http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1065
politicians and celebrities hooked on diet sodas (aspartame): Murray 3.24.4
rmforall

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-02-03-candi\
dates-eat_x.htm

Candidates adopt unhealthy diet for road Feb 3 2004

WASHINGTON (AP) - A typical day of eating for Democratic presidential
candidate John Edwards while on the campaign: Breakfast, a McDonald's
"Deluxe Big Breakfast" platter with two hot cakes, scrambled eggs, sausage
and a biscuit. Lunch, a McDonald's cheeseburger. Later, a McDonald's chicken
sandwich and some cookies. And lots of Diet Cokes - about 10 cans -
throughout the day.

[Photo of John Edwards swigging a Diet Coke] On tight campaign schedules,
Sen. John Edwards drinks lots of Diet Coke throughout the day.
By Lloyd Jones, AP

Edwards, 50, is not alone among the candidates whose eating habits don't
reflect a five-star palate during the campaign.

Food on the fly and exercise on the run sums up the candidates' diet and
fitness regimens. In a hot race to fill the ultimate prized political seat,
the fuel these candidates are getting is mostly junk: fast food, sweets,
sodas. And exercise? Well, there's not nearly enough of it, some of the
candidates say.

Wesley Clark, 59, eats a lot of "garbage," his son Wes Jr. says. His
weaknesses: Cheetos and Gummi Bears.

And Howard Dean, who by December had gained 12 pounds during his time on the
campaign, snacks constantly. His choices aren't necessarily healthy ones. He
favors chocolate chip cookies and doughnuts, and he often eats chocolate
peanut M&Ms on the plane. "I think his diet could be better," said his
wife, Judy, who sent him some clementines at one point.

Tall and lean John Kerry, on the other hand, is not getting much food at all
these days, or exercise, and complains loudly about the latter. An active
man who likes to play exhibition hockey games and go kite-surfing, he
recently groused he's "in the worst shape of my life" because of the lack of
physical activity.

[Photo] By Kevin Lamarque, AP
Sen. John Kerry literally grabs lunch on the fly eating a piece of cake on a
helicopter escorting him through N.H.

Kerry, 60, skips meals because of his harried campaign schedule. His staff
spots him with the occasional milkshake. He attends few events where food is
actually served, so it falls largely on staffers to find ways to get him
meals.

He said his last real exercise was a bike trip he took last summer for a
charity fund-raiser, and there is no time during the day to work out. He
said that after the primary season, he'll tell staffers to set aside some
time each day for exercise.

The Clark campaign goes out of its way to scout swimming pools for the
retired Army general, a former swim team captain. He swims mostly at YMCAs
for about 40 minutes. Clark doesn't drink much caffeine. "He is sick of
the quick meals and junk food of the trail," said spokesman Matt Bennett.
"He does his best to eat right."
For all his fast-food gorge-fests, Edwards runs religiously - five miles a
day. He does an eight- to 10-minute mile, depending on whether he's outdoors
or on a treadmill, which is faster. This helps counteract the fatty
foods.

"It's not pretty," said the North Carolina Democrat's campaign spokeswoman,
Jennifer Palmieri, describing his meals on a recent day in South Carolina.
While in Iowa, Edwards was particularly fond of "butter burgers," she said.
Those would be burgers cooked with a pat of butter on them. But when he's
in an expensive restaurant, he'll order fish or steak. "He doesn't eat a lot
of vegetables" she said.
Still, Edwards is in good health, with cholesterol in the normal range
despite his fatty diet, she said, adding, "We share desserts."

As a devout Orthodox Jew, Joe Lieberman, 61, stays kosher according to a
stringent set of dietary restrictions based on commandments in the Bible.

Dean, 55, who doesn't drink caffeine and gave up alcohol several years ago,
says he likes to spend time doing something recreational outdoors when he
can.
"He eats on the run, sleeps on the plane," said Jay Carson, Dean's
spokesman. "His schedule is so packed everyday that he rarely gets to do any
exercise. He laments that because he is a fan of the outdoors." Dean and
his wife are both medical doctors and know about healthy habits. But it's
proving hard in the campaign for him to practice what doctors preach.
"When I was on the bus in Iowa, all I saw were candy bars and chips," his
wife said in a New Hampshire TV interview. "I don't know if the good food
was hidden, or it just wasn't there."

Dennis Kucinich, 57, a vegan, stays equipped with oatmeal, pita and hummus.

