Quote:
|
Originally Posted by jeffrey
I always find these Aspertame debates entertaining.
Here is a quick breakdown of the 3 compontents of aspertame that are toxic.
Phenylalanine, Methanol, and Formaldehyde.
Sure they are toxic, but aspertame isnt the only source of these, infact its damn hard to not consume these.
"Methanol is a common component of the diet, and
is found in many fruits, vegetables, and wines.
Furthermore, the amount of methanol from foods far
exceeds any contribution from aspartame (Lund
1981). Aspartame-sweetened soft drinks, for
example, provide 60 mg of methanol per liter as
compared to fruit juices which contain 140 mg of
methanol per liter."
"Formaldehyde is naturally produced in very small amounts in our bodies as a part of our normal, everyday metabolism and causes us no harm. It can also be found in the air that we breathe at home and at work, in the food we eat, and in some products that we put on our skin."
Phenylalanine is found naturally in foods such as eggs, milk, bananas, and meat.
|
And yet you notice that not a SINGLE M.D. or Ph.D. is quoted in this article making this type of argument - and there is a simple answer why. If you knew anything about protein biochemistry, you would know that amino acids in nature exist in long chains - which we call proteins. Our bodies have metabolic pathways to digest and use these proteins. When Aspartame is metabolized, the pure amino acid is released - quite a different story. In fact, there is only one enzyme that can metabolize phenylalanine, and those that don't have it get sick and die if they eat or drink anything that releases this amino acid by itself - ever hear of pku? Thats why the warning exists on the can. You don't see this warning on milk, or meat - the phenylalanine becomes an excitotoxin when present by itself - as it is when aspartame is metabolized.
As for the formaldehyde argument - another red herring. When we eat or drink methanol, there are usually other compounds present - such as ethanol - that inhibit the oxidation of methanol into formaldehyde. No such compounds are present in diet soda, for example - unless, of course, you put ethyl alcohol into it. If you happen to be eating or drinking other things that might inhibit the process, great - but how often do people just drink a diet soda by itself?
If you actually read the study, you will note that the rats ingesting as little as 500 ppm of methanol had significant increases in tumor rate over the control group, and on page 20 of 35, there is a discussion of new research tying formaldehyde exposure to leukemia and other diseases. Are you seriously trying to argue that exposure to large quantities of formaldehyde is safe? There is one hell of a difference between, say, 1 ppm and 500 ppm; not to mention, what are the long term effects of exposure to formaldehyde?
Oh yeah - you know far more about this than the director of one of the most prestigious cancer institutes in the world.