http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1104
doubts about aspartame chicagotribune.com Brian McCormick:
Murray 2004.04.14 rmforall

"While there are a lot of industry-sponsored safety studies on these
substances, I don't believe there is enough independent research to tell us
whether we should be using them in moderation or at all," said Dr. Jeanette
Newton Keith, a gastroenterologist and an assistant professor of medicine at
the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine.

In the absence of independent data, she counsels patients to avoid the
non-nutritive sweeteners entirely. In addition to the earlier cancer link to
saccharin, she points to anecdotal reports linking aspartame (Equal) to
memory loss, seizures, chronic headaches and neurologic disorders."

Keith, Dr. Jeanette Newton 2.1460 Asst Prof of Med,
Gastroenterology Sectn., AMB S401F (MC 4080) (Sec'y, Hannah Jackson)
Pgr.: 188-1477, Fax: 2.5790 jnewton@...
hjackson@... 773-702-1460

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-0407140042jul14,1,4705778.story?\
coll=chi-homepagenews2-utl

chicagotribune.com >> Leisure >> Good Eating

HEALTH WATCH

Consumers offered a sweet puzzle
Sweetener makers like to promote flavor, but health concerns also are a
factor
By Brian McCormick Special to the Tribune Published July 14, 2004

The array of sweetener choices at the coffee bar can be more stress-inducing
than a triple shot of espresso.

Is the choice sugar or a "non-nutritive" sweetener? If it's sugar, do you go
with the old standby, granular refined white sugar, or the brown,
crystallized "raw" variety? And if the choice is to go with a low-calorie or
no-calorie artificial sweetener, which is best: longtime offerings like
Equal or Sweet'N Low, or relatively new kids on the block like Splenda?

Those who make their living by analyzing such choices--the manufacturers and
marketers of the aforementioned coffee additives--contend that taste
preferences are the overwhelming consideration, but health concerns clearly
also play a part.

A recent straw poll of coffee drinkers at an Andersonville shop indicated
that the health concerns do play a role in the selection process, regardless
of whether consumers are basing those decisions on full or accurate
information.

When asked why she chose to sweeten her iced Americano with Splenda, Angie
Frank, a local fitness center employee, first referred to the bright yellow
packaging and her general eagerness to try new things.

"But I also think it's supposed to be better for you than the others," she
added.

Weight-conscious coffee drinkers worried about added calories are the
primary consumers in the "tabletop segment" of the non-nutritive sweetener
market--those single-serving packets customers reach for millions of times a
day. (That consumption, in turn, represents only a small fraction of the
artificial sweetener market dominated by additives to soft drinks, baked
goods and other prepared foods.) Others are concerned with purported links
between sugar and behavioral disorders such as attention deficit and
hyperactivity.

Those concerns exist in spite of a lack of scientific evidence to support
them, sugar advocates contend.

Sugar versus the alternative

Andy Briscoe, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Sugar Association,
which represents sugar growers and processors, pointed to a National
Institute of Medicine report from last year that found no link between the
use of added sugar and hyperactivity, obesity or even dental cavities. The
study concludes Americans should keep total calories from added sugars
(including those in candy and other foods) to less than 25 percent of total
daily intake, but Briscoe claimed that for most Americans, the figure is
already below 15 percent.

He is particularly perturbed by the persistent popular perception that sugar
in coffee, at 15 calories per teaspoon, contributes to America's obesity
epidemic, a perception he said is perpetuated by the artificial sweetener
marketers. In fact, there is a negative correlation between the two, Briscoe
insisted: "Per capita sugar consumption has dropped significantly in the
last 30 years, at the same time that obesity rates in this country have
skyrocketed."

But to the proponents of sugar alternatives, what seems like a niggling
concern about a few added calories adds up over time.

"A moderate coffee drinker who chooses sugar consumes an additional 20,000
calories a year, and a heavy coffee drinker adds 80,000," said Lael
Edelstein, manager of nutrition communication for Chicago's Merisant Corp.,
which makes Equal.

But for every advocate touting the health advantages of the non-nutritive
sweeteners, there are at least as many cautioning against their use.

For saccharin (Sweet'N Low), the granddaddy of sugar substitutes, animal
studies showing a link to several cancers led the Food and Drug
Administration to ban the substance in the 1970s. Although subsequent human
studies gave the FDA enough confidence to reinstate the substance as a food
additive and "tabletop" sweetener in 1987, some health-care providers still
urge caution.

