Het grote industriesprookjes boek -
Hoofdstuk Aspartaam
Een vergeten item op mijn site maar zeker
de moeite waard is aspartaam. Deze chemische suikervervanger is onderwerp van menig
discussie. De industrie vertelt ons wederom dat dit weer zo'n goede en veilige stof is en
dus zonder problemen kan worden ingenomen. Als je denkt dat suiker ongezonder is dan moet
je dit maar eens gaan lezen. Als extra nadeel is er ook nog het probleem dat light
produkten averechts op je eetlust werken. Maar nog altijd geldt, wie niet horen
wil.........
Ron
Opnieuw discussie over aspartaam en
verstoring hersenfuncties
Een flinke inname van aspartaam kan volgens
een nieuwe studie enzymen blokkeren in de hersenen waardoor deze niet meer normaal kunnen
gaan functioneren. Deze conclusie doet opnieuw de discussie mbt aspartaam oplaaien.
Deze zoetstof is ooit in Amerika onder
politieke druk door de FDA keuring heengedrukt en overheden nemen nog altijd de kritische
studies niet mee in hun mening over deze stof. De industrielobbyisten in Brussel hebben
wederom een rookgordijn kunnen plaatsen waardoor politici dom worden gehouden. Dit zie je
ook weer goed in Amerika met de hele rel om de stof bisphenol a die vrijkomt uit
plastic dat je warm maakt zoals magnetron voeding, koffiebekertjes, babyflesje en
drinkflesje (bijv in zonlicht). Ook daar is de overheid misleidt door onderzoekers die
gefinancierd zijn door de industrielobby.
De studie mbt aspartaam
Excessive intake of aspartame may inhibit
the ability of enzymes in the brain to function normally, suggests a new review that could
fan the flames of controversy over the sweetener.
Direct and indirect cellular effects of
aspartame on the brain.
P Humphries, E Pretorius, H Naudé
The use of the artificial sweetener, aspartame, has long been contemplated and studied by
various researchers, and people are concerned about its negative effects. Aspartame is
composed of phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid (40%) and methanol (10%). Phenylalanine
plays an important role in neurotransmitter regulation, whereas aspartic acid is also
thought to play a role as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system.
Glutamate, asparagines and glutamine are formed from their precursor, aspartic acid.
Methanol, which forms 10% of the broken down product, is converted in the body to formate,
which can either be excreted or can give rise to formaldehyde, diketopiperazine (a
carcinogen) and a number of other highly toxic derivatives. Previously, it has been
reported that consumption of aspartame could cause neurological and behavioural
disturbances in sensitive individuals. Headaches, insomnia and seizures are also some of
the neurological effects that have been encountered, and these may be accredited to
changes in regional brain concentrations of catecholamines, which include norepinephrine,
epinephrine and dopamine. The aim of this study was to discuss the direct and indirect
cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, and we propose that excessive aspartame
ingestion might be involved in the pathogenesis of certain mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR
2000) and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning.European Journal of
Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 8 August 2007; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602866.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Aug 8; : 17684524
(P,S,E,B,D)
Het drinken van de 'light' versie van
frisdranken vergroot je kansen op het metabool syndroom. Light frisdranken zijn wat dat
betreft slechter voor je dan het eten van gefrituurd voedsel.
A new study on aspartame conducted by the
Ramazzini Foundation reveals that aspartame causes a dose-dependent increase in cancers
(lymphomas, leukemias and breast cancers) when consumed at levels approaching those
consumed by humans in diet soft drinks.....
Video - Het gevaar van aspartaam
(E951 Light suikervrij zoetstoffen)
Aspartaam (E951) is een kunstmatige
zoetstof, aanwezig in meer dan 6000 producten. De Voedingsindustrie zegt dat aspartaam
helpt om af te vallen, maar waarom wordt overgewicht (obesitas) dan een steeds groter
probleem?
Producten waar aspartaam in kan zitten:
Light, suikervrij, dieetsuiker, zoetjes, zoetstoffen, minder calorieen, geen suiker
toegevoegd, (Coke, Fanta, Sprite) Zero, etc.
