Aspartame’s Neurological Side Effects Include Blurred Vision, Headaches, Seizures And More
March 16, 2012 by admin
Filed under News Stories
March 16, 2012
Natural News
By Aurora Geib
“If you are still drinking Diet Coke – stop!” –KTRN
Aspartame, an artificial sweetener commercially known as Nutrasweet, Spoonful and Equal, has infiltrated the world market and has become almost as ubiquitous as the sugar it seeks to replace. From soda drinks to chewing gum, it offers a low-fat, low-calorie and no-sugar option enticing to diabetics and people who are trying to lose weight.
Strangely, diet products containing aspartame has been shown to actually cause weight gain, and the components that make up aspartame have also been found to be toxic in themselves. Why then, despite the numerous studies conducted on this substance finding it to have potentially harmful effects, is it still considered safe for human consumption?
Interview with Russell Blaylock
In an interview conducted by Betty Martini and Jon Baum over Personal Achievement Radio, Dr. Russell Blaylock, a respected neurosurgeon and author of the book “Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills,” speaks about excitotoxins and shares his thoughts on why he believes aspartame is dangerous.
According to Dr. Blaylock, excitotoxins are substances that excite brain cells or neurons to the point of exhaustion and death. Normally, these substances act as transmitters, a substance allowing brain cells to relate with one another. However, these compounds are so harmful that the body keeps them in low concentrations. Anything that alters or increases these substances can cause neurodegeneration, degeneration of the spinal cord and the brain. Excitotoxins are normally found in plant substances, and, where most people are concerned, in food additives.
One of the components of NutraSweet or aspartame is aspartic acid, a powerful excitotoxin similar to glutamate. Moreover, phenylalanine, one of its components, an amino acid and a neurotoxin at high levels in the rain, has been known to cause seizures.
Dr. Blaylock goes on to add that what makes aspartame so dangerous is that it contains three neurotoxins: methanol, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. Methanol is a powerful neurotoxin whose exposure is carefully allowed by the EPA in minute levels in food and environmental exposure. Nutrasweet, however, provides levels that are seven times the amount the EPA will allow anyone to use. It’s been known to produce blindness and cellular destruction in the brain and spinal cord, particularly the optic nerves.
Aspartic acid, on the other hand, produces cellular excitation. It
is an excitotoxin that causes cell death in the brain and significantly affects neural developments in
infants, resulting in behavioral changes and even hyperactivity in children. Phenylalanine, like aspartic acid, can also alter brain development during fetal formation and create a lowering of the seizure threshold.
Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are both well-recognized neurotoxins and according to Dr. Blaylock, three neurotoxins in one mix are just unbelievable.