"While there are a lot of industry-sponsored safety studies on these
substances, I don't believe there is enough independent research to tell us
whether we should be using them in moderation or at all," said Dr. Jeanette
Newton Keith, a gastroenterologist and an assistant professor of medicine at
the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine.

In the absence of independent data, she counsels patients to avoid the
non-nutritive sweeteners entirely. In addition to the earlier cancer link to
saccharin, she points to anecdotal reports linking aspartame (Equal) to
memory loss, seizures, chronic headaches and neurologic disorders.

Not surprisingly, most nutritionists tied to the sweetener industry take
exception to that advice.

Beth Hubrich, a dietitian with the Atlanta-based Calorie Control Council, an
advocacy group representing the makers of several artificial sweeteners,
said the flaws of the early saccharin studies, in which rats were fed huge
doses of the substance, are well documented, as are the results of more than
30 subsequent human studies that found no cancer link.

"These studies are industry sponsored because the FDA requires the industry
to do the research," she added, pointing out that the government requires
that such research adhere to strict protocols.

Fighting within the ranks

In the highly competitive, multibillion dollar sweetener market, the
jockeying for advantage can lead to sniping within categories.

For instance, the makers of sucralose, the no-calorie sweetener marketed for
the last year as Splenda, have implied that their product is more natural
than its competitors with their marketing tag line:

"It's made from sugar, so it tastes more like sugar."

But Edelstein takes issue with that. "The truth is, all of our products go
through a manufacturing process, and none of them are natural," she said,
adding that the manufacture of sucralose involves the replacement of sugar
molecules with chlorine.

Monica Neufang, a nutritionist for Pennsylvania-based McNeil-PPC, makers of
Splenda, acknowledged it is no more organic than the other non-nutritive
sweeteners. But she defended the product's safety profile:

"Splenda was subjected to safety testing far beyond anything the FDA
requires before we ever introduced it in the marketplace."

A recent Purdue University study muddies the waters more. Researchers'
findings suggested that consuming artificial sweeteners may interfere with
people's natural ability to regulate calorie intake by distinguishing
between high- and low-calorie sweets.

Rats fed saccharin-sweetened drinks ate three times the calories of rats
given sugar. Researchers said the rodents experienced an inconsistent
relationship between sweet taste and calories. That, in turn, could have
confounded their natural ability to keep track of calories.

Debate continues

The study's authors said that this suggests sugar-free foods may play a role
in the nation's obesity epidemic. Other scientists, however, dismissed that
conclusion, saying studies on people don't indicate that. One researcher
called the rat study nonsense.

Whatever the outcome of that debate, changing the minds of some coffee
drinkers may be difficult.

For Wayne Sedlak, who used four packets of Sugar in the Raw to sweeten his
extra large coffee, all the industry studies and FDA pronouncements have
done little to change his perception.

"I just don't think these things are healthy for you," he said, pointing to
the mounds of Equal, Splenda and Sweet'N Low.

"I'm old enough to remember the saccharin scare in the '70s."
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
**************************************************************

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/935
Comet assay finds DNA damage from sucralose, cyclamate, saccharin in
mice: Sasaki YF & Tsuda S Aug 2002: Murray 2003.01.01 rmforall
[ Also borderline evidence, in this pilot study of 39 food additives,
using test groups of 4 mice, for DNA damage from for stomach, colon,
liver, bladder, and lung 3 hr after oral dose of 2000 mg/kg aspartame--
a very high dose. Methanol is the only component of aspartame that can lead
to DNA damage. ]
**************************************************************

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1100
research on aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid) toxicity:
Murray 2004.07.14 rmforall

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
1943 Otowi Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 USA 505-501-2298

[ NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel, Benevia, E951 ]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/927
Donald Rumsfeld, 1977 head of Searle Corp., got aspartame FDA approval:
Turner: Murray 2002.12.23 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1101
John Edwards gives up Diet Coke: The Cult of Diet Coke, Eric Gillin:
Murray 2004.07.12 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1102
John Edwards still drinks Diet Coke (aspartame): TIME Europe July 19 issue:
Murray 2004.07.12 rmforall

A very detailed, highly credible account of the dubious approval process for
aspartame in July, 1981 is part of the just released two-hour documentary
"Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World: An Industry Case Study of a Food Supply
In Crisis" by Cori Brackett: cori@...
http://www.soundandfuryproductions.com/ 520-624-9710
2301 East Broadway, Suite 111 Tucson, AZ 85719

