Dave Gabriele in The Soko

We all know that eating and drinking sweets does nothing to promote our health. Even the magical tooth-whitening gums or vitamin-enriched energy drinks have a down side. We all know this, but mostly we choose to ignore it. After all, how bad can a little piece of gum be? Sugar Substitutes A great deal of the foods we consume are artificially sweetened to make them cheaper to manufacture. Real sugar needs to be imported at a cost much greater than producing these sweetening chemicals. The industry produces a whole range of artificial or artificially-derived substances to meet our demands for sweet foods. Artificial sweeteners have virtually replaced sugar in the processed foods that we eat. One of the most infamous sweeteners is aspartame. Since aspartame has fewer calories than sugar, it has been branded as being a healthy substitute. These aspartame brands including NutraSweet and Equal, are marketed as being good for people on diets. Since aspartame is popular among dieters and can be produced at a very low cost, it is used in many products available today. Hey, if something can stay sweet and let us lose weight at the same time then it must be good, right? Although it is true that products containing aspartame don’t have as many calories, there are many more serious issues at play. History Where did aspartame come from? Aspartame was discovered by accident is 1965 when a chemist at G.D. Searle was looking for an anti-ulcer drug. Its value was immediately recognized. Aspartame would mean a great increase in the profit of all sweet food manufacturers. But the dream didn’t last long; the FDA rejected aspartame because initial testing showed that it caused brain tumours in rats. When Ronald Reagan came into power he appointed a new Commissioner to the FDA. The new Commissioner approved the chemical in 1981 even though FDA investigators and toxicologists were warning him about the dangers of the substance. It is no secret that after the approval of aspartame, the Commissioner became a consultant to G.D. Searle with a huge increase in salary. So 16 years after its discovery, aspartame entered the market as a legal sweetener. What Is It? But what is aspartame? Chemically speaking, it is a synthetic substance that is made from a combination of methyl ester (10%), the amino acids phenylalanine (50%) and aspartic acid (40%). Unless you’re a chemistry major that probably means nothing to you, but there are significant problems with these ingredients. How Your Body Recognizes It After ingesting aspartame, the methyl ester becomes methanol. According to the EPA, methanol “is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed.” In other words, methanol is considered a poison because once it’s in your body, it stays there for a long time. Methanol breaks down in our bodies to form formic acid and formaldehyde. The problem is that formic acid is toxic and formaldehyde is a carcinogen and a neurotoxin. And that’s only 10% of the issue. Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are amino acids that are found in natural combinations with other amino acids in foods like eggs, bananas and meat. These combinations are key to our body’s ability to process them. When they are consumed in isolation as they are in aspartame, they are toxic and can cause health problems. Side Effects But just what kinds of health problems does aspartame cause? Although the ‘official’ word on aspartame is that it has no negative effects, independent testing around the world has concluded what the FDA knew in 1965: it does has negative effects. There can be immediate effects such as headaches or dizziness, or there can be more serious long-term effects such as seizures or cancer. Although the list of symptoms is very long, they are difficult to connect to aspartame. This explains why aspartame has persisted in our foods for so long; ill-effects are hard to prove. Where it is Used Which foods contain aspartame? According to the Aspartame Information Center, these are the most popular products that contain aspartame: Breath Mints Carbonated Drinks Chewing Gum Hard Candies Ice Cream, Sugar Free Iced Tea Jams & Jellies Juice Drinks Meal Replacements Yogurt, Fat free  ____________________________ be careful The foods and beverages are always there ready to eat or drink and it can be so easy to brush the warnings aside. After all, it’s only a piece of gum or a can of pop. But what you should know is that these toxins have a cumulative effect that worsens with each dose. In the end, the choice is yours.