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Food with Integrity – Aspartame
Food with Integrity
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At the top of Nature’s Fare’s banned ingredient list is Aspartame. This excitoxin has been linked with both chronic and acute disease yet is present in over 6,000 different consumer foods and beverages including diet sodas and gum. Despite its prevalence in conventional food, you’ll never find aspartame in anything sold at Nature’s Fare. If you are looking for a zero calorie, zero carbohydrate, and zero glycemic index sweetener, we highly recommend stevia, an herb 300 times sweeter than sugar that has been used traditionally and safely for hundreds of years.
Aspartame
According to Osteopathic Physician Dr. Mercola, Aspartame is, by far, the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener 200 times sweeter than sugar that is derived from the excrement of genetically modified e. coli bacteria. It is marketed under a variety of brands including Equal, NutraSweet, and Aminosweet, and is approved for use in over 6,000 consumer foods and beverages sold worldwide. Upon ingestion, aspartame breaks down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine (problematic only for those who suffer from phenylketonuria), methanol, formaldehyde, and formic acid. The increased aspartic acid significantly raises the blood plasma levels aspirate and glutamate, two neurotransmitters that facilitate the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. In excess, they kill neurons by allowing too much calcium into the cells and trigger the release of free radicals. The long term consumption of aspartame can therefore have serious and severe effects on neural health and can lead to disorders such as seizures and schizophrenia.
Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA each year, many of which are serious and include seizure and death. Included in the list of the over 90 different documented symptoms caused by aspartame include migraines, dizziness, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, tinnitus, and joint pain. Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, eplilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimers, mental retardation, lymphoma, fibromyalgia, and diabetes are all chronic conditions that can be triggered or worsened by ingesting aspartame.
Aspartame has logically therefore been the subject of many controversies since its initial approval by the FDA in 1974. Critics allege that conflicts of interest marred the FDA’s approval of aspartame and question the quality of the initial research supporting its safety due to the numerous health risks associated with this artificial sweetener.
Stevia - the natural solution
Stevia is a completely natural sweetener 300 times sweeter than sugar with zero calories, zero carbohydrates, and a zero glycemic index rating that is produced from an herb related to the daisy. Native Americans in Paraguay have safely used stevia for hundreds of years, valuing the herbal sweetener not only for its delicious taste but also for its medicinal healing properties. The safety of stevia has been well documented in over 200 published studies. Its leaves contain nutrients that help to balance blood sugar such as chromium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium, zinc, and niacin.
Sources:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners
4 Comments »
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Jeanne
I NEVER use Aspartame! I was diagnosed with MS 9 years ago, and one of the main things my neurologist told me was to stay away from Aspartame forever! Unfortunately, so many products contain it in the market.
Jul 30,2010 @ 11:53 am -
JK
Isn’ it a conflict to say you are against Aspertame and yet you carry CARLSON DLPA (DL-PHENYLALANINE)? Is this not the main problem with aspertame?
Aug 1,2010 @ 2:25 pm -
NFUser
Thanks for your comment, and our apologies for not being more clear in the original article. Upon ingestion, aspartame breaks down into a number of components, one of which is phenylalanine. This is not harmful for the majority of people; however, for a small segment of the population who suffers from “phenylketonuria”, ingestion of phenylalanine can be quite dangerous and this is why it is often mentioned when speaking of aspartame. The main health concerns for those who do not suffer from phenylketonuria lie in its other components and side effects.
Aug 6,2010 @ 8:27 am -
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
Aug 6,2010 @ 8:59 am