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1039
three-page review: aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde) toxicity:
Murray 2003.11.22 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1026
brief aspartame review: formaldehyde toxicity: Murray 2003.09.11 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1025
aspartame & formaldehyde toxicity: Murray 2003.09.09 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1094
the 11% methanol component of aspartame becomes formaldehyde, now ruled a
carcinogen by WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer: Murray
2004.06.16 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1084
26 stevia safety abstracts since 1993: aspartame vs stevia debate on
alt.support.diabetes, George Schmidt, OD: Murray 2004.05.25 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1088
Murray, full plain text & critique:
chronic aspartame in rats affects memory, brain cholinergic receptors, and
brain chemistry, Christian B, McConnaughey M et al, 2004 May:
2004.06.05 rmforall

Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2004 May; 78(1): 121-7.
Chronic aspartame affects T-maze performance, brain cholinergic receptors
and Na(+),K(+)-ATPase in rats.
Christian B, McConnaughey K, Bethea E, Brantley S, Coffey A, Hammond L,
Harrell S, Metcalf K, Muehlenbein D, Spruill W, Brinson L, McConnaughey M.
Department of Pharmacology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina
University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA;
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, NC 27811.
http://www.ecu.edu/pharmacology/faculty/mcconnaughey.html
Mona M. McConnaughey, Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor
Department: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Office: Brody Medical Science 6E-120A 252-744-2756
MCCONNAUGHEYM@...

This study demonstrated that chronic aspartame consumption in rats can lead
to altered T-maze performance and increased muscarinic cholinergic receptor
densities in certain brain regions.
Control and treated rats were trained in a T-maze to a particular side and
then periodically tested to see how well they retained the learned response.
Rats that had received aspartame (250 mg/kg/day) in the drinking water for 3
or 4 months showed a significant increase in time to reach the reward in the
T-maze, suggesting a possible effect on memory due to the artificial
sweetener.
Using [(3)H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) (1 nM) to label muscarinic
cholinergic receptors and atropine (10(-6) M) to determine nonspecific
binding in whole-brain preparations,
aspartame-treated rats showed a 31% increase in receptor numbers when
compared to controls.
In aspartame-treated rats, there was a significant increase in muscarinic
receptor densities in the
frontal cortex, midcortex, posterior cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and
cerebellum of 80%, 60%, 61%, 65%, 66% and 60%, respectively.
The midbrain was the only area where preparations from aspartame-treated
rats showed a significant increase in Na(+),K(+)-ATPase activity.
It can be concluded from these data that long-term consumption of aspartame
can affect T-maze performance in rats and alter receptor densities or
enzymes in brain. PMID: 15159141

A Searle Laboratories team in 1976 reported that in 4 monkeys fed aspartame,
by 12 hours: "...the major fraction (70%) of the [aspartate] label appeared
in the expired air (Fig.6)...Urinary and fecal 14C [ aspartate derived ]
amounted to 4--6% of the administered [ aspartate ] label."

This gives a total of a maximum 76% excreted aspartate from the aspartame,
indicating that 24% of this excitotoxin was retained in the body. It is
reasonable to conclude that daily use of aspartame must lead to substantial
accumulation of this excitotoxin, aspartate, in body tissues.

Their 1979 review said: "Aspartame... is hydrolyzed in the gut to yield
aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol....
Aspartate may also be incorporated into body constitutents such as other
amino acids, proteins, pyrimidines, asparagine, and N-acetylaspartic acid."

J Environ Pathol Toxicol. 1979 Mar-Apr; 2(4): 979-85.
A review of the metabolism of the aspartyl moiety of aspartame in
experimental animals and man.
Ranney RE, Oppermann JA.
Department of Drug Metabolism and Radiochemistry, Searle Laboratories,
Skokie, Illinois. Division of G.D. Searle and Co. Box 5110, Chicago, IL
60680

Aspartame (3-amino-N-(alpha-carboxyphenethyl) succinamic acid, methyl ester;
the methyl ester of aspartylphenylalanine, SC-18862) is hydrolyzed in the
gut to yield aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.
This review of the literature describes the metabolic paths followed by
aspartate in its conversion to CO2 or its incorporation into body
constituents.
About 70 percent of 14C from [asp-14C]-aspartame is converted in the monkey
to 14CO2.
Some of the aspartate is converted at the intestinal mucosal level to
alanine by decarboxylation.
This amino acid may be oxidized to CO2 by entering the tricarboxylic acid
cycle via pyruvate and acetyl CoA.
In addition, transamination of aspartate to oxaloacetate permits this
product also to enter the tricarboxylic acid cycle.
Aspartate may also be incorporated into body constitutents such as other
amino acids, proteins, pyrimidines, asparagine, and N-acetylaspartic acid.
It is concluded that the aspartate moiety of aspartame is metabolized in a
manner similar to that of dietary aspartic acid.
Publication Types: Review PMID: 376770