Merknamen van de zoetstof aspartaam in
Nederland: Natrena kristalpoeder, Natrena Gourmet, Natrena zoetjes, Canderel, Sweetners
(Super de Boer), Sweetener, Sanoform, Slimmetjes (Van Gilse), Sussli, Zoetjes (AH),
Zoetstof, Zoetstof CSM, Dietcare (C1000), Gold, Hermesetas Gold, Kristalzoet (Kruidvat),
Line zoet en slank (Aldi), etc.
Merknamen van aspartaam in België:
Canderel, Delhaize zoetmiddel, Natrena strooikorrels, GB zoetmiddel, Hermesetas Gold,
Sanoform (Aldi), Prodia, Ti light, Sweetener (Delhaize), Fit & Sweet, Ti light, etc.
Aspartaam is een zeer zoete chemische stof,
die verantwoordelijk is vele verschillende gezondheidsproblemen.
Aspartaam valt uiteen in drie bestanddelen:
1. Methanol, dit is giftige alcohol. Dit
breekt verder af in Formaldehyde, een vloeistof gebruikt voor balseming.
2. Phenylalanine, een stof die de
hoeveelheid van serotonin in de hersenen vermindert, wat op zijn beurt weer leidt tot
opvliegers en/of depressies en ook een vergroting van de eetlust!
3.Aspartisch zuur, a neurologisch gif
vergelijkbaar met MSG (smaakversterkers).
Kortom,aspartaam is zeer zeker geen
gezondheidsvoedsel!
Er zijn maar liefst 92 (!) symptomen
vastgesteld door het Amerikaanse Ministerie van Gezondheid, naar aanleiding van klachten
die zijn ingediend door aspartaam (aspartame) gebruikers. Meer dan 80% van alle klachten
die zijn ingediend bij de Amerikaanse Food & Drug Administration (de Voedsel en Waren
Autoriteit) zijn klachten over aspartaam! Als U producten gebruikt met de labels
Light, suikervrij, minder calorieen, geen suiker toegevoegd, minder suiker, dieet, etc,
neem 10 minuten de tijd om dit bijzondere verslag van FOX 5 News (Washington DC) te
bekijken.
Geloof niet langer in de onwaarheden die
verteld worden door de voedingsindustrie en de 'main stream' media. In tegenstelling tot
wat de 'gezondheidsexperts' (betaald door de voedingsindustrie...) zeggen, dit spul is
NIET veilig! Aspartaam is een zoet gif, op de markt gebracht om U ziek te
maken zodat de farmaceutische industrie U medicijnen en pillen kan verkopen om de ziektes
te 'behandelen' die door aspartaam zijn veroorzaakt. Doe U zelf een plezier en verwijder
dit zoete gif uit uw voedingspatroon voor 60 dagen en ontdek hoe enorm uw gezondheid zal
verbeteren!
Hosea 4:6
" Mijn volk gaat te gronde door het gebrek aan kennis." (NBG51)
Spreuken 4:7
"Wijsheid ververven, inzicht verkrijgen, dat moet je boven alles gaan." (GNB96)
Aspartame Cancer Risks Revisited
- Prenatal Exposure May Be Greatest Concern
Although recent epidemiologic studies have
not found an association between aspartame and human cancers, those studies were not
designed to measure cancer risks associated with fetal exposures. The public health
implications of the new findings are considerable. Currently, more than 200 million people
regularly consume aspartame, and children and women of childbearing age (which presumably
includes many who are pregnant and breastfeeding) are among the major consumers. If the
U.S. FDA were to conclude that exposure to aspartame causes cancer in rodents, the agency
would be required by law to revoke its approval for the popular sweetener.
Life-Span
Exposure to Low Doses of Aspartame Beginning during Prenatal Life Increases Cancer Effects
in Rats
The results of this carcinogenicity
bioassay confirm and reinforce the first experimental demonstration of APM's
multipotential carcinogenicity at a dose level close to the acceptable daily intake for
humans. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that when life-span exposure to APM begins
during fetal life, its carcinogenic effects are increased.
