Supporting Evidence for Aspartame-Alzheimer’s Link Emerges
June 26, 2014
Story at-a-glance
Studies are starting to confirm lingering suspicions
that aspartame may play a role in the development of
Alzheimer’s disease
The key mechanism of harm appears to be methanol
toxicity—a much-ignored problem associated with
aspartame in particular
In recent research, methanol-fed mice presented partial
“Alzheimer’s disease-like symptoms,” while rhesus
monkeys fed methanol developed persistent pathological
changes related to the development of Alzheimer’s
Humans are the only mammals who are NOT equipped with a
protective biological mechanism that breaks down
methanol into harmless formic acid. This is why animal
testing of aspartame does not fully apply to humans
Recent research also suggests that sucralose (Splenda)
may have neurotoxic effects
By Dr. Mercola
Most public health agencies and nutritionists in the United
States still recommend no- or low-calorie artificial sweeteners as
an acceptable, and even preferred, alternative to sugar. This flawed
advice can have very serious repercussions for those who follow it.
Artificial sweeteners of all kinds have been found to wreak havoc
with your health in a number of different ways.
Aspartame, which is perhaps the worst of the bunch, has a long
list of studies indicating its harmful effects, ranging from brain
damage to pre-term delivery.
Aspartame is also the number one source of side effect complaints
to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with over 10,000
complaints filed and over 91 documented symptoms related to its
consumption.
Most recently, studies are also starting to confirm lingering
suspicions that artificial sweeteners like aspartame may play a role
in the development of
Alzheimer's disease, a serious form of dementia that is now
thought to kill over half a million Americans each year.
The key mechanism of harm appears to be methanol toxicity—a
much-ignored problem associated with aspartame in particular.
In a previous interview, toxicology expert
Dr. Woodrow Monte (author of the book While Science Sleeps:
A Sweetener Kills1),
explained the links between aspartame and methanol toxicity and the
formation of formaldehyde. In light of the latest research, this
interview is more relevant than ever, which is why I included it
again.
Methanol Toxicity Leads to Persistent Alzheimer's Symptoms
A recently published two-part paper2,
3 highlights what Dr. Monte has been saying for many years
now—that methanol acts differently in animals and humans.
In this case, the researchers also discovered changes in effect
between mice and rhesus monkeys.
Methanol-fed mice presented with partial "Alzheimer's
disease-like symptoms," while rhesus monkeys fed a 3% methanol
solution developed persistent pathological changes related to the
development of Alzheimer's. According to the authors:
"A recently established link between formaldehyde, a
methanol metabolite, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology has
provided a new impetus to investigate the chronic effects of
methanol exposure.
This paper expands this investigation to the non-human
primate, rhesus macaque... [M]ethanol feeding led to persistent
memory decline in the monkeys that lasted 6 months beyond the
feeding regimen...
Most notably, the presence of amyloid plaque
formations in the monkeys highlighted a marked difference in
animal systems used in AD investigations, suggesting that the
innate defenses in mice against methanol toxicity may have
limited previous investigations into AD pathology.
Nonetheless, these findings support a growing body of
evidence that links methanol and its metabolite formaldehyde to
AD pathology." [Emphasis mine]
The Link Between Aspartame and Methanol Toxicity
The artificial sweetener industry (and makers of artificially
sweetened products) has fervently claimed that aspartame is
harmless, and that there's "no biological explanation" for the
health problems reported by so many after consuming aspartame.
But as explained by Dr. Monte, there is indeed a biological and
scientific explanation for aspartame's pathway of harm, and as the
latest research suggests, it's related to the effects of methanol
and formaldehyde, both of which are extremely toxic.
Aspartame is primarily made up of aspartic acid and
phenylalanine—the latter of which has been synthetically modified to
carry a methyl group. This is what provides the majority of the
sweetness. That phenylalanine methyl bond, called a methyl ester, is
very weak, allowing the methyl group on the phenylalanine to easily
break off and form methanol.