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1067
eyelid contact dermatitis by formaldehyde from aspartame, AM Hill & DV
Belsito, Nov 2003: Murray 2004.03.30 rmforall [ 150 KB ]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
128 members, 1,104 posts in a public searchable archive

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartame/messages
830 members, 17,102 posts in a public, searchable archive

It is certain that high levels of aspartame use, above 2 liters daily for
months and years, must lead to chronic formaldehyde-formic acid toxicity.

Fully 11% of aspartame is methanol-- 1,120 mg aspartame in 2 L diet soda,
almost six 12-oz cans, gives 123 mg methanol (wood alcohol).
The methanol is immediately released into the body after drinking--
unlike the large levels of methanol locked up in complex molecules inside
many fruits and vegetables.
Within hours, the liver turns much of the methanol into formaldehyde, and
then much of that into formic acid, both of which in time are partially
eliminated as carbon dioxide and water.

However, about 30% of the methanol remains in the body as cumulative
durable toxic metabolites of formaldehyde and formic acid-- 37 mg daily,
a gram every month, accumulating in and affecting every tissue.

If only 10% of the methanol is retained daily as formaldehyde, that would
give 12 mg daily formaldehyde accumulation-- about 60 times more than the
0.2 mg from 10% retention of the 2 mg EPA daily limit for formaldehyde in
drinking water.

Bear in mind that the EPA limit for formaldehyde in drinking water is
1 ppm, or 2 mg daily for a typical daily consumption of 2 L of water.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/835
ATSDR: EPA limit 1 ppm formaldehyde in drinking water July 1999:
Murray 2002.05.30 rmforall

This long-term low-level chronic toxic exposure leads to typical patterns of
increasingly severe complex symptoms, starting with headache, fatigue, joint
pain, irritability, memory loss, rashes, and leading to vision and eye
problems, and even seizures. In many cases there is addiction. Probably
there are immune system disorders, with a hypersensitivity to these toxins
and other chemicals.

J. Nutrition 1973 Oct; 103(10): 1454-1459.
Metabolism of aspartame in monkeys.
Oppermann JA, Muldoon E, Ranney RE.
Dept. of Biochemistry, Searle Laboratories,
Division of G.D. Searle and Co. Box 5110, Chicago, IL 60680
They found that about 70% of the radioactive methanol in aspartame put into
the stomachs of 3 to 7 kg monkeys was eliminated within 8 hours, with little
additional elimination, as carbon dioxide in exhaled air and as waterin the
urine.
They did not mention that this meant that about 30% of the methanol must
transform into formaldehyde and then into formic acid, both of which must
remain as toxic products in all parts of the body.
They did not report any studies on the distribution of radioactivity in body
tissues, except that blood plasma proteins after 4 days held 4% of the
initial methanol.
This study did not monitor long-term use of aspartame.

The low oral dose of aspartame and for methanol was 0.068 mmol/kg, about 1
part per million [ppm] of the acute toxicity level of 2,000 mg/kg, 67,000
mmol/kg, used by McMartin (1979).
Two L daily use of diet soda provides 123 mg methanol, 2 mg/kg for a 60 kg
person, a dose of 67 mmole/kg, a thousand times more than the dose in this
study.
By eight hours excretion of the dose in air and urine had leveled off at
67.1 +-2.1% as CO2 in the exhaled air and 1.57+-0.32% in the urine, so 68.7
% was excreted, and 31.3% was retained.
This data is the average of 4 monkeys.
"...the 14C in the feces was negligible."

"That fraction not so excreted (about 31%) was converted to body
constituents through the one-carbon metabolic pool."
"All radioactivity measurements were counted to +-1% accuracy..."
This indicates that the results could not be claimed to have a precision of
a tenth of a percent. OK, so this is a nit-pick-- but I believe espousing
spurious accuracy is a sign of scientific insecurity.

The abstract ends, "It was concluded that aspartame was digested to its
three constituents that were then absorbed as natural constituents of the
diet.
Thus, the concept is very subtly insinuated that methanol, as a
constituent of aspartame, is absorbed as a natural constituent of the diet.
"Dietary methanol is derived in large part from fresh fruits and
vegetables."
This is a serious error, since the large amounts of methanol in fresh fruits
and vegetables are not readily released by human digestion. ( Monte WC,
1984)
Nowhere in this report are mentioned the dread words, "formaldehyde" and
"formic acid".