At New York's Mt Sinai School of Medicine
DR. MORANDO SOFFRITTI was honored in April with the Irving J Selikoff Award for
Outstanding contributions to the identification of environmental and industrial
carcinogens, and his promotion of independent scientific research. The prestigious
Selikoff Award is only granted for groundbreaking cancer research. It was created 1993 by
the Collegium Ramazzini, an academy of 180 internationally renowned experts in
occupational and environmental health from over 30 nations. It has been awarded just twice
before being presented to Dr. Soffritti. His research was conducted for 36 months using
1,800 rats. It forced the conclusion that aspartame is a multipotential carcinogen.
Cancers aspartame produced included leukemia, lymphoma, kidney, and cranial peripheral
nerves among others. Only the rats fed aspartame got malignant brain tumors. This
prodigious work was peer reviewed by 7 world experts.
De waarheid over kunstmatige
zoetstoffen en suikerziekte
Light drinkers komen juist aan
Ik noemde gisteren al die Australische
professor die claimt dat aspartaam, glutamaten de eetlust vergroten maar vond ook nog een
studie van de universiteit van Texas die hier al in 2005 voor waarschuwde.
Diet Soda Drinkers Gain Weight
People who drink diet soft drinks don't lose weight. In fact, they gain weight, a new
study shows. The findings come from eight years of data collected by Sharon P.
Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.
Fowler reported the data at this week's annual meeting of the American Diabetes
Association in San Diego.
Italiaanse onderzoekers en hun
strijd tegen chemische suikers
Onderzoeker Ramazinni die in 2005 aspartaam
aan de kaak stelde geeft zijn strijd niet op. Ondanks dat de EU zijn onderzoek van tafel
heeft geveegd is de onderzoeker een eigen site begonnen en kijkt kritisch naar dit soort
suikers. Interessant daarop is deze brief waarop het onderzoek naar het zoetmiddel
Acesulfame Potassium in de jaren zeventig door het Nederlandse bedrijf Hoechst aan de kaak
wordt gesteld en oa concludeert dat de gedane testen onvoldoende waren om te kijken naar
een mogelijke kankerverwekkend eigenschap en dat bijvoorbeeld de muizen tekort zijn getest
(80 ipv 104 weken).
The European Ramazzini Foundation is a
non-profit, private institution with official governmental recognition. Located in
Bentivoglio, in the province of Bologna, Italy, its facilities include a Cancer Research
Center (CRC) with more than 10,000 square meters of laboratories and archives and an
Epidemiological Research Center. The researchers of the European Ramazzini Foundation have
worked in environmental health sciences, oncology and toxicology for more than 25 years.
Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World,
kritische film over Aspartaam
Een 1.5 uur documentaire over de lange
termijn effecten van aspartaam vaak afgedaan door de voedingsindustrie als een hoax. Dit
onderzoek bevat interviews met doktoren, advocaten en slachtoffers.
Volgens de Australische professor Dingle
(Murdoch university, Australia) vergroten zoetstoffen zoals aspartaam de eetlust en dit is
wel het laatste wat mensen willen die light produkten eten. "Mensen focussen teveel
op caloriën en moeten meer op de voedingswaarde letten en ipv frisdrank gewoon water
drinken" aldus de professor.
Excitotoxines - de smaak die doodt Wil je meer weten over de gevaren van Aspartaam, MSG (Glutamaat), gehydrolyseerd
eiwit dat moet je zeker het boek "Excitotoxins --- The
Taste That Kills" van neurochirurg Russell L. Blaylock lezen waarin hij waarschuwt
voor de gevaren van deze toevoegingen, met name voor de
jongeren en ouderen onder ons. http://www.aapsonline.org/jpands/hacienda/excito.html
Europese Unie veegt negatief
aspartaam onderzoek van tafel
Triest maar veelzeggend. Zolang er veel
lobbyisten en adviseurs in de EU rondlopen met dubbele agenda's zal aspartaam gewoon op de
markt mogen blijven.
