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The Nutrasweet scaremail is so larded with claims that it is difficult sort fact from fiction from innuendo from the outrageous quackery. To refute every claim in the email would be tedious, we'll address just the central claims.
Let's start with the 'facts' contained in the screed.
When
the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F,
the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde
and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic
acidosis.
This is about a close as the email gets to scientific fact, which is to say, in the neighborhood but not at the right address.
Aspartame is composed of two substances, aspartic acid and a methyl ester of phenylalanine. High heat can cause aspartame to break down into byproducts, including methanol, but so do the normal digestive and metabolic processes in the body.
The process of digesting aspartame goes something like this. Phenylalanine is broken down into methanol. Methanol is broken down into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is turned to formic acid. Ultimately the formic acid is turned into water and carbon dioxide.
But aren't methanol (also known as wood alcohol) and formaldehyde (commonly used as an organic preservative, embalming fluid, for example) highly toxic substances? Yes, they are. But it's important to remember that the human body is a happy little chemical factory built to handle the conversion of methanol and formaldehyde into water and carbon dioxide.
The Urban Legend Zeitgeist is not claiming that it's OK to knock back a quart of wood alcohol at your next party, just that your body can handle the amounts of methanol from aspartame contained in one or even dozens of diet colas.
Let's put this in perspective: the average diet cola contains about 200 milligrams of aspartame. About 1/10 of that aspartame gets metabolized into methanol.
For comparison, a serving of tomato juice the same sizes as a can of diet cola will produce about five times the methanol in your body as the aspertame in the diet cola. Fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, wine and beer will also produced methanol when digested. The chemical plant in your body can handle it in moderation, even in excess.
So maybe there is something special about how aspertame is broken down that interfers with how the body handles methanol and formaldehyde. Nope, not according to current scientific research.
Studies have tested how aspartame is converted into methanol. One study showed that consumption of 2000 milligrams of aspartame - that's 10 cans of diet soda - had no effect on the amount of methanol present in the bloodstream. Another study showed that ingestion of 600 mg of aspartame per hour for eight hours - that's 24 cans of diet soda - did not increase the amount of methanol in the bloodstream to abnormal or harmful levels. Yet another study showed that subjects were able to consume 10,000 milligrams of aspartame - that's the equivalent of 50 cans of diet soda - without ill effects and the level of methanol in the bloodstream returned to normal levels within eight hours.
Let's turn to the less veracious claims made about aspartame.
The methanol toxicity mimics among other conditions
multiple sclerosis. People were being diagnosed with
having multiple sclerosis in error.
Among the symptoms of methanol poisoning are:
- blurred vision, blindness, dilation of the pupils
- bluish coloured lips and fingernails
- drop in blood pressure, cardiac failure
- coma, fatigue, headache, dizziness, convulsions, seizures
- renal failure
- pulmonary edema, breathing difficulties, rapid, shallow breathing, stopped breathing
Compare them to the symptoms of multiple sclerosis:
- bladder dysfunction
- bowel dysfunction
- slowed ability to think, reason, concentrate, or remember
- dizziness and vertigo
- depression
- fatigue
- itching, numbness and pain
- sexual dysfunction
- spasticity
- speech and swallowing disorders
- tremors
- blurring or graying of vision, or blindness in one eye
Unlike multiple sclerosis, the symptoms of methanol present themselves in a few hours rather than than the days, weeks and months that multiple sclerosis develops. Unlike multiple sclerosis, the effects of methanol poisoning are immediate and dramatic: blindness, coma and in many cases, death. It's hard to see how methanol poisoning could be mistaken for multiple sclerosis.
But methanol is produced by digesting aspartame, so methanol poisoning is possible if one consumes enough aspartame, isn't it? Yes, theoretically, but no, in practice.
Consider the following back-of-the-envelop calculation.
Methanol poisoning occurs around when consuming about 1 gram of methanol per kilogram of body weight. For the 75 kilogram [165 lbs] male, a dose of 75 grams of methanol would be required. About 10% of aspartame is broken down into methanol, so to get 75 grams of methanol, you'd have to ingest 750 grams of aspartame. To get 750 grams of aspartame, you'd have to drink about 375 cans of diet cola (remember, a can of diet cola contains about 200 milligrams of aspartame). But you'd have to drink those 375 cans within a few hours since methanol has a half life in the body between one and two hours. Bottoms up!
In the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis,
(when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the
symptoms disappear. We've
seen many cases where vision returned and hearing
improved markedly.
This is quackery. Even if we accept the premise that methanol poisoning could be misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, the effects of methanol poisoning are most often permanent. In patients suffering from neurological damage, vision loss and movement disorders from methanol poisoning, Dr. David Likosky notes, 'Little long-term improvement can be expected in patients with the complications listed.'
If you are using
ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal,
Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia
symptoms, spasms, shooting
pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo,
dizziness, headaches,
tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks,
slurred speech, blurred
vision, or memory loss-you probably have ASPARTAME
DISEASE!
They might as well as thrown in bad breath and ingrown toenails into list as well. Beyond the fact that there is no recognized condition 'aspartame disease,' this laundry list of aches and pains is so generic that any number of conditions and ailments could fit the bill.
What about aspartame and lupus?
Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant
as multiple sclerosis,especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi
drinkers. The victim usually does not know that
the aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use,
aggravating the lupus to such a degree that it may become
life-threatening. We have seen patients with systemic lupus
become asymptomatic once taken off diet sodas.
Unlike the supposed link between aspartame and misdiagnosed multiple sclerosis, the email offers no explanation of why aspartame causes or aggravates lupus. Medline, the medical and scientific publication database, found no scientific research showing relating or linking aspartame to lupus.
The FAQ of the Lupus Foundation of America states:
We are aware there is an email message circulating on the Internet warning individuals with lupus about
dangers associated with using the artificial sweetener aspartame. The Lupus Foundation of America consulted
with the chair of the LFA Medical Council, Evelyn Hess, MD, MACP, MACR. Dr. Hess is one of the nation's
leading researchers in the field of lupus specializing in environmental influences. According to Dr. Hess, there
is, as of now, no specific proof of an association with aspartame as a cause or worsening of SLE.
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Urban Legend Zeitgeist: She blinded me with SCIENCE!