When it comes to toxins, I find it pretty amazing what the human body can tolerate. In some cases, it’s mind over matter. In others, it’s simply a matter of time before it catches up with us. In many cases, toxins come in natural forms from many different plant (or animal) based forms. As you remember from my posting on Enzyme inhibitors, toxins can be used as a natural defense that we, as humans, can work around in order to minimize our exposure.
When it comes to man-made toxins, there is an emotional element that makes you wonder – why would someone do that? Well, the motivation that drives one person may be completely different from what drives another. In the eyes of big business, it’s quite often money that gets credit as the motivation.
Yet, that motivation is something that you can vote on every day. When its money that drives what’s bad, the first step towards removing it (the bad thing) is to not give it money! Thus, like being green, or growing your own veggies, what you buy in the store is a lifestyle choice. You get to choose what you buy and in doing so, you support what ‘they’ do.
As the title of this article mentions, the toxin here is Aspartame. If you look up Aspartame on the Wikipedia, you’ll find:
Aspartame (or APM) (pronounced /ˈæspərteɪm/ or /əˈspɑrteɪm/) is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. The most notable name brand of aspartame is Nutra-sweet. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. Aspartame is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It was first synthesized in 1965.
It’s basically a couple common protein molecules held together with a methyl binder. Both the proteins are excitotoxins. If you perform a search in Google on excitotoxins, you’ll find descriptions like this from By Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, MD:
So, what is an excitotoxin? These are substances, usually amino acids, that react with specialized receptors in the brain in such a way as to lead to destruction of certain types of brain cells. Glutamate is one of the more commonly known excitotoxins. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamate. This amino acid is a normal neurotransmitter in the brain. In fact, it is the most commonly used neurotransmitter by the brain. Defenders of MSG and aspartame use, often say: “How could a substance that is used normally by the brain cause harm?” This is because, glutamate, as a neurotransmitter, is used by the brain only in very, very small concentrations – no more than 8 to 12ug. When the concentration of this transmitter rises above this level the neurons begin to fire abnormally. At higher concentrations, the cells undergo a specialized process of cell death.
Or this comment from Janet Starr Hull:
Phenylalanine is a hidden danger to anyone consuming aspartame. Most consumers don’t know that too much Phenylalanine is a neurotoxin and excites the neurons in the brain to the point of cellular death.
ADD/ADHD, emotional and behavioral disorders can all be triggered by too much Phenylalanine in the daily diet. If you are one in ten thousand people who are PKU or carry the PKU gene, Phenylalanine can cause irreversible brain damage and death, especially when used in high quantities or during pregnancy. Phenylalanine is 50% of aspartame, and to the degree humans consume diet products, Phenylalanine levels are reaching a dangerous peak.
It is important to learn about the ingredients within your foods, especially isolated amino acids like Phenylalanine. They are in combination within nature for a reason – they don’t belong in isolated form for the healthy human diet.
On top of this, the binder that holds the two proteins in Aspartame together breaks down into formaldehyde within the body. Formaldehyde is a gas, just like Carbon Dioxide, but a bit more unfriendly. From SmartBodyz Nutrition, they state:
It is a known-fact in the scientific community that methanol (wood alcohol) in aspartame coverts to formaldehyde when the temperature of aspartame exceeds 86 degrees Farenheit. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class as cyanide and arsenic which are deadly poisons. Formic acid is another bi-product of methanol which is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.
The kicker to all this is that this food additive is in many of the foods people commonly eat. You probably didn’t even know it. The additive has a number of different names and can be classified as a hidden ingredient like “Yeast extract.” That’s probably why Doritos chips are so darn exciting! Ah, maybe not. Looks like they just have an extremely high MSG level! Lol. When it comes to MSG, which has also been around a while, and is in the same class of neurotoxins as Aspartame, you find that people have gone to great lengths to disguise the names. Here are some common sources.
Why all the fuss? Well, it all really comes down to how you want to live your life. You get to make the lifestyle choices that help foster the life that you want to live. More specifically, if you don’t consciously choose what you consume someone else will do it for you and their motives may not be in line with yours!
If you have an extra 90 minutes, this Youtube video will give you a good introduction to the issues related to Aspartame.
If the above video doesn’t come through correctly, this link may just do the trick.
I have to say that stuff like this really makes it easier to want to consume unprocessed fruits, veggies, seeds and nuts rather than the standard processed and prepared foods.
As homework, perform a Google search and find some testimonials regarding people’s experiences that they willingly share. If the search brings up doctors comments about Aspartame, look to see if they have any actual experience treating (curing) someone that figured out Aspartame was personally bad for them. If they don’t have experience, simply keep looking. There are lots of articles where people outline their experience that is a firsthand account of their experience.
The last time I searched for Aspartame dangers I got 76k hits. Aspartame poisoning, I received nearly 40k hits, Aspartame cancer, you’ll get 641k hits. That’s a lot of public information that will give you the idea that there are a lot of people that are truly concerned about this substance and they want you to be aware of it too.
Last note: There is no need to fear Aspartame. In small amounts, it only does a little damage. All things being relative, if you consciously reduce your intake of Aspartame, you’ll probably find that there is something else that you’re consuming that has a bigger influence than the Aspartame that you can’t remove.
Life is about experiences, if you filter out what other people want you to experience, you get a bit closer to what YOU want to experience.
The human body, mind and spirit can overcome a lot! Make your conscious decisions and go on enjoying your life and sharing your happiness with others!
Resources:
In some people, Aspartame can cause some nasty reactions. I also avoid aspartame even if i am not allergic to it. I am more inclined to use natural sweeteners such as Stevia or Xylitol because they are much better than Aspartame based sweeteners. .'”‘” Kind regards vitamin side effects blog