Gaan economische belangen weer voor de
gezondheid van jonge kinderen?
Wilt u het Italiaanse onderzoek naar de
kankerverwekkende aspecten zelf zien, kijk dan maar eens hier:
The results of this mega-experiment
indicate that APM is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg
body weight, much less than the current acceptable daily intake. On the basis of these
results, a reevaluation of the present guidelines on the use and consumption of APM is
urgent and cannot be delayed.
Schriftelijke vragen aan EU
parlement door klokkenluider mbt aspartaam en belangenverstrengeling van onderzoekers
Klokkenluider Paul van Buitingen stelt
schriftelijke vragen over de mogelijke belangen verstrengeling van EFSA wetenschappers die
een veiligheidsevaluatie uitvoeren van de carcinoge werking van aspartaam.
De zoetstof aspartaam verhoogt bij ratten
het risico op kanker. Zelfs in de kleine hoeveelheden die volgens de
Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO) veilig zijn. Bovendien heeft het gebruik van de
zoetstof geen positieve invloed op het lichaamsgewicht. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek
waarvan de resultaten eerder deze maand zijn gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Environmental
Health Perspectives en het blad European Journal of Oncology.
Het Europees agentschap voor de voedselveiligheid onderzoekt de komende maanden de
veiligheid van de kunstmatige zoetstof aspartaam. Het agentschap belooft de bevolking
regelmatig op de hoogte te houden van de resultaten.
Aspartaam is al langer een omstreden
voedingsstof. Er zijn al uitgebreide studies geweest over de veiligheid. Nu zijn nieuwe
cijfers bekend, die moeten onderzocht worden. Op basis van experimenten met ratten stelden
Italiaanse onderzoekers eind november vast dat aspartaam al kankerverwekkend is bij een
dagelijkse dosis van 20 milligram per kilo lichaamsgewicht, terwijl de EU-norm 40 mg/kg
bedraagt.
De onderzoekers van het Cesare Maltoni
Cancer Research Center in Bologna pleitten voor een herziening van de richtlijnen, ook al
is een stof die giftig is voor knaagdieren dat niet altijd ook voor mensen. Aspartaam zit
in meer dan zesduizend voedingsproducten, onder meer in softdrinks, kauwgom, desserts en
yoghurt, en ook in heel wat lightproducten. Meer dan 200 miljoen mensen gebruiken de
kunstmatige zoetstof dagelijks.
De Consumentenbond verklaart in een artikel
in de Gezondgids van maart 2005 dat formaline officieel geclassificeerd is als zijnde
kankervrwekkend voor mensen. Aspartaam bevat methanol dat in ons lichaam wordt omgezet in
formaline. Heel veel gebruikers van Light producten krijgen dagelijks hun dosis formaline
naar binnen, zodat er gesproken kan worden van een chronische formaline vergiftiging, die
uiteindelijk ernstige gezondheidsklachten zal veroorzaken.
De toelating van aspartaam in de Verenigde
Staten door de Food and Drug Administration verliep niet geheel zonder problemen,
aanvankelijk was er een vermoeden dat aspartaam de kans op ontstaan van hersentumoren bij
laboratoriumratten vergrootte. Pas na interventie van Donald Rumsfeld werd aspartaam
toegelaten. Bij later uitgebreid onderzoek is echter geen verband onomstotelijk
aangetoond, en werd aspartaam ook in de Verenigde Staten toegelaten voor menselijke
consumptie. Hierdoor is aspartaam één van de meest geteste stoffen die ooit door de FDA
zijn toegelaten.
Het zoveelste onafhankelijke onderzoek naar
de gevaren van het zoetmiddel aspartaam heeft wederom negatieve resultaten gebracht.
Het Italiaanse Ramazzini Instituut heeft
een langdurig wetenschappelijk onderzoek uitgevoerd waaruit bleek dat er een link bestaat
tussen leukemie en aspartaam, zelfs bij hoeveelheden die onder de "aanvaardbare
dagelijkse inname" (ADI) liggen. Hoe komt het dat eerdere onderzoeken dat nooit
hebben laten zien? Het Ramazzini onderzoek liet hun ratten leven totdat ze zelf doodgingen
en werden toen onderzocht op onder andere tumoren. Dat was nog niet eerder gedaan.