Al Sharpton, 49, who is fond of Southern cooking - fried chicken and potato
salad - tries to exercise in the morning on the treadmill at the hotel where
he's staying. He awakens between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. to make sure he gets the
job done. He eats one main meal a day, preferably before 9 p.m., with
snacks spread out through the day. He disavows sweets. But caffeine is a
must, campaign spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger said.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
**************************************************************

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1027
Senator John Edwards, avoid Diet Coke (aspartame toxicity): Murray 9.28.3
rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1037
Joe Trippi, heavy user of Diet Pepsi (aspartame toxicity), Dean's campaign
manager: Murray 11.16.3 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1016
President Bush & formaldehyde (aspartame) toxicity: Ramazzini Foundation
carcinogenicity results Dec 2002: Soffritti: Murray 8.3.3 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/874
re "dry drunk": Bisbort: danger to President Bush from aspartame
toxicity: Murray: 2.24.2 9.29.2 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/876
hyperthyroidism (Graves disease) in George and Barbara Bush, 1991--
aspartame toxicity? Roberts 1997: Murray 10.9.2 rmforall
***************************************************************

diet coke (aspartame toxicity) use by candidates: Murray 1.30.4

Dean sips Diet Coke: Bush, Gore, Clinton, Edwards, Clark, Dean, Trippi:
diet soda (aspartame) toxicity issue: Lyons: Murray 1.16.4

http://www.rutlandherald.com/hdean/74353
Dean regales Democrats at fund-raiser in Barre
November 9, 2003 By CLAUDE R. MARX Vermont Press Bureau
claude.marx@...; claude.marx@...
BARRE - Less than a year before election day and about two months before the
first delegates are picked, former Gov. Howard Dean brought his presidential
campaign here Saturday to reminisce about his early political career and ask
for help in getting a new job....
Even as he sipped a Diet Coke while waiting to be introduced by state
Chairman Scudder Parker, he signed name tags and campaign literature....

From: "Rich Murray" <rmforall@...>
To: <vlyons@...>
Cc: <wlyons@...>; <kconnell@...>;
<occasoc@...>
Subject: Dean, Trippi, diet soda toxicity issue
Date: Sunday, January 11, 2004 10:51 PM

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/-thisweek/col/track.html 01.07.04

Peter Freyne insidetrackvt@...

Also on the food and beverage front, Sen. Ginny Lyons has introduced S.241.
It proposes to "help prevent childhood obesity by directing the state board
of education to adopt nutrition standards for public schools; and by
defining physical education as a daily program of moderate to vigorous
physical activity."
The bite in Skinny Ginny's bill comes in the last sentence:
"Only food and beverages which meet the nutritional standards
adopted by the state board may be sold on school grounds
between one half hour before the start of the school day and
one half hour after the end of the school day."
Can you say bye-bye, Coca-Cola?
***************************************************************************

Bush, Gore, Clinton, Edwards, Clark, Dean, Trippi:
diet soda (aspartame) toxicity issue: Lyons: Murray 1.13.4

Jan 11 2004 Hello Senator Virginia "Ginny" Lyons,

About a dozen activists on the world Net
competently alert people about aspartame toxicity.

Famous users include Bush, Clinton, Gore, John Edwards,
Clark, Dean, and Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi
(widely noted as a very heavy user of Diet Pepsi).

Can you help me find contact people who can in turn alert
these key players to the personal and public hazards?

Surely, this deserves to be put in the limelight as a political issue.

Thanks, Rich Murray
***************************************************************

[ http://www.mcall.com/ letters@... news@...
101 North 6th St. Allentown, PA 18101 (610) 820-6500
frank.devlin@... 610-778-2235 ]

http://www.mcall.com/features/all-hhtjan09.story
From The Morning Call
Mainlining Diet Coke By Frank Devlin of The Morning Call January 9,
2004

Believe it or not - drinking Diet Coke makes dreams come true.

Don't believe it?

Then how do you explain the way Diet Coke keeps popping up as the celebrity
soda of choice? Surely there's some link between success and this
caffeinated, chemically sweetened serum.

Take Harvey Weinstein, head of the Miramax Pictures movie studio. U.S. News
and World Report reports Weinstein has a limousine ''outfitted with video
screens and seat pockets stocked with Diet Coke.''

Or presidential candidate John Edwards, who would ''chain-drink Diet Cokes''
when he was a hotshot personal injury lawyer, according to the Charlotte
Observer, and who's drinking about 10 cans a day now on the campaign trail.

Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig
are also reported to be devoted Diet Coke drinkers.

Why, Mankind himself drinks Diet Coke - that's Mankind the retired
professional wrestler, not all of humanity, of course.

And it did wonders for him.

Once upon a time, Mankind, aka Mick Foley, was just your average 310-pound
brute missing front teeth and pining for a post-wrestling career.

Naturally, he decided to try his hand at writing serious fiction.

