Neotame: A More Toxic Artificial Sweetener Than Aspartame?

Joseph Mercola reveals the dangerous science and politics behind Neotame.

Since 2002 an artificial sweetener called neotame has been approved for use in food and drink products around the world, although so far its use appears to be very limited.

Neotame is a chemical derivative of aspartame, and judging by the chemicals used in its manufacturing, it appears even more toxic than aspartame, although the proponents of neotame claim that increased toxicity is not a concern, because less of it is needed to achieve the desired effect.

Neotame is bad science brought to you by the Monsanto Company.

If Monsanto truly had nothing to fear with either of these artificial chemical sweeteners, they would have funded rigorous independent testing for safety. To date they have not, and they won't, because virtually every independent analysis of aspartame not conducted by Monsanto partners has revealed a long list of disturbing side effects, mostly neurological in nature.

Monsanto also has now sold the NutraSweet Company to someone else, but the approval of neotame came under Monsanto's ownership, and was most likely a result of Monsanto's cozy relationship with the FDA. More about that in a minute.

My recommendation for neotame is the same as that for aspartame, which is: it should be avoided if you care about your health.

Why is Neotame Dangerous? Read more

Does Splenda Cause Weight Gain, Block Drug Absorption?

Will Splenda join aspartame on the list of engineered health hazards added to our food supply? Any food described as "artificial" should probably be viewed with suspicion, but the study was financed by the Sugar Association.

New ammunition has been added to the battle that is pitting a leading artificial sweetener against sugar, leading the two sides to claim fresh grievances.

The latest salvo comes from Duke University researchers, who have published a study that says Splenda — the grainy white crystals in the little yellow packets — contributes to obesity, destroys “good” intestinal bacteria and prevents prescription drugs from being absorbed.

But the Duke study was financed by the Sugar Association, the lobbying group for the natural-sugar industry and a chief competitor to and legal adversary of Splenda. Read more

Aspartame Added to Epilepsy Medications: Seizures Skyrocket

A new epilepsy study blames the surreptitious addition of aspartame to anti-seizure drugs as responsible for a spectacular increase in seizures.

The Pacific Epilepsy Society in affiliation with the Epileptic Foundation of Maui has completed a seven year study on Epilepsy and Seizures, finding that epilepsy is at an all time high in Hawaii and the western states and Pacific Ocean Territories. There has been a 100% increase over the two previous years. See EFM Survey, Freedom of Info Act 2000-2008 & EFM Survey 1999-03

The most profound reason for the spectacular increase in seizures is the inclusion of the drug ASPARTAME in with the new larger sized anti-seizure drugs: DILANTIN, DEPACOAT, TEGRATOL and several others produced by major pharmaceutical corporations. In 2007 the manufacture of Dilantin changed the description of the 100 mg. Dilantin changed the 100 mg white capsule with red stripe to a much larger white capsule, orange on one end, which contains 100 mg of the drug, plus aspartame. 150 people who took the new Dilantin capsule found the seizure rate increased in every case. The Chemical Pharmaceutical Engineer employee, in fear of his job would not reveal his name, but said they were adding aspartame. He said the new larger orange & white Dilantin is also labeled 100 mg, Read more

What to Do If You Have Used Aspartame

Aspartame is a dangerous chemical food additive. After more than twenty years of aspartame use, the number of its victims is rapidly piling up, and people are figuring out for themselves that aspartame is at the root of their health problems. Once you have taken the important first step of not using aspartame, how do you take the next step of detoxification?

The most important starting point of any detoxification program is to stop exposure to the toxin or toxins. This means avoiding even small amounts, since once sensitized to the toxin even minute amounts can produce full-blown toxicity. This is especially so with accumulative toxins, such as aspartame. It has been shown conclusively that the metabolic products of methanol breakdown, formaldehyde in particular, accumulates on the DNA and cellular proteins.

Once you have cleansed your diet of the toxin, removal of the toxin and its metabolic products from your system will begin. Central to this process is the body's detoxification system, which exist in all cells of the body, with the bulk of detoxification taking place in the liver. The detoxification system is divided into two components called phase I and phase II, which work in tandem. Toxins pass through phase I and then pass to phase II where they are further detoxified and made water-soluble for eventual disposal. It is now known that you can significantly enhance the body's ability to detoxify these substances through the judicious use of specific supplements. Of the two systems phase II is most important and most often impaired.

The following is a list of nutrients that enhance detoxification: Read more

Metabolic Syndrome Is Linked to Diet Soda

Aspartame is, by far, the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods, accounting for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Now researchers have documented yet another danger this artificial sweetener poses.

Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure. Read more

Heath Ledger's Death: Tied to Diet Coke Aspartame?

I'm not normally interested in celebrity news. However, Heath Ledger's untimely death may wind up having some positive effect if the media makes the connection between his use of aspartame in Diet Coke and his death.

Heath Ledger was a Diet Coke drinker, according to reports. He also suffered from a bipolar symptoms. He was on Ambien CR and anti-depressants (SSRIs) and even illegal drugs.

Aspartame marketed as NutraSweet, E951 or 951, Equal, Canderel, etc. is a psycho drug that changes brain chemistry. Ralph G. Walton, MD, Medical Director, Safe Harbor Behavioral Health Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine says:

"The dipeptide component of the molecule can alter brain chemistry, significantly changing the ratio of catecholamines to indolamines, with resultant lowering of seizure threshold, production of carbohydrate craving and in vulnerable individuals leading to panic, depressive and cognitive symptoms." Read more

If you don't think that aspartame can have serious, acute side effects, read how aspartame chewing gum poisoned New Zealand woman.

Aspartame Turns Tissues to Plastic

Need another reason to quit using aspartame? Surgeons operating upon aspartame brain tumors often note a white plastic being formed throughout those aspartame-afflicted brains.

... Because dicarboxylic acid neural excitotoxins(from Aspartame, including its diketopiperazine) do not cross the blood brain barrier, but rather, are secreted into the ventricles by the choroid plexus, many of those areas mentioned by Dr Monte are the ones extremely afflicted by these Aspartame neural degenerations, to produce symptoms and disabilities from those specific areas arising, before plasticizing of the entire brain becomes specifically noticed, because diffuse plasticizing causes diffuse mental disabilities, while those structures mentioned by Dr Monte cause well defined syndromes and symptoms, beyond mental degenerations. Read more

That can't be good.

Why Diet Sodas Are Fattening: The Cephalic Fat Spiral

Leading fitness experts, such as Matt Furey and Art De Vany, have long claimed that diet sodas were fattening even though they have no calories. Now science shows why they were right:

For as long as humans have lived on Earth, they have been eating foods that taste sweet, such as sugar cane and honey.

So, the brain has a conditioned response in reaction to eating something sweet.

It is called the Cephalic Phase Insulin Response (CPIR), and it’s responsible for the fat-storing effects of diet beverages, including diet sodas, diet tea, coffee, energy drinks, sports drinks, and flavored waters. Read more