Hoe komt het toch dat vrijwel al het
onafhankelijke onderzoek negatieve resultaten laat zien terwijl het industriële onderzoek
geen vuiltje aan de lucht ziet?
Skepter dacht in de zomer van 2004 de hetze
tegen aspartaam even voorgoed stop te zetten en concludeerde arrogant dat aspartaam van
alle zoetjes verreweg de veiligste was. Kleintje Muurkrant en ik kwamen tot
tegenovergestelde conclusies. Marie Prins, de schrijfster van het Skepter-artikel noemde
mij zelfs een "fervente bestrijder van aspartaam", zonder overigens inhoudelijk
op mijn artikel in te gaan.
Formaldehyde, een krachtig neurotoxine,
wordt voornamelijk gebruikt om lijken te balsemen. Ook phenylalanine heeft een
neurotoxische werking. Asparginezuur veroorzaakt gaatjes in de hersenen van muizen, een
effect dat trouwens door Searle's eigen researchers werd bevestigd.
Combining food additives may be
harmful, say researchers
· Aspartame and artificial colourings
investigated
· Mice nerve cells stopped growing in experiments
New research on common food additives,
including the controversial sweetener aspartame and food colourings, suggests they may
interact to interfere with the development of the nervous system.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool examined the toxic effects on nerve cells in
the laboratory of using a combination of four common food additives - aspartame,
monosodium glutamate (MSG) and the artificial colourings brilliant blue and quinoline
yellow. The findings of their two-year study were published last week in the journal
Toxicological Sciences.
The Liverpool team reported that when mouse
nerve cells were exposed to MSG and brilliant blue or aspartame and quinoline yellow in
laboratory conditions, combined in concentrations that theoretically reflect the compound
that enters the bloodstream after a typical children's snack and drink, the additives
stopped the nerve cells growing and interfered with proper signalling systems.
Cutting the connection between sweets and
calories may confuse the body, making it harder to regulate intake
WASHINGTON — Want to lose weight? It
might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Researchers have laboratory evidence
that the widespread use of no-calorie sweeteners may actually make it harder for people to
control their intake and body weight. The findings appear in the February issue of
Behavioral Neuroscience, which is published by the American Psychological Association
(APA).
Psychologists at Purdue University’s
Ingestive Behavior Research Center reported that relative to rats that ate yogurt
sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table
sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more
calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by
cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance. Authors Susan Swithers,
PhD, and Terry Davidson, PhD, surmised that by breaking the connection between a sweet
sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to
regulate intake. That change depends on experience. Problems with self-regulation might
explain in part why obesity has risen in parallel with the use of artificial sweeteners.
It also might explain why, says Swithers, scientific consensus on human use of artificial
sweeteners is inconclusive, with various studies finding evidence of weight loss, weight
gain or little effect. Because people may have different experiences with artificial and
natural sweeteners, human studies that don’t take into account prior consumption may
produce a variety of outcomes.
Three different experiments explored
whether saccharin changed lab animals’ ability to regulate their intake, using
different assessments –the most obvious being caloric intake, weight gain, and
compensating by cutting back. The experimenters also measured changes in core body
temperature, a physiological assessment. Normally when we prepare to eat, the metabolic
engine revs up. However, rats that had been trained to respond using saccharin (which
broke the link between sweetness and calories), relative to rats trained on glucose,
showed a smaller rise in core body temperate after eating a novel, sweet-tasting,
high-calorie meal. The authors think this blunted response both led to overeating and made
it harder to burn off sweet-tasting calories.
“The data clearly indicate that
consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain
and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a higher-calorie
sugar,” the authors wrote. The authors acknowledge that this outcome may seem
counterintuitive and might not come as welcome news to human clinical researchers and
health-care practitioners, who have long recommended low- or no-calorie sweeteners.