You may have heard the claim that aspartame is harmless because
methanol is also found in fruits and vegetables. However, in these
whole foods the methanol is firmly bonded to pectin, which allows it
to be safely passed through your digestive tract. This is not
the case for the methanol created by aspartame. There, it's not
bonded to anything that can help eliminate it from your body. That's
problem number one...
Problem number two relates to the fact that humans are the only
mammals who are NOT equipped with a protective biological mechanism
that breaks down methanol into harmless formic acid. This is why
animal testing of aspartame does not fully apply to humans.
According to Dr. Monte, the fact that methyl alcohol is
metabolized differently in humans compared to other animals has been
known since 1940. And according to the featured paper, rhesus
monkeys do not appear to have the same defenses against methanol
toxicity as mice do. This basically negates much of the animal
research that has been used to "prove" aspartame's safety.
Methanol Acts as a Trojan Horse in Your Body
As explained by Dr. Monte, in humans, methanol ends up
acting as a Trojan horse, allowing toxic formaldehyde to wreak havoc
in some of your most sensitive areas, such as your brain. Here's how
it works: both animals and humans have small structures called
peroxisomes in each cell. There are a couple of hundred in every
cell of your body, which are designed to detoxify a variety of
chemicals. Peroxisome contains catalase, which help detoxify
methanol.
Your cells also contain alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which
converts methanol to formaldehyde. Other chemicals in the
peroxisome in turn convert the formaldehyde to formic acid, which is
harmless—but this last step occurs only in animals. Human
peroxisomes cannot convert the toxic formaldehyde into
harmless formic acid.
Certain locations in your body, particularly in the lining of
your blood vessels, and in your brain, are loaded with ADH that
converts methanol to formaldehyde. But since there's no catalase
present, the formaldehyde does not get converted into harmless
formic acid. As a result, the formaldehyde is free to do enormous
amounts of damage in your tissues.
Symptoms of methanol poisoning include: headaches, ear buzzing,
dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal disturbances, weakness, vertigo,
chills, memory lapses, numbness, and shooting pains in the
extremities, behavioral disturbances, and neuritis. The most well
known problems from methanol poisoning are vision problems including
misty vision, progressive contraction of visual fields, blurring of
vision, obscuration of vision, retinal damage, and blindness.
Formaldehyde, in turn, is a known carcinogen that causes retinal
damage, interferes with DNA replication, and may cause birth
defects.
Processed Foods Are Also High in Methanol
As I've discussed in previous articles, processed foods should be
avoided as a proactive Alzheimer's prevention strategy. In his book,
Grain Brain, neurologist
Dr. Perlmutter reveals how the toxic activity of sugar and
carbohydrates in your diet promote Alzheimer's disease. But we can
also add methanol to the list of reasons for avoiding processed
foods. Not only do many processed foods contain artificial
sweeteners, but when fruits and vegetables are canned, for
example, the methanol becomes liberated from the pectin.
At room temperature, it only takes one month for 10 percent of
the methanol to be released. After about six months, virtually all
of the methanol is liberated. Dr. Monte is convinced that methanol
and the subsequent conversion to formaldehyde from certain processed
foods (see listing below), as well as all foods containing
aspartame, are a major culprit in a variety of diseases, especially
multiple sclerosis (MS).
Again, methanol can slip through your blood brain barrier, and
your brain is one of the areas where you find alcohol dehydrogenase,
which converts methyl alcohol to formaldehyde. This causes the
destruction of myelin basic protein, which is one of the triggers
for MS. Demyelination also plays a role in the development of
Alzheimer's and several other brain-related diseases. According to
Dr. Monte:
"We know that methyl alcohol is known to be a
demyelinating agent... [T]he symptoms associated with the
demyelination... are identical between multiple sclerosis, and
methanol poisoning, and people who consume aspartame."
He believes many diseases can be prevented if we start avoiding
methanol from all sources, and he even offers a methanol-free diet
on his