Of course, methanol and formaldehyde toxicity studies are highly relevant to
the issue of aspartame toxicity. [ Aspartame has to be turned into its
toxic products, formaldehyde and formic acid, in the body, before it is
toxic, so some pro-aspartame reseach studies test aspartame outside the
body, and then proclaim that they have proved that it is not toxic. ]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/915
formaldehyde toxicity: Thrasher & Kilburn: Shaham: EPA: Gold:
Wilson: CIIN: Murray 2002.12.12 rmforall

Thrasher (2001): "The major difference is that the Japanese demonstrated
the incorporation of FA and its metabolites into the placenta and fetus.
The quantity of radioactivity remaining in maternal and fetal tissues
at 48 hours was 26.9% of the administered dose." [ Ref. 14-16 ]

Arch Environ Health 2001 Jul-Aug; 56(4): 300-11.
Embryo toxicity and teratogenicity of formaldehyde. [100 references]
Thrasher JD, Kilburn KH. toxicology@...
Sam-1 Trust, Alto, New Mexico, USA.
http://www.drthrasher.org/formaldehyde_embryo_toxicity.html full text

http://www.drthrasher.org/formaldehyde_1990.html full text Jack Dwayne
Thrasher, Alan Broughton, Roberta Madison. Immune activation and
autoantibodies in humans with long-term inhalation exposure to formaldehyde.
Archives of Environmental Health. 1990; 45: 217-223. "Immune activation,
autoantibodies, and anti-HCHO-HSA antibodies are associated with long-term
formaldehyde inhalation." PMID: 2400243

Confirming evidence and a general theory are given by Pall (2002):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/909
testable theory of MCS type diseases, vicious cycle of nitric oxide &
peroxynitrite: MSG: formaldehyde-methanol-aspartame:
Martin L. Pall: Murray: 2002.12.09 rmforall

Environ Health Perspect. 2003 Sep; 111(12): 1461-4.
Elevated nitric oxide/peroxynitrite theory of multiple chemical sensitivity:
central role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the sensitivity mechanism.
Pall ML.
School of Molecular Biosciences, 301 Abelson Hall, Washington State
University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. martin_pall@...

The elevated nitric oxide/peroxynitrite and the neural sensitization
theories of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are extended here to propose
a central mechanism for the exquisite sensitivity to organic solvents
apparently induced by previous chemical exposure in MCS.
This mechanism is centered on the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)
receptors by organic solvents producing elevated nitric oxide and
peroxynitrite, leading in turn to increased stimulating of and
hypersensitivity of NMDA receptors.
In this way, organic solvent exposure may produce progressive sensitivity to
organic solvents.
Pesticides such as organophosphates and carbamates may act via muscarinic
stimulation to produce a similar biochemical and sensitivity response.
Accessory mechanisms of sensitivity may involve both increased blood-brain
barrier permeability, induced by peroxynitrite, and cytochrome P450
inhibition by nitric oxide.
The NMDA hyperactivity/hypersensitivity and excessive nitric
oxide/peroxynitrite view of MCS provides answers to many of the most
puzzling aspects of MCS while building on previous studies and views of this
condition. PMID: 12948884

Prof. Pall describes processes by which an initial trigger exposure, such as
carbon monoxide or formaldehyde, can generate hypersensitivity to many
substances. He himself had recovered from a sudden, debilitating attack of
multiple chemical sensitivity in June/July 1997.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1055
hormesis: possible benefits of low-level aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde)
use: Calabrese: Soffritti: Murray 2004.03.11 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1056
disorders of NMDA glutamate receptors in brain range from high activity
(MCS, CF, PTSD, FM, from carbon monoxide or formaldehyde (methanol,
aspartame)-- Pall)
to low activity (schizophrenia-- Coyle, Goff, Javitts):
Murray 2004.03.13 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1090
aspartame, MSG, excitotoxins, NMDA glutamate receptors, multiple sclerosis:
Blaylock: Martini: Murray 2004.06.09 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/97
Lancet website aspartame letter 1999.07.29:
Excitotoxins 1999 Part 1/3 Blaylock: Murray 2000.01.14 rmforall
The Medical Sentinel Journal 1999 Fall; (95 references)
http://www.dorway.com/blayenn.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/946
Functional Therapeutics in Neurodegenerative Disease Part 1/2:
Perlmutter 1999.07.15: Murray 2003.01.10 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1034
Brain cell damage from amino acid isolates (aspartame releases
phenylalanine, aspartate, methanol [formaldehyde, formic acid] Bowen &
Evangelista May 6 2002: Murray 2003.11.10 rmforall

http://www.aspartame.ca/Brain%20Cell%20Damage.pdf
Brain cell damage from amino acid isolates 5.6.2 41 references
detailed 22 page review by James D. Bowen, MD and Arthur M. Evangelista,
former FDA Investigator orwilly@...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/628
Professional House Doctors: Singer: EPA: CPSC:
formaldehyde toxicity: Murray 2001.06.10 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1099
Diagnose-Me.com: formaldehyde from 11 % methanol part of aspartame:
recent abstracts for methanol and hangovers: Murray 2004.07.10 rmforall

Since no adaquate data has ever been published on the exact disposition of
toxic metabolites in specific tissues in humans of the 11 % methanol
component of aspartame, the many studies on morning-after hangover from the
methanol impurity in alcohol drinks are the main available resource to date.

This study by Jones AW (1987) found next-morning hangover from red wine with
100 to 150 mg methanol (9.5% w/v ethanol, 100 mg/l methanol, 0.01%).
Fully 11% of aspartame is methanol-- 1,120 mg aspartame in 2 L diet soda,
almost six 12-oz cans, gives 123 mg methanol (wood alcohol).

Pharmacol Toxicol. 1987 Mar; 60(3): 217-20.
Elimination half-life of methanol during hangover.
Jones AW.
Department of Forensic Toxicology, University Hospital, SE-581 85 Linkoping,
Sweden. wayne.jones@...

This paper reports the elimination half-life of methanol in human
volunteers. Experiments were made during the morning after the subjects had
consumed 1000-1500 ml red wine (9.5% w/v ethanol, 100 mg/l methanol) the
previous evening. [ 100 to 150 mg methanol ]
The washout of methanol from the body coincided with the onset of hangover.
The concentrations of ethanol and methanol in blood were determined
indirectly by analysis of end-expired alveolar air.
In the morning when blood-ethanol dropped below the Km of liver alcohol
dehydrogenase (ADH) of about 100 mg/l (2.2 mM), the disappearance half-life
of ethanol was 21, 22, 18 and 15 min. in 4 test subjects respectively.
The corresponding elimination half-lives of methanol were 213, 110, 133 and
142 min. in these same individuals.
The experimental design outlined in this paper can be used to obtain useful
data on elimination kinetics of methanol in human volunteers without undue
ethical limitations.
Circumstantial evidence is presented to link methanol or its toxic metabolic
products, formaldehyde and formic acid, with the pathogenesis of hangover.
PMID: 3588516

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1047
Avoiding Hangover Hell 2003.12.31 Mark Sherman, AP writer:
Robert Swift, MD [ formaldehyde from methanol in aspartame ]:
Murray 2004.01.16 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1048
hangovers from formaldehyde from methanol (aspartame?):
Schwarcz: Linsley: Murray 2004.01.18

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1052
DMDC: Dimethyl dicarbonate 200mg/L in drinks adds methanol 98 mg/L
( becomes formaldehyde in body ): EU Scientific Committee on Foods
2001.07.12: Murray 2004.01.22 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/782
RTM: Smith, Terpening, Schmidt, Gums:
full text: aspartame, MSG, fibromyalgia 2002.01.17 rmforall
Jerry D Smith, Chris M Terpening, Siegfried OF Schmidt, and John G Gums
Relief of Fibromyalgia Symptoms Following
Discontinuation of Dietary Excitotoxins.
The Annals of Pharmacotherapy 2001; 35(6): 702-706.
Malcolm Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA.
BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia is a common rheumatologic disorder that is
often difficult to treat effectively.
CASE SUMMARY: Four patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome
for two to 17 years are described.
All had undergone multiple treatment
modalities with limited success. All had complete, or nearly complete,
resolution of their symptoms within months after eliminating monosodium
glutamate (MSG) or MSG plus aspartame from their diet.
All patients were women with multiple comorbidities
prior to elimination of MSG.
All have had recurrence of symptoms whenever MSG is ingested.

Siegfried O. Schmidt, MD Asst. Clinical Prof. siggy@...
Community Health and Family Medicine, U. Florida, Gainesville, FL
Shands Hospital West Oak Clinic Gainesville, FL 32608-3629
352-376-5071
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