So, according to Entertainment Weekly, he pumped himself full of Diet Coke
and, voila, cranked out a fine novel.

If Foley's ''Tietam Brown'' still doesn't convince you of Diet Coke's
powers, then consider Bill James.

James was a baseball fan who wrote books of statistical analysis that,
despite their brilliance, for some reason failed to influence the way Major
League Baseball teams made personnel decisions.

But now, more and more baseball bigwigs heed his theories. The Boston Red
Sox even hired him as an adviser.

James drinks Diet Coke, too.

Lots of it.

In a recent New Yorker profile, he was quoted as saying - tellingly, if not
profoundly - ''Would you get us a Diet Coke from the refrigerator over
there?''

But if you really want insight into the Diet Coke equation, consider
Columbia University physicist Janet Conrad, a leader in the field of
neutrino studies. .

This scientist, when not teaching at an Ivy League school, conducts
experiments at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois that
could change our very understanding of the universe's building blocks.

She says further study of neutrinos - subatomic particles that require
tremendous effort to track - could even ''open the door to the idea of extra
dimensions.''

Her Diet Coke connection?

''It's certainly made me a more effective person,'' says Conrad, who starts
each day with two 12-ounce cans of the caffeinated drink (45 milligrams per
can, about one-fourth the caffeine, per ounce, in coffee) and goes on to
drink about six more cans before she turns in.

That's on a day that's not particularly challenging, she says.

On challenging days she drinks much, much more.

''Part of what helps me keep my momentum going is the Diet Coke. I mean that
quite seriously,'' she says.

''I need to be very sharp to help me get things done. When I give a talk and
I am excited about something, the audience gets excited. If I'm sort of
flat, then the audience will be flat.''

Conrad, 39, says her diet-soda habit dates to high school, when she was
stuck on saccharine-sweetened Tab.

Why Tab? ''It was probably what was in the machine at the hardware store
where I worked'' in Wooster, Ohio, she says.

Conrad says she lamented the replacement of saccharine - thought to cause
cancer - with aspartame, marketed as Nutrasweet and Equal, in the 1980s.
Without the saccharine, she didn't like Tab's taste anymore.

In college, she and a friend searched for aspartame soda they could stomach.

They eventually decided on Diet Coke.

Conrad was such a devotee of saccharine-sweetened Tab that she honors its
memory by rotating possession of a single, unopened bottle with the same
college friend.

''We actually have this bottle of Tab, which is the last bottle of
non-Nutrasweet Tab in the world. We give it back and forth to each other.
She gave it to me for my wedding. She has it now. I think I gave her the
bottle when she bought her house.''

Nevertheless, Conrad grew to love Diet Coke. ''I'm very much addicted,'' she
says.

Conrad prefers it from a can. ''What's really sad is I prefer it warm,'' she
says. ''It sort of evolved out of laziness, out of not bothering to put it
in the refrigerator.''

Dave DeCecco, spokesman for Pepsi-Cola North America, says his company
doesn't keep track of which soft drinks celebrities and other notables are
reportedly drinking.

''It's nice'' if someone publicly consumes your product for free, the way
Edwards, et al., are doing for Diet Coke, DeCecco says. But when it comes to
the diet soda war, he says, sales are what matters, and Diet Pepsi's have
been growing faster than Diet Coke's since 2000.

Diet Coke is still a bigger seller, though, with about 71/2 percent of the
soft-drink market, compared to 51/2 percent for Diet Pepsi, according to
Beverage Digest magazine.

Sounding unconcerned with the notion that Diet Coke has a higher media
profile than his brand, DeCecco even questions the premise, which, he says,
seems to be a ''a pretty unscientific survey.''

But it's all there on the computer screen when you search the LexisNexis
media database (nexis.com).

A recent Nexis power search for news pieces containing the words Diet Coke
over a recent 60-day period produced 527 hits, including:

An interview with Jimmy Carter, who was talking about his new book and
''sipping on a Diet Coke'' (Newsday, Dec. 1).

An article about a North Carolina death row inmate whose last meal included,
curiously, a non-fattening Diet Coke (Associated Press, Nov. 7).

A basketball column pointing out that Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy
''drinks Diet Coke as if it's water'' (The Seattle Times, Oct. 9).

The same search parameters for Diet Pepsi produced only 137 hits, including
one article that includes a celebrity dis of Diet Pepsi.

An Oct. 30, 2003, Phoenix New Times profile of ''Legally Blonde'' author
Amanda Brown has Brown's assistant seeking a Diet Coke for Brown before a TV
interview. But only Diet Pepsi is available. Brown's assistant says no
thanks, Brown will settle for water.

