Aspartame can MIMIC many autoimmune diseases !

Aspartame: The Real Story
by Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D.

Sugar is bad for you, right? It has calories and makes you fat. Therefore, anything that tastes sweet and doesn't have calories is preferable, because it won't make you fat. Right? That is the thinking that supports the widespread use of artificial sweeteners. Millions of people guzzle soft drinks sweetened with aspartame, the compound sold under the trade names Nutrasweet and Equal. This ingredient is found in all kinds of diet foods, in toothpaste, and sprinkled out of small packets into coffee and tea. It is sold worldwide. It is also associated with thousands of reports of adverse effects. Most of the information that follows was taken from the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Fact Sheet, written by Lendon Smith, MD, former Network Physician at NBC-TV and well-known author and pediatrician.
Aspartame (the technical name is L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanyl-methyl-ester) is considered to be about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is virtually calorie free. When ingested and metabolized, it breaks down into three substances:

1. phenylalanine (50%), one of the amino acids needed for the production of neurotransmitters essential to brain function. While this sounds OK, it is not: people with PKU (phenylketonuria) are missing the enzymes to break down this amino acid and may end up with an excess that causes brain damage. For susceptible people, phenylalanine will be neurotoxic and might cause seizures.
2. aspartic acid (40%), which can cause brain damage in fetuses
3. methanol (10%), an alcohol wich turns into formaldehyde, a known toxic substance used, among other things, as embalming fluid.

Early studies in the 1970's found that aspartic acid causes holes in the brains of mice. (I find this an interesting bit of information, in the light of current concerns with "spongiform encephalopathy," or mad cow disease, and Creuzfeld-Jacob disease, in all of which the brain becomes sponge-like with holes in it). Monkeys fed aspartame died or had grand mal seizures; however, these studies were not submitted to the FDA when approval for aspartame was requested. The request was approved by then FDA commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., in 1981, after he overruled the Public Board of Inquiry's recommendation to ban this artificial sweetener. Two months before quitting the post, Hayes approved the use of aspartame in soft drinks, even though the National Soft Drink Association had warned the FDA that aspartame was breaking down in warm climates.
From the early ‘80's, consumer complaints began pouring into the FDA related to aspartame use. Among the symptoms reported are the following:
headaches
nausea
vertigo
hearing loss
tinnitus
insomnia
numbness and tingling of extremities
blurred vision
blindness
eye problems
memory loss
slurred speech
mild to suicidal depression
personality changes
violent episodes
mood changes
anxiety attacks
hyperactivity
heart arrhythmia
edema or swelling
gastrointestinal disorders
seizures
skin lesions
muscle cramps
joint pains
fatigue
PMS
menstrual irregularities
chest pain
increased appetite
Artificial sweeteners can increase appetite because as the sweet taste hits the mouth, a message is passed on to the body that carbohydrates are coming in; then the pancreas swings into action and sends insulin into the bloodstream. As there are no actual carbohydrates, the insulin lowers the blood sugar and appetite increases. In this manner, artificial sweeteners can contribute to hypoglycemia.
Scientific studies show mixed results; some find no increase effects on hyperactivity with aspartame, others find that individuals with mood disorders do react with headaches or increased number and severity of depressive symptoms. "Anecdotal reports" are simply people telling what happened to them; while the scientific community does not accept these as valid, sensible human beings might at least pay attention. Where there's smoke there's fire.
In addition to the above symptoms, aspartame use can mimic a number of autoimmune diseases. Betty Martini, founder of Mission Possible, an organization dedicated to spread information about problems with aspartame, found that methanol toxicity causes metabolic acidosis and mimics multiple sclerosis (MS). She lists the following symptoms as "aspartame disease": fibromyalgia, spasms, shooting pains, joint pains, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, and memory loss. In addition to MS, aspartame may also either mimic or trigger the following illnesses:
fibromyalgia
chronic fatigue syndrome
Epstein-Barr
post-polio syndrome
lyme disease
epilepsy
hypothyroidism
ADD
Meuniere disease
Alzheimer disease
Fortunately, most of these symptoms are reversible, and disappear once aspartame is discontinued.

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