What’s more, the data come from rats, not humans. However, they noted that their
findings match emerging evidence that people who drink more diet drinks are at higher risk
for obesity and metabolic syndrome, a collection of medical problems such as abdominal
fat, high blood pressure and insulin resistance that put people at risk for heart disease
and diabetes. Why would a sugar substitute backfire? Swithers and Davidson wrote that
sweet foods provide a “salient orosensory stimulus” that strongly predicts
someone is about to take in a lot of calories. Ingestive and digestive reflexes gear up
for that intake but when false sweetness isn’t followed by lots of calories, the
system gets confused. Thus, people may eat more or expend less energy than they otherwise
would.
The good news, Swithers says, is that
people can still count calories to regulate intake and body weight. However, she
sympathizes with the dieter’s lament that counting calories requires more conscious
effort than consuming low-calorie foods. Swithers adds that based on the lab’s
hypothesis, other artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame K,
which also taste sweet but do not predict the delivery of calories, could have similar
effects. Finally, although the results are consistent with the idea that humans would show
similar effects, human study is required for further demonstration.
Campaign to outlaw sweetener in schools
Food Safety campaigners are calling for a ban on diet drinks and other artificially
sweetened products in schools after a Wellington woman said she was poisoned by sugar-free
chewing gum.
Abigail Cormack thought she was dying from a mystery illness. She never realised her
daily chewing gum habit was probably poisoning her. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4102374a11.html
Aspartame's Safety Questioned Again
The researchers cautioned that pregnant moms that consumed aspartame appeared to
pass on the cancer risk to fetuses, with the vulnerability of fetuses being such that
exposure in womb seemed to add to cancer risk later in life. The researchers noted that
that parallels the human experience. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/24/earlyshow/health/main2721195.shtml
Two New Studies on Aspartame and Diet
Drinks Confirm Source of Obesity, Cancer/Malignant Brain Tumor Epidemics
THE Cancer Research Center of the European Foundation of Oncology and
Environmental Sciences in Bologna, Italy reported this week that a long-term study to
evaluate the potential carcinogenic effects of aspartame demonstrates the chemical
sweetener "induces an increase in lymphomas and leukemia in female rats." The
research will be presented at a September international scientific conference,
"Framing the Future in the Light of the Past: Living in a Chemical World." http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=53&a=18137
Do the Makers of Splenda Know Something
They Aren't Telling You?
If Johnson & Johnson, the U.S. manufacturer of Splenda, believed
Splenda was safe why would they own the domain name www.SplendaIsNotSafe.com?
And that's only one of many names Johnson & Johnson and Tate & Lyle has tied up
that incorporate the words victims, poison, kills and dangers with Splenda.
The mission of the
European Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences "B. Ramazzini" is to
prevent cancer by identifying its causes and studying new strategies for early diagnosis
and intensive therapies.
The European Ramazzini Foundation is a
non-profit, private institution with official governmental recognition. Located in
Bentivoglio, in the province of Bologna, Italy, its facilities include a Cancer Research
Center (CRC) with more than 10,000 square meters of laboratories and archives and an
Epidemiological Research Center. The researchers of the European Ramazzini Foundation have
worked in environmental health sciences, oncology and toxicology for more than 25 years.
CRC/ERF
Results of study on the carcinogenicity of
the artificial sweetener aspartame
Summary. A long-term study to evaluate the
potential carcinogenic effects of aspartame, an artificial sweetener used in more than
6,000 food and pharmaceutical products has recently been completed in the experimental
laboratories of its Cancer Research Center of the European Foundation of Oncology and
Environmental Sciences "B. Ramazzini" in Bologna, Italy. The first results of
the experiment were reported to the Ministry of Health and to the Superior Institute of
Health of the Italian government in April 2005. In mid-June, these findings were then
communicated to the European Food Safety Authority, the Herbert Irving Comprehensive
Cancer Center of Columbia University, the National Cancer Institute of the US government,
and the National Toxicology Program of the US National Institutes of Health. First results
demonstrate that aspartame, when administered to rats for the entire life span, induces an
increase of lymphomas and leukemias in female rats. The study is currently being published
in the European Journal of Oncology (available at:
www.ramazzini.it/fondazione/docs/AspartameGEO2005.pdf) and final results will be presented
at the 3rd international scientific conference of the Collegium Ramazzini, "Framing
the Future in Light of the Past: Living in a Chemical World", to be held in Bologna,
Italy from September 18-21, 2005, the proceedings of which will be published in the Annals
of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Communication. Aspartame is an artificial
sweetener consumed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is used in over 6,000
diet products including soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, desserts, yogurt as well as in
pharmaceuticals, in particular, syrups and antibiotics for children.