Conrad says Diet Pepsi is too sweet.

Diet Coke drinker Ericka Kirkpatrick of Coopersburg, spotted in Bethlehem
recently holding a 20-ounce bottle, says it's hard to explain why she
doesn't like Diet Pepsi's taste. ''It's got a bite,'' she says.

All she knows is ''if I send someone out to get me a Diet Coke and they come
back with a Diet Pepsi I will not drink it. I'll go back out myself and get
a Diet Coke.''

''I'm very picky,'' the 29-year-old real estate agent says.

Diet Coke fan and pop culture pundit Michael Musto of the Village Voice
refrained from dissing Diet Pepsi.

However, he says in an e-mail, he can ''personally vouch for and in fact
have mentioned it a few times myself'' in Village Voice columns.

''It just seems to be the sensible thing to drink'' at the entertainment
industry parties he covers, he says. ''It's tasty, gives you a rush, and
keeps the pounds off. No, it's not exactly a healthy treat, but at least
it's not booze.''

Musto says he doesn't know why Diet Coke seems to hold sway with
celebrities.

But Coca-Cola spokesman Mart Martin says Diet Coke's cache is something
Coca-Cola, which introduced the drink in 1982 with a gala party at Radio
City Music hall, has been aware of for years.

''It has achieved sort of an icon status,'' he says.

''You see Diet Coke popping up a lot in photo spreads in magazines'' that
feature celebrities, he says. ''Those are not product placements'' paid for
by Coca-Cola, he says. ''That is, in fact, what they are drinking.''

''There's a certain stylishness'' to Diet Coke, Martin claims, crediting the
''clean look'' of the silver can.

Conrad says she drinks soda instead of coffee because, with less caffeine,
''it gives you a lower and steadier dose of the thing that keeps you
going.''

Kirkpatrick says she switched from caffe mochas to Diet Coke after
graduating from Penn State - where ''they had a great cafe that made the
best mochas'' - and returning home to the Lehigh Valley.

''Around here,'' she laments, ''they don't make great mochas.''

She drinks four or five 20-ounce bottles of Diet Coke a day.

Anita Hirsch, nutritionist at the Lehigh Valley Racquet and Fitness Centers,
says the caffeine from four 20-ounce Diet Coke bottles -300 milligrams -
shouldn't cause health problems for healthy people who aren't pregnant.

Tina Amato, a registered dietitian at the Allentown Health Bureau, agrees.
But both say there are concerns other than caffeine content about drinking
massive cola quantities. Hirsch says research indicates aspartame, used
throughout the diet soft drink industry, ''could be a migraine trigger'' in
some people.

Amato says diet soda may be replacing healthy beverage choices such as
low-fat milk and water. And the phosphoric acid in diet soda ''causes
calcium depletion,'' Amato says. ''We all need more calcium.''

Diet soda ''has no nutritional value whatsoever,'' she notes, advising that
people drink no more than two a day.

Kirkpatrick says she's aware of the calcium problem and isn't happy about
drinking so much Diet Coke.

But she stopped making New Year's resolutions to kick it a couple of years
ago, she says. ''Some people have a gambling problem,'' she says. ''I have a
Diet Coke problem.'' She gets cranky if she stops drinking Diet Coke, she
says.

She figures she'll finally give it up if she gets pregnant some day. Conrad
says she doesn't worry much about Diet Coke's possible health risks.

She does believe that ''feeding yourself one thing for long periods of time
isn't good. The human body is made for a varied diet.''

But she makes an exception for Diet Coke.

frank.devlin@... 610-778-2235 Copyright © 2004, The Morning Call
**************************************************************

From: "Richard T. Murray" <rmforall@...>
To: <joanchad@...>
Subject: danger to President Clinton from ideosyncratic toxic reaction to
aspartame in diet sodas 5.12.99
Date: Sunday, May 16, 1999 9:27 AM

May 12, 1999
From: Richard "Rich" T. Murray, M.A. 465-70-0817 July 3, 1942
Room For All rmforall@...
1943 Otowi Drive
Santa Fe, NM 87505
505-986-9103 505-920-6130 cellular VoiceStream
http://www.healthandmoneytips.com/ezine/v1i3/page5.html
12-page summary: Aspartame: Methanol Toxicity

To: Cptn. Eleanor C. "Connie" Marino, USN
Physician to the President
White House Medical Unit #105
Whashington., D.C. 20502
202-757-2481 2483 fax

Dear Cptn. Marino:

