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II> ~,~r'~THE MOST DANGEROUS FOOD ADDITIVE? Aspartame is the technical name for the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure. Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965, when James Schlatter, a chemi'st ofG. D. Searle Company, was testing an anti ulcer drug. Aspartame was approved for dry goods in 198 ~ and for carbonated beverages in 1983. It was originally approved for dry goods on 26 Jully 1974, but objec tions filed by neuros.cience researcher Dr John W. Olney and consumer attorney James Turner in August 1914, as wen as investi'gations of G. D. Searle's research practices, caused the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to p.ut approval of aspartame on hold (5 December 1974). In 1985, Monsanto purchased G. D. Searle and made Searle Pharmaceuticals and The NutraSweet Company separate subsidiaries. Aspartame is by far the most dangerous substance on the market that is addcd to foods. Aspartame accounts for over 75% of the adverse reactions to food add Hives reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many of these reactions are very serious, including seizures and death as recently disclosed in a February 1994 DepartmeM of Health and Human Services report. I A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the repor~ as being caused by aspartame include: headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, wei'ght gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision pJoblems, bearing loss, heart palpitations, hreathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss andljoint pain. According to'researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingestion of aspartame2: brain tumo.Ufs, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia and dia betes. Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. The book, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, by James and Phyllis Balch, lists aspar tame under the category of "chemical poison". As you shall see, that is exactly what it is. ASPARTIC ACID (40% OF ASPARTAME) 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. Aspartic acid makes up 40% of aspartame; glutamic acid is 99% of monosodium glutamate (MSG). The damage MSG causes is also documented in Blaylock's book. Blaylock makes use of almost 500 scien tific references to show how excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid in Ouf food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and myriad other acute symptoms.] HOW ASPARTATE (AND GLUTAMATE) CAUSE DAMAGE Aspartate and glutamate act as neurotransmitters in the brain by fa.cilitating the trans mission of information fram neuron to neuron. Too much aspartate or glutamate in the brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals which kilJ the cells. The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate and glutamate is why they are referred to as "excitotoxins". They "excite" or stimulate the neural cells to death. OCTOBER -NOVEMBER 1995 NEXUS • 25