The GOTH Club

THE SWEET AND SILENT KILLER
I've been researching this for a long time now as its something I truly believe has a huge effect on people, especially their attitudes and feelings. I'm not a doctor, nor a dietician and while I approached this subject slightly biased ( I really am not a fan of it), I also looked at research stating studies were incomplete and inconclusive as to its dangers Also, while I intended this to be about Aspartame and the dangers and affects I believe it causes, its turned out to be a definitive example of how Politics, Power and Cronyism can basically get anything done.
Aspartame (also labelled as Acesulfame Potassium K) is a non nutritive artificial sweetener that is used in more than 6,000 products globally. It is roughly 200 times sweeter than table sugar (sucrose); providing a more cost effective way for companies to sweeten your foodstuffs. Especially the Diet kind, which lets face it, without a bit of sugar, would not entirely be palatable.
Almost immediately after consuming Aspartame, it dissolves into solution and can therefor travel throughout the body and can deposit within any tissue. But what it breaks down into is what's important.......Phenylalanine, Aspartic Acid and Methanol.
Phenylalanine is an amino acid that is toxic in high doses, but is generally considered safe in whole foods, but when chemically bound to other compounds, like in Aspartame, its absorbed immediately into the bloodstream rather than slower through the digestive process. Since it can then travel across the blood/brain barrier, it then functions as an excitotoxin (an amino acid that overstimulates brain cells to such an extent that they become exhausted.) This could potentially interfere with other brain processes. Just 1 can of diet soda raises the level of phenylalanine in the brain, causing Serotonin levels (the happy drug) to decrease
In at least ONE study, phenylalanine concentrations were higher in people with HIV, Sepsis and those suffering from cancer.

Aspartic acid is a non essential amino acid, meaning that our bodies make it without having to ingest it. Aspartic acid is important in the function of the nervous and neuroendocrine systems.

The biggest concern with Aspartame is the content of Methanol. Methanol is known as "Wood alcohol " and is toxic in large doses. While its true that the amount of methanol in a can of a diet drink is the same as in a glass of grape juice - the processes are not the same and the arguments put forward by those companies who profit from the sale of aspartame, just don't hold up. Methanol has no health benefits, and is particularly dangerous when consumed in aspartame. Yes yes yes, its true that methanol is found in other foods, but in those foods, it's bound to Pectin, a fibre commonly found in fruits. Generally, these pectin/methanol compounds are excreted safely out the back door in the normal digestive process.
In Aspartame however, methanol is bound (and very weakly at that) to the phenylalanine molecule. 1 or 2 processes of the body can then easily break this bond and create what is known as "free Methanol" (by the way, if the aspartame containing product has been kept in a hot environment around 29 / 30 degrees, then the bonds have already decomposed before even entering the body !. When I say a hot environment this could mean a warehouse or a hot delivery truck )
Here's the kicker - Free Methanol then converts to Formaldehyde - which is an embalming fluid. Yes, the stuff they inject into you when you die so you can look good for the mourners. Methanol and Formaldehyde are both carcinogens meaning cancer causing. Unfortunately formaldehyde has the ability to cross the blood/brain barrier, one reason why it is so dangerous for the body. Left long enough, it can then break down into diketopiperazine, another known carcinogen.
Every animal, other than humans, convert formaldehyde to formic acid which is a harmless substance. Humans do not possess the enzyme to do this change. This may be the reason why some animal studies don't show the whole extent of the impact of methanol on the human race. (Basically, we're not the same )
After decades of research and adverse reactions, every country's Food and Drug regulatory body has approved aspartame for diet drinks and over 6,000 other products.
Products such as
Diet Coke, Coke, Fanta, Lilt, Powerade.....etc
Oasis Summer Fruits
ALL Wrigleys' Products (another product I just don't like, but that another story)
Hubba Bubba for the kids. ALL of their products.
Yoghurts
Sugar Free Ice Cream . (Anything labelled diet or sugar free is nearly guaranteed to have Aspartame in it)
Breath Mints
No Sugar Added Cereals, Juices, etc
Flavoured Coffee Syrups
Flavoured Water
I could go on and on but you get the idea.

So what does it Cause ? Or does it cause anything?
Depends who you listen to.
The people making claims on either side of the debate can be bought, so believe what you want to.
Aspartame accounts for over 75% of the adverse reactions to food additives reported.
Here's just some of the different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by Aspartame

Headaches/migraines
Dizziness
Seizures
Nausea
Numbness
Muscle spasms
Weight gain
Rashes
Depression
Fatigue
Irritability
Tachycardia
Insomnia
Vision Problems
Heart palpitations
Breathing difficulties
Anxiety attacks
Slurred speech
Loss of taste
Vertigo
Joint pain

According to experts who have studied the dangerous effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be worsened or even triggered by it ;

Brain tumors
Multiple sclerosis
Epilepsy
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Parkinson’s disease
Alzheimer’s
Lymphoma
Fibromyalgia
Birth defects

Right, this post has been long enough, and well done if you've gotten to the end. I'm gonna wait a day or two and then show you the timeline on this drug (and believe me, it IS a drug), and how people were bought to ensure this product made its way into your house and into your body. Trust me, its a mad read....

Every day, you are credited with 86,400 seconds, assuming of course you are one of the lucky ones that actually wake up...
There is no worse feeling than climbing into bed and wondering what you really did with that time. If you've decided that this year will be the one that you invest that time into yourself, then contact me and together we'll have a go at world domination...085 8451355.
By the way, if you're one of these people that decide that you only start your life change on a Monday - By this time next week, you'll have wasted over 604,800 beats of your life. Think about it.