The average daily intake of aspartame is
calculated to be about 2-3 mg/Kg of body weight, a figure which increases for children and
women of childbearing age. Current daily intake allowed by regulatory bodies is 50 mg/Kg
of body weight in the US and 40 mg/Kg of body weight the European Union.
Prior to the commercialization of aspartame
in the 1970s, the manufacturers of the compound conducted various experimental studies on
rats and mice to test its carcinogenicity. When taken together, the results of these
studies were considered negative with regard to the carcinogenicity of aspartame. Doubts
were however raised by some in the scientific community about the conduct of the
experiments and the fact that some cases of malignant brain tumors were found among
animals treated with aspartame while none were found among the control group. Given the
limitations of these studies and the ever growing use of aspartame throughout the years,
the European Ramazzini Foundation decided in the late 1990s to plan and perform an
experiment that would, based on the total number of animals used, the number of dose
levels studied, and the conduct of the experiment according to Good Laboratory Practices,
provide an adequate evaluation of the potential carcinogenic effects of aspartame.
The CRC/ERF study was conducted on 1800
rats (900 males, 900 females) of the colony used for over 30 years by the Foundation. In
order to simulate daily human intake, aspartame was added to the standard rat diet in
quantities of5000, 2500, 100, 500, 20, 4, and 0 mg/Kg
of body weight. Treatment of the animals began at 8 weeks of age and continued until
spontaneous death. A complete necropsy and histopathological evaluation of tissues and
organs was then performed on each deceased animal, for a total of over 30,000 slides
examined by microscope.
The first results of the experiment show:
1) a dose-related statistically significant
increase of lymphomas and leukemias in female rats. This statistically significant
increase was also observed at a dose level of 20 mg/Kg of body weight, a dose inferior to
the accepted daily intake permitted by current regulations (50-40 mg/Kg of body weight);
2) that the addition of aspartame to the
diet induces a dose-related reduction in food consumption, without however causing a
difference in body weight between treated and untreated animals.
The above results demonstrate for the first
time that aspartame is a carcinogenic agent, capable of inducing lymphomas and leukemias
in female rats, including when administered at dose levels very close to the acceptable
daily intake for humans. In addition, the data demonstrate that the integration of
aspartame into the diet did not affect the body weight of treated animals compared with
untreated animals.
As recognized by the International Agency
for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization, results of long-term
bioassays conducted on rodents (rats and mice) are highly predictive of carcinogenic risk
for humans. In light of this fact, the results of the CRC/ERF study on aspartame call for
urgent reconsideration of regulations governing its use as an artificial sweetener in
order to better protect public health, in particular that of children.
Contact: Kathryn
Knowles
Director of Resource Development
European Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences "B. Ramazzini"
development@ramazzini.it
+39 0516640460
Aspartame Study From Spain
The Trocho study is a general study on
artificial sweeteners' toxicity supported through the Bosch & Gimpera Foundation,
Barcelona, Spain.
The researchers determined the extent of
conversion of aspartame methanol to formaldehyde and its eventual effect on the overall
physiologic function of the rat. The results suggest that the conversion of aspartame
methanol into formaldehyde adducts (The complex that forms when a chemical binds to a
biological molecule, such as DNA or a protein.) should to be taken into account because of
the widespread utilization of this sweetener. The study concluded that aspartame
consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of
formaldehyde adducts.
Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs
correspondent
Thursday December 15, 2005
The Guardian
A member of the
parliamentary select committee on food and the environment yesterday called for emergency
action to ban the artificial sweetener aspartame, used in 6,000 food, drink and medicinal
products.
The Liberal Democrat MP Roger Williams said
in an adjournment debate in the Commons that there was "compelling and reliable
evidence for this carcinogenic substance to be banned from the UK food and drinks market
altogether". In licensing aspartame for use, regulators around the world had failed
in their main task of protecting the public, he told MPs.
For more than 25 years,
the FDA and the manufacturers of aspartame have claimed all of the adverse symptoms
reported to aspartame use are "anecdotal." (In other words, if a person claims
their health problems are related to aspartame, but laboratory studies don't confirm this,
then the person's reaction to aspartame is disregarded.) People may not experience
noticeable illness from short-term use of aspartame, and this has many times been
interpreted as proof that there is no problem with its safety. Unfortunately, this
position ignores the fact that the effects of aspartame poisoning are cumulative.
Studies beginning in the late 1960s have
shown aspartame creates neurological problems1. People need to know aspartame is currently
being studied, and the results are showing multiple forms of cancer and nerve disorders.
An Aspartame
Detoxification Program: Ten Steps To Prevent The Sugar-Free Diet Craze From Destroying
Your Health
How would you feel if you were dying and no
one knew why? In 1991, I lay alone in a hospital bed dying of a fatal disease. My husband
never came to see me, but I wanted him to. I hoped my three toddlers would never see me so
sick and dying. Facing death alone at 35 years of age, I could get no answers from my
doctors why I was suddenly dying. They had no clue why my heart rate was soaring at 180
beats at rest. They had no idea what was killing me.
So, headaches got you down - again - you
say? Maybe it's a migraine this time, yet you never had a migraine before now. Have
seizures become a recurring problem lately? Are you frustrated because you never had
seizures before either, and your doctor can find no cause for this sudden life-threatening
condition? Have you recently been diagnosed with Lupus, Graves' Disease, MS, Fibromyalgia,
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or diabetes? Or maybe your children are showing signs of
ADD/ADHD, yet never had a behavior problem before you started using sugar-free children's
chewable vitamins or food products containing aspartame.
A. They can have direct
and indirect effects. One result, of course, is the secretion of insulin. When humans take
something that is sweet, the body infers that sugar is being ingested. In anticipation of
its arrival, the pancreas reflexively releases insulin. This is one way in which aspartame
affects the pancreas. It can also cause considerable stimulation of the exocrine part of
the pancreas that involves the pancreatic juices. This may even produce
pancreatitis--inflammation of the pancreas--which in the process might disturb the islet
cells.
There is an enormous reserve of pancreatic
juices. At least 60 percent or more of the pancreas would have to be destroyed before
interfering with pancreatic function would occur. One way to stimulate the pancreas to
produce its secretions is to give amino acids, including phenylalanine, with or without
another amino acid.
In my experience, aspartame products have
produced clinical pancreatitis. To my knowledge, neither the long-term effects to the
secretory pancreas nor the relationship to the subsequent overstimulation of the pancreas,
in terms of tumors, has been studied.
Dr. Russell L.
Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, recently
published a book thoroughly detailing the damage that is caused by the ingestion of
excessive aspartic acid from aspartame. Blaylock makes use of almost 500 scientific
references to show how excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and
glutamic acid (about 99 percent of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is glutamic acid) in our
food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute
symptoms.
I discovered an
extraordinary correlation between aspartame (marketed as Nutrasweet and in its generic
form) and increasing breast and prostate cancer incidence. My observation occurred while I
was researching the metabolism of aspartame. Aspartame consists of phenylalanine, aspartic
acid and methanol (wood alcohol). Upon metabolism, Nutrasweet breaks down into aspartic
acid, a neuroexcitatory agent, phenylalanine, an amino acid, and methanol. The methanol is
converted to formaldehyde, which then accumulates within the cells. Formaldehyde has been
considered an inducer of cancer 4 and acts to alter DNA.
Western Journal of Medicine, Volume 171, No. 3, November/December 1999
