame’s methanol is metabolized by the folate enzyme system. If real at all, any health claims are likely personal sensitivity issues stemming from the still widespread folate deficiency, a folate enzyme (polymorphism) problem, or a homocysteine toxicity issue explained by folate and other biochemical issues. The interested reader can read my new discoveries explaining such sensitivity and confirming aspartame safety in my comments to http://blog.rv.net/2009/09/green-tea-a-natural-alternative-to-sugary-sodas/comment-page-1/#comment-85221.

The conspiracy theory also has no real scientific merit. For more on specifics, see Snopes comments: http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=aspartame&sp-a=00062d45-sp00000000&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=all&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-date-range=-1&sp-x=any&sp-c=100&sp-m=1&sp-s=0.

While there are no scientific papers that support any of this website’s claims, there is much evidence to deny every one. First, consider the extensive review of aspartame safety (Magnuson, http://www.fte.ugent.be/vlaz/Magnuson2007.pdf) that discusses aspartame science and addresses earlier criticisms. Second, consider that the only papers questioning aspartame safety have been or are in the process of being dismissed as valid criticisms. Only two groups report data suggesting any concern with aspartame that cannot be dismissed outright. These are multiple papers from the European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF, Soffritti et al) and a single paper by a Spanish group (Alemany, actually Trocho et al). But both are mistaken scientific papers. The ERF papers are so badly done that they likely will be withdrawn by the journal. In work reported only in abstract form, I found in 2008 that the ERF experiments were fundamentally flawed in at least three ways fatal to their acceptance. Full presentation is in process. But another fatal flaw has just been reported. All the ERF rats in many studies, not just on aspartame but on other compounds as well, were infected likely with Mycoplasma pulmoni (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19430000?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum). The consequence of that infection is that everything the ERF has reported on the carcinogenicity of not only aspartame, but on many other chemicals they claimed to be carcinogenic is but an artifact of their animal’s standing infection. In turn their artifacts may well be a consequence of their prior and developing folate deficiencies or homocysteine toxicity issues. The other work by Alemany possessed similar flaws to what I suggest for the ERF work. But, because their flaws enhanced binding of radiolabeled methanol in aspartame and facilitated their investigation into its binding targets, they are mostly experimentally acceptable, if still unacknowledged. They found that aspartame’s methanol-derived radiolabeled binding to protein and to DNA in rats. But from this discovery they jumped to the conclusion that this meant aspartame constituted a hazard. They came to the wrong conclusions about aspartame safety, but their seemingly honest error arose because they simply did not identify the actual proteins and DNA bound. Good scientific evidence uncovered over the past years now suggests structures for those proteins and for the DNA that indicate this radiolabeled binding not only poses no hazard at all, but actually proves aspartame safety (also to be published). Scientific dismissal of both works leaves nothing left to dispute aspartame safety!

Third, another of multiple confirmations of aspartame’s safety was reported this year: Artificial sweeteners and the risk of gastric, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers in Italy, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661082?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum. Not only does this paper support aspartame safety, it came from the same country and a far more prestigious group than the ERF work that questioned aspartame (above). Time after time aspartame has been found to be perfectly safe.

John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)

(FYI, the author has absolutely no financial or biasing connection with the aspartame, the soft drink or their related industries. The author has a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry (Pharmacy) from the University of Iowa, postdoctoral experience at Yale University (Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry) and at Vanderbilt University and taught nutritional toxicology at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) besides having conducted federally funded research at Vanderbilt, UIUC, and at several other universities before recently entering into retirement.)

brief aspartame — 11% methanol part becomes formaldehyde in humans: Rich Murray 2009.09.29

over 100 mg methanol impurity per liter wine becomes formaldehyde and then
formic acid in humans — co-factors for “morning after” hangovers — folic
acid protects most people: Rich Murray 2009.09.28

There is the same level of methanol from the 11% methanol part
of the aspartame molecule in 2 L [ 6 cans ] aspartame beverages.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579335

Dermatitis. 2008; 19(3): E10-E11.
© 2008 American Contact Dermatitis Society
Formaldehyde, Aspartame, and Migraines: A Possible Connection
Sharon E. Jacob; Sarah Stechschulte
Published: 09/17/2008

Abstract

Aspartame is a widely used artificial sweetener that has been linked
to pediatric and adolescent migraines.
Upon ingestion, aspartame is broken, converted, and oxidized into
formaldehyde in various tissues.
We present the first case series of aspartame-associated migraines
related to clinically relevant positive reactions to formaldehyde
on patch testing.

formaldehyde, aspartame, and migraines, the first case series, Sharon
E Jacob-Soo, Sarah A Stechschulte, UCSD, Dermatitis 2008 May:
Rich Murray 2008.07.18
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.htm
Friday, July 18, 2008
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1553

consider co-factors (methanol, formaldehyde, and protective
folic acid), re UK FSA test of aspartame in candy bars on
50 reactors, Stephen L Atkin, Hull York Medical School:
Rich Murray 2009.09.29
http://rmforall.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.htm
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1587

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages