SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2001

SUGARLESS SWEET Because they watch their weight, several persons have switched from using sugar to sweeteners. In the United-States, the consumption of sweeteners such as aspartame, has been increasing by 7% yearly, since 5 years. This isn’t surprising, since aspartame allows us to eat sweet foods without the calories! But lets not forget that aspartame causes symptoms such as lack of memory, headaches, and even brain cancers. Aspartame is the technical name of commercial brands such as Nutrasweet, Equal, Canderel and Spoonful. It was discovered accidentally by a Seale laboratory chemist, in the United-States, while he was researching on ulcer treatments. When he tasted his powder, he realised that it tasted extremely sweet. Since then, this substance has been viewed as a blessing by the food industry. It allows the increase in food sweetness while reducing the required sugar quantity; hence reducing production costs. For equal quantities, aspartame tastes 200 times sweeter than sugar. Its use was authorised in dry foods in 1981 and in 1983 for soft drinks. Originally approved in 1974, two following studies proved that it caused cancers in laboratory animals, hence abrogating its use. These studies have never been refuted since then. In 1980, the Food and Drug administration pronounced itself against aspartame. Four months later, ten new studies submitted by G.D. Seale swung the balanced in its favour. According to Dr Adrien Gross, a retired FDA toxicologist, theses studies were “ largely questionable. At least one of those studies had clearly established that it is able to cause brain tumours in laboratory animals”. In the 1970’s, it was revealed that the aspartame manufacturer had falsified his studies results in many ways. One of the techniques used was to extract the developing tumours in those laboratory animals used for tests, and to put the animals back in the study group. Another technique used was to list dead animals in the list of those having survived the tests. So, we can conclude, that the information concerning brain tumours was worse than it had been previously thought. The list of problems linked to aspartame consumption is astounding. The most frequent side effects are headaches, migraines, vertigo, blurred vision, nausea, depression, abdominal pain, muscular cramps, irritability and memory loss. The November 1997 issue of Headache magazine pointed out that persons who are particularly sensible to aspartame could feel side effects at very low doses of its intake. Per example, one chewing gum could cause a headache. In 1994, the FDA revealed that over 7000 complaints of side effects were linked to the consumption of aspartame. Aspartame is chemically unstable in liquids. It decomposes into methanol (wood alcohol), DKP (which causes brain tumours) and formaldehyde (a known carcinogen), while exposed to temperatures over 30 degree centigrade. Hence, it decomposes in hot liquids such as coffee, tea, when stored for long periods at room temperature (diet soft drink bottles stored for a few hours in a non-refrigerated warehouse or a truck that is exposed to sunlight) or simply in the human stomach. Even so, the FDA has approved its use in cooking in 1993. Is aspartame a genuine dietetic product? It wouldn’t seem so. According to Dr H. J. Roberts, aspartame provokes an ill craving for sweet foods and would cause weight gain. He affirms that when he weaned his patients of aspartame, their weight loss averaged 10 kg per person, and also states that formaldehyde is stored in adipose tissues, particularly in hips and thighs. Julie Brière, nutritionist, wonders how the pancreas reacts when the tongue tastes it. Since aspartame contains the same amount of calories as sugar, while its sweetening power is two hundred times greater, what happens when the tongue tastes this false sweetness sensation? Would it be possible that the pancreas would send a massive dose of insulin to counteract this false sensation? Does the drop in blood sugar resulting from its consumption induce the urge to eat again? Also, persons who consume products containing aspartame are sometimes less careful about their choices for the rest of the meal.. Since their drink is diet, they can eat more of the rest and do not have to be as vigilant for their meal. One thing is certain, sweeteners such as aspartame maintain a persons love of sweets, or sweet tooth, and do not lead to a change in eating habits, the only effective way to lose weight. The American Diabetes Association presently recommends aspartame to persons suffering from diabetes. According to Dr. H.J. Robert, a diabetes specialist, it would accelerate diabetes, complicate the control of glycemia and aggravate diabetes complications such as retinopathy, cataracts, etc... Furthermore, physicians ignoring the fact that the consumption of aspartame on a regular basis leads to symptoms that are quite similar to those of multiple sclerosis, have improperly diagnosed their patients. To avoid the consumption of aspartame, one must read ingredient lists carefully. It has been added to several foods and is sold in over 70 countries over the world. In 1992, 4200 food products contained aspartame. It is found in certain brands of fruit drinks, yoghurt, ice cream, jams, ready to eat desserts, dairy drinks, table sweeteners, salad dressings, frozen diners, sugarless chewing gum and mainly soft drinks. Certain medication, vitamins and food supplements may also contain aspartame. As you may notice, the list is long. So, lets be vigilant, and from now on, eat naturally sweetened foods. Should you who want to learn more about the subject, you can read: Dossier (Édulcorants de Synthèse) L’Amère vérité sur l’Aspartame. Sonia Faggion Sources: L’Amère vérité sur l’aspartame L’aspartame : Méchant méchant by Julie Brière, dt.p. Mission impossible Internationale