This post presents evidence that indicates that President Clinton
could be in danger right now from a not unusual idiosyncratic toxicity
reaction to a common food additive, aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal),
about 200 mg in every can of diet soda. To simplify, 10% of aspartame
is methanol (wood alcohol), a component of the molecule, which is
immediately released into the body after ingestion. This dose of
methanol is thus 20 mg from each can, while the EPA limit for drinking
water is 7.8 mg daily. Methanol is a deadly cumulative poison. So
aspartame provides methanol, which converts to formaldehyde in the
tissues, as proved in a 1998 radioactive tracer study in Spain:

Life Sci 1998;63(5):337-49 From PubMed

Sra. Carme Trocho, Sra. Rosario Pardo, Dra. Immaculada Rafecas,
Sr. Jordi Virgili, X. Remesar, Dr. Jose Antonio Fernandez-Lopez,
Dr. Marią Alemany Fac. Biologia Tel.: (93)4021521, FAX: (93)4021559
alemany@... bioq@...

Formaldehyde derived from dietary aspartame binds to tissue components
in vivo. Trocho C, Pardo R, Rafecas I, Virgili J, Remesar X,
Fernandez-Lopez JA, Alemany M, Departament de Bioquimica i Biologia
Molecular, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.

"It is concluded that aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard
because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde adducts."

Woodrow C. Monte, Ph.D., Professsor of Food Science, Director of the
Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory, Arizona State University, Tempe,
Arizona 85287
6411 South River Drive #61
Tempe, Arizona 85283-3337
United States of America
Phone/Fax 001 602-965-6938
woody.monte@...

Dr. Woodrow C. Monte, "Aspartame: Methanol, and the Public Health,"
Journal of Applied Nutrition, Volume 36, No. 1, pages 42-54, 1984.
This study is available at: http://www.dorway.com/wmonte.txt .

Abstract: Aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester), a new
sweetener marketed under the trade name NutraSweet, releases into
the human bloodstream one molecule of methanol for each molecule of
aspartame consumed.

This new methanol source is being added to foods that have
considerably reduced caloric content and, thus, may be consumed in
large amounts. Generally, none of these foods could be
considered dietary methanol sources prior to addition of aspartame.
When diet sodas and soft drinks, sweetened with aspartame, are used
to replace fluid loss during exercise and physical exertion in hot
climates, the intake of methanol can exceed 250 mg/day or 32
times the Environmental Protection Agency's recommended
limit of consumption for this cumulative toxin (8).
[EPA limit: 7.8 mg/day in water. A 12-oz can of diet soda gives
20 mg methanol.]

There is extreme variation in the human response to acute
methanol poisoning, the lowest recorded lethal oral dose
being 100 mg/kg [10,000 mg for a 100 kg person] with
one individual surviving a dose over ninety times this level (55).
Humans, due perhaps to the loss of two enzymes during evolution, are
more sensitive to methanol than any laboratory animal; even the monkey
is not generally accepted as a suitable animal model (42). There are
no human or mammalian studies to evaluate the possible mutagenic,
teratogenic, or carcinogenic effects of chronic administration of
methyl alcohol (55).

The average intake of methanol from natural sources varies but
limited data suggests an average intake of considerably less than 10
mg/day (8). [A 12-oz can of diet soda has 20 mg methanol.] Alcoholics
may average much more, with a potential range of between
0 and 600 mg/day, depending on the source and in some
cases the quality of their beverages (15).

Ethanol, the classic antidote for methanol toxicity, is found in
natural food sources of methanol at concentrations 5 to 500,000 times
that of the toxin (Table 1). Ethanol inhibits metabolism of methanol
and allows the body time for clearance of the toxin through the lungs
and kidneys (40, 46).

The question asked is whether uncontrolled consumption of this
new sweetener might increase the methanol intake of certain
individuals to a point beyond which our limited knowledge of acute
and chronic human methanol toxicity can be extrapolated to predict
safety. [end of Abstract]

"Many of the signs and symptoms of intoxication due to methanol
ingestion are not specific to methyl alcohol. For example, headaches,
ear buzzing, dizziness, nausea and unsteady gait (inebriation),
gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory
lapses, numbness and shooting pains in the lower extremities hands and
forearms, behavioral disturbances, and neuritis (55)."

Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, T.D. Koepsell, W.T. Longstreth, Jr,
G. van Belle, J.R. Daling, B. McKnight, "Aspartame ingestion and
headaches: a randomized crossover trial," 1994, Neurology, 44, 1787-93:
Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program
3505 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611-5714 skv@...
510-526-6020 510-596-6100

In their introduction, they commented:

"In addition, the FDA had received over 5,000 complaints as of July,
1991 in a passive surveillance system to monitor adverse side effects.
(17) Neurologic problems constitute the primary complaints in these
and several other case series, with headaches accounting for
18 to 45 %,depending on the case series reported. (17-19)"

A fairly complete list of the usual symptoms in the many cases includes:

headaches, all kinds of body and joint pain (or burning, tingling,
tremors, twitching, spasms, or numbness)

"mind fog", "feel unreal", poor memory, confusion, anxiety,
irritability, depression, mania, insomnia, dizziness, slurred speech,
ringing in ears, sexual problems, nausea, seizures, poor vision,
hearing, or taste

fatigue, weakness

red face, itching, rashes, burning eyes or throat

hair loss

obesity, bloating, poor or excessive hunger or thirst

diarrhea or constipation

breathing problems, asthma

racing heart, high blood pressure, erratic blood sugar levels.

Obviously, the neurotoxicological impairments are critical concerns
in the case of a war-time President.

Ralph G. Walton, M.D., Ph.D.,
Prof. of Clinical Psychology, Northeastern Ohio Universities,
College of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Youngstown, OH 44501, and
Chairman, The Center for Behavioral Medicine, Northside Medical Center,
500 Gypsy Lane, P.O. Box 240 Youngstown, OH 44501 330-740-3621
rwalton193@...

"Seizure and mania after high intake of aspartame," 1986,
Psychosomatics, 27: 218-20:

An age 54 woman with 20 years of depression had been stable for 11
years with medication. She had a grand mal seizure, followed by mania,
insomnia, flight of ideas, and irritability. A brief hospitalization
and CT scan found no apparent cause. After three weeks, this led to
psychiatric hospitalization. Two days later, it was found that during
the several weeks before the seizure and onset of mania, she had
started using aspartame in place of sugar in her iced tea, a gallon
daily. Four days later, the mania subsided, and 13 months later she
continued to function well, and enjoying her large amounts of iced tea,
with sugar, not aspartame.

"The possible role of aspartame in seizure induction," 1987,
Proceedings of the First International Conference on Phenylalanine and
the Brain, Wortman, RJ, Walker E (eds.), Center for Brain Sciences and
Metabolism Charitable Trust, Cambridge, England:

Nine cases, ages 19 to 91, briefly summarized: "Case 4: A 61 year-old
woman had been in excellent health until she began consuming an average
of half a gallon per day of sugar-free beverages prepared with "Crystal
Light" mixes. She experienced the onset of headaches, in the absence
of a previous headache history. After three months of daily headaches,
she experienced a generalized seizure and was hospitalized. CAT scan
and EEG were normal. After discontinuing the use of all
aspartame-containing products, she has been headache- and
seizure-free."

To recapitulate this brief summary of a stong minority opinion amongst
highly trained, experienced, competent, and published physicians:

Dr. George R. Schwartz, M.D.
Health Press hlthprs@... 505-982-9373
http://www.healthpress.com/in-bad-taste.html
"In Bad Taste: The MSG Symptom Complex" drgschwartz@...

Dr. Schwartz is a magna cum laude graduate of Downstate Medical Center,
NY, board certified in two specialties, and has extensive clinical
experience. He is a founding member of the American Trauma Society, a
charter member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a
Founding Member and first Secretary of the American Academy of
Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Schwartz has written extensively regarding food poisonings and food
toxicology and has served as an expert in many legal cases involving
chemistry, toxicology, and forensic medicine. In addition he has helped
to establish two regional poison control centers. He is the
author/editor of nine books and more than 175 articles, chapters and
scientific papers. This includes a comprehensive textbook of Emergency
Medicine now in its fourth edition.

Dr. Schwartz has a special interest in aviation and flying safety and
has been designated by the FAA Regional Flight Surgeon as an Aviation
Medical Examiner.

>From his 1999 paper, accepted for publication, "NutraSweet and Brain
and Other Cancers":

"Mechanism of Action:
Nutrasweet (aspartame) is composed of linkages of aspartic acid,
phenylalanine and methanol. The aspartic acid acts as a
neuroexcitatory agent.(1) When NutraSweet is digested, it yields 10%
methanol (wood alcohol).(2) The wood alcohol (methanol) is widely
distributed throughout the body including brain, muscle, fat and nervous
tissue.(3) It is then metabolized to formaldehyde which enters the
cells and binds to the proteins and DNA (the genetic material).(4)"

Mark D. Gold, not a trained medical professional, maintains a website
that contains intelligent, lucid, thorough, and reasonably fair
information and analysis, including about 250 pages of personal reports
from posts on the Internet:

Aspartame Toxicity Information Center
http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame/
mgold@...
35 Inman St., Cambridge, MA 02139 617-497-7843

The primary treatment and preventive is simple: discontinue all
aspartame. Royal Crown Diet Rite Cola uses only sucralose.
Club soda may be mixed with juices to make delicious drinks, for
instance pomegranate juice on ice with a touch of lemon.

