A Natural Sweetener That's Also Calorie-Free
Dr. Julian
Whitaker's Health & Healing®
12/1994
Vol 4, No 12
This is a
Tale of Two Sweeteners, full of sound and fury, signifying that
the FDA has sold you and your kids to the drug companies again,
and you are unwitting receptacles of a sweetener that has
obvious toxicity. The FDA has blocked the use of a natural
sweetener that is totally safe.
If you drink diet sodas or
add Equal or NutraSweet to your coffee, listen up. These
sweeteners contain aspartame, which was first approved by the
FDA in 1974. That approval was rescinded because of two studies
showing that the substance caused brain tumors in laboratory
animals.
These studies were never refuted, and the additive
was approved in spite of these studies, in 1981, and for soft
drinks in 1983. According to National Cancer Institute data,
there was an alarming jump in the incidence of brain tumors in
1983 - 1987. The estimated annual percent change (EAPC) rose
from 2.1% to 8.1% in males, and from 2.1% to 11.7% in females.
This could be related to the consumption of aspartame-sweetened
products.
Aspartame has both potential and real toxicities.
My associate editor, Jane Heimlich, wrote about the effects of
aspartame in the January 1993 Health & Healing, and I have
suggested alternative natural sweeteners such as Sucanat and
honey.
However, there is a natural, non-caloric sweetener
that is totally safe - stevia.
TRY A NATURAL, NON-TOXIC,
CALORIE-FREE SWEETENER
Stevia is an herb that has been used as
a sweetener in South America for hundreds of years. It is
calorie - free, and the powdered concentrate is 300 times
sweeter than sugar. Stevia is widely used all over the world. In
Japan, for example, it claims 41% of the sweetener market,
including sugar, and was used in Japanese Diet Coke until the
company replaced it with aspartame to "standardize" worldwide.
There have not been any reports of toxicity with stevia, which
is consumed by millions of people daily.
THE SCARY TRUTH
ABOUT ASPARTAME
Not so with aspartame sweeteners, such as
NutraSweet and Equal. As of February 1994, 6,888 cases of
adverse reactions had been reported to the FDA. In fact, more
than 75% of all non-drug complaints to the FDA are about
aspartame. These complaints include headaches, dizziness, mood
changed, numbness, vomiting or nausea, muscle cramps and spasms,
and abdominal pain and cramps. There are also sizable numbers
reporting vision changed, joint pains, skin lesions, memory
loss, and seizures. Five deaths were reported to the FDA prior
to 1987 as possibly attributed to aspartame. This is only a
small fraction of the actual adverse reactions caused by
aspartame. Most people would not associate the problem with it,
and even if they did, only a small fraction of people or doctors
would take the time to report it to the FDA. I estimate that for
every reported adverse reaction, 10 to 100 go unrecognized or
unreported, which would bring the number to 70,000 to 700,000
cases.
Ralph G. Walton, M.D., Chairman of the Center of
Behavioral Medicine of the Western Reserve Care System, has
published accounts of how the excitatory characteristics of
aspartame could lower the threshold for and even cause seizures,
mania, depression, or other psychological or central nervous
system disorders. In one study, he demonstrated that people with
a history of mood disorders had a significantly higher number of
adverse reactions to aspartame than those with no such history.
He estimated that considering everything that the substance
could do, about 35% of the population is vulnerable to an
adverse reaction to aspartame.
Even though many of these
reports are anecdotal, they are quite credible, given the
chemistry of aspartame. Brain/mood symptoms brought on by
aspartame could easily be caused by the changes in brain
chemistry triggered by elevated phenylalanine.
There have
been numerous studies showing aspartame's safety. My complaint
with these is that the studies used aspartame capsules rather
than the commonly used form of aspartame mixed and stored in
food.
"WOOD ALCOHOL" IN YOUR FOOD
Even more significant,
perhaps, is the role of methanol or methyl alcohol (also called
"wood alcohol"), which makes up 10% of aspartame. The methanol
is further broken down into formaldehyde (a known carcinogen),
formic acid (a poison excreted by ants) and diketopiperazine
(DKP, which causes brain tumors). Absorption of methanol is
hastened if aspartame has broken down, as it does when it is
heated, used in hot drinks or decomposed during prolonged
storage. In Israel, people are warned not to consume large
quantities of aspartame, and not to store products containing it
in the heat. Incredibly, the FDA recently approved aspartame for
baked goods!
Methanol is specifically toxic to the optic
nerve, and caused blindness in people who drank "bootlegged"
whiskey that contained it. The poisoning effects of taking
methanol are cumulative.
A pilot, George E. Leighton,
experienced such sever blurred vision while flying that he
couldn't even read the instrument panel and barely averted a
crash landing. This occurred two hours after he inadvertently
drank two cups of aspartame-sweetened hot chocolate. He has
consumed no aspartame since, nor has he had any blurred vision.
Other pilots had seizures which they are convinced were caused
by aspartame, and have lost their licenses as a result.
HOW
STEVIA GOT STONEWALLED BY THE FDA
Stevia, on the other had, is
not only non-toxic, but has several traditional medicinal uses.
The Indian tribes of South America have used it as a digestive
aid, and have also applied it topically for years to help
wound-healing. Recent clinical studies have shown it can
increase glucose tolerance and decrease blood sugar
levels.
Of the two sweeteners, stevia wins hands down for
safety. Yet your children guzzle excitatory chemicals laced with
methanol.
Stevia gained popularity in this country in the
1980's as a safe sweetener. Celestial Seasonings, one of the
world's largest herbal tea companies, used it as a flavoring in
many of the teas. In 1986, without warning, the FDA came into
their warehouse and seized their stock of stevia. No reason was
given for seizure; the company was simply told they could not
use it in the teas.
In 1991 the FDA banned stevia, claiming
that it was an "unsafe food additive," even though it is
available in many other countries. The obvious reason for the
seizure and the ban on stevia was to prevent it from competing
with aspartame.
LET'S FIGHT FOR A SAFER NON-CALORIE
SWEETENER
The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has
petitioned the FDA to lift the ban on stevia, based on the fact
that stevia is not a food additive, but a food with a long
record of safety. The FDA has yet to act on this
petition.
Write to David Kessler at the FDA (5600 Fishers
Lane, Rockville, MD 20857) and ask why stevia, a food product
with hundreds of years of safe consumption, is banned in this
country but nowhere else. Demand that he lift the ban on stevia,
and ban aspartame instead.
Send a copy of that letter to your
local newspaper and to me (at Phillips Publishing, Customer
Service - Stevia, 7811 Montrose Road, Potomac, MD 20854) so that
Kessler will not be able to say that he doesn't get his
mail.
For more information on aspartame, or to report an
adverse reaction, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to
the:
Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, Inc.
P.O. Box
780634
Dallas, TX
75378
314/352-4268.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Frankly, I don't let
aspartame into my house - children live there. If you do drink
or eat products that contain aspartame, by all means avoid the
heated ones, and that includes adding Equal to a hot drink. And
never drink large quantities of aspartame, as you might with
iced tea on a hot day.
FDA Disclaimer: The statements in this
article have not been evaluated by the FDA. The products
mentioned herein are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or
prevent any disease. For medical advice, always consult your
health care professional.
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