Anyone who daily drinks many cans of diet soda may be unpredictably
affected after months and years of exposure. I found the following
report from a competent person in Brazil today alarming:

Message: 15 on aspartame@onelist.com discussion group
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 17:29:44 -0300
From: Beatriz Medina - Diagramacao - O GLOBO <Beatriz@...>
Subject: Clinton & Diet Coke

At this very moment in the newspaper where I work the editor of
international news asked me to choose a photograph of Clinton at the
Ramstein Air Base, in Germany, with American soldiers, to illustrate his
cover article. Well, among 101 Clinton photographs sent by international
agencies today there were 14 of Clinton dining with the soldiers.
Clinton was holding or drinking a can of Diet Coke in 13 of these 14
photographs. Of course I chose the 14th.

Hugs to all,
Beatriz Medina.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Message: 18 on aspartame@onelist.com discussion group
Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 14:21:17 -0700
From: "Carol Guilford" <Carolg8@...>
Subject: Re: [rosacea] Bashing Bill

Dear Rosacea e-group

The letters I mentioned sent to the White House were to warn Bill
Clinton, not to embarrass him. Why would anyone do that. It's not a
funny malady, is it?

Unfortunately the face is the thing people look at when they talk to
you. Inner beauty takes a while to discern.

I didn't post the Nancy Markle article. And I don't know who did.
I am glad you all have the information. That post was plagiarized
from Betty Martini-- there is no Nancy Markle, but it went around the
world and it is the reason the a-------e victims are beginning to find
out what is wrong with them.

I am leaving this list. 99 percent of the posts here concern topical
facial remedies for rosacea without much curiosity about what is
causing this terrible facial disease in yourself or others. And that
is fine, but not what I am interested in. I am interested in seeing
that whatever is causing this disease is found before everyone has it.
You are the pioneers. My only guidance is that you should really be
tough on your derms, as you call them. Why aren't they finding out?
Like the internists who diagnose MS instead of you know what-- that is
how they make their money... Rosacea is now NO. 5 skin disease and
climbing.

One last thing. Suzanne-- I did read a case that described exactly the
rushing feeling through the body. And a feeling of being poisoned.
This person was detoxing. And y'all know what from.

Oh, one last, last thing. When an additive is in more than 9,000
products it's kind of hard to stay away from it. Don't be too sure,
Diane you haven't been ingesting wood alcohol. It's in every OTC
pain killer on the market. Formic acid labeled as methylcellulose.
That's the extra strength Wood alcohol to take away the pain.

The latest products with that abominable name, is now in Centrum
Vitamins and Tylenol Jr., Oh, and light chocolate syrup.

Formic acid the breakdown of methanol is in guacamole dip, paint
stripper, wallpaper backing, and used as a pesticide sprayed on
vegetables. No, the farmers aren't choosy. They use propylene
alcohol, too. Those little bugs just don't like alcohol.
Methycellulose (formic acid) is used to fumigate larvae from tobacco,
dried fruit and dried nuts. So careful, Denial could cause flushing,
dry eyes, and pustules.

Whew.

CG

Carol

-----Original Message-----
From: RHMACRAE@... <RHMACRAE@...>
To: rosacea-support@egroups.com <rosacea-support@egroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, May 05, 1999 9:26 AM
Subject: [rosacea] Bashing Bill

Carol wrote:
His face started flushing, he looked zoned out (as Monica described
him to Linda Tripp--"I think he's on drugs") and then toward the end
of the four hours, he became loquacious as alcohol will do to one.
However, remember this is not drinking alcohol, but methanol (wood
alcohol) thus his complaints about his vision and his memory.

I can tell you hundreds of calls, letters, faxes and e-mails have been
sent to the White House to tell him about his condition.

Hi
I felt very sad when I read the attack on Bill Clinton and his rosacea.
I quess that is how some people view me and my red nose. I can only
imagine how I would feel if I started getting letters telling me I had
a red nose -- as if I hadn't noticed and accused me of abusing my body.
One thing I love about this group is the way we share our highs and
lows in the knowledge that we are not judged but understood. I don't
think any rosacean in or out of the group should be talked about in
such a derogatory fashion.
Bye
Harriet

I hope this information is both interesting and useful, even though,
hopefuly, it may not be relevant to your current responsibilities.

Regards, Rich Murray
****************************************************************

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1018
aspartame toxicity coverup increases danger of corporate meltdown:
Michael C. Carakostas of Coca-Cola: Murray 8.11.3 rmforall
http://www.isrtp.org/new_members/members1.htm
The International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
Carakostas, Michael C., DVM, PhD Director/Scientific & Regulatory
Affairs The Coca-Cola Company PO Drawer 1734 Atlanta, GA 30301
T. 404/676-4234 F. 404/676-7166 E-mail: mcarakostas@...
http://www2.coca-cola.com/ourcompany/columns_aspartame.html [photo]
Aspartame: The world agrees it's safe By Michael Carakostas, DVM, PhD
Director, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Coca-Cola

It is commendable that Carakostas mentions the core problem, albeit
disparagingly: "During digestion, aspartame yields a very small amount
of methanol-- as do many other food substances. The body converts this
methanol to formaldehyde, which is instantly converted to formate.
Formate is quickly eliminated as carbon dioxide and water."

Plenty of evidence in the mainstream scientific literature since 1973
shows that as much as 30% of the formaldehyde is retained in the body as
toxic, cumulative adducts to the DNA, RNA, and proteins in all cells and
tissues, leading to pointed reports by informed doctors and experts.
Clearly, there are no safe levels for chronic, low-level formaldehyde
exposure. If just 10% of the methanol from six cans of diet soda is
retained in the body as toxic products of formaldehyde and formic acid,
that is sixty times the EPA limit for allowable formaldehyde from daily
drinking water.
********************************************************

research on aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde) toxicity:
Murray 3.23.4 rmforall

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
1943 Otowi Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 USA 505-986-9103

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/927
Donald Rumsfeld, 1977 head of Searle Corp., got aspartame FDA approval:
Turner: Murray 12.23.2 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1039
three-page review: aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde) toxicity:
Murray 11.22.3 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1026
brief aspartame review: formaldehyde toxicity: Murray 9.11.3 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/989 On 4.10.2003
the European Union Parliament voted 440 to 20 to approve sucralose,
limit cyclamates & reevaluate aspartame & stevia: Murray 4.12.3 rmforall

http://google.com gives 221,000 websites for "aspartame" , with the top
9 of 10 listings being anti-aspartame, while
http://groups.google.com finds on 700 MB of posts from 20 years of
Usenet groups, 83,800 posts, the top 10 being anti-aspartame.

http://news.google.com 28 recent aspartame items from 4500 sources.
http://www.AllTheWeb.com gives 291,700, the top 7 of 10 being
leading and very well informed volunteer anti-aspartame sites.
http://teoma.com/index.asp gives 85,700 websites, top 8 of 10 anti.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed lists 751 aspartame items.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1025
aspartame & formaldehyde toxicity: Murray 9.9.3 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
for 1065 posts in a public searchable archive 120 members

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartame/messages 774 with 16,660 posts

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/857
RTM: www.dorway.com: original documents and long reviews of flaws in
aspartame toxicity research 7.31.2 rmforall

http://www.dorway.com/upipart1.txt
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/262
aspartame expose 96K Oct 1987 Part 1/3: Gregory Gordon, UPI reporter:
Murray 7.10.0 rmforall

http://www.dorway.com/enclosur.html
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/53
aspartame history Part 1/4 1964-1976: Gold: Murray 11.6.9: rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/928
revolving door, Monsanto, FDA, EPA: NGIN: Murray 12.23.2 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/957
safety of aspartame Part 1/2 12.4.2: EC HCPD-G SCF:
Murray 1.12.3 rmforall EU Scientific Committee on Food

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/841
RTM: Merisant Co., MSD Capital, Dell Computer Corp., NutraSweet Co.,
JW Childs Assc.: aspartame-neotame toxicity 7.10.2 rmforall

Many scientific studies and case histories report: * headaches
* many body and joint pains (or burning, tingling, tremors, twitching,
spasms, cramps, stiffness, numbness, difficulty swallowing)
* fever, fatigue, swollen glands * "mind fog", "feel unreal", poor
memory, confusion, anxiety, irritability, depression, mania, insomnia,
dizziness, slurred speech, sexual problems, poor vision, hearing
(deafness, tinnitus), or taste * red face, itching, rashes, hair loss,
burning eyes or throat, dry eyes or mouth, mouth sores, burning tongue
* obesity, bloating, edema, anorexia, poor appetite or excessive hunger
or thirst * breathing problems, shortness of breath * nausea,
diarrhea or constipation * coldness * sweating * racing heart, low or
high blood pressure, erratic blood sugar levels * hypothryroidism or
hyperthyroidism * seizures * birth defects * brain cancers
* addiction * aggrivates diabetes, autism, allergies, lupus, ADHD,
fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity,
multiple sclerosis, and interstitial cystitis (bladder pain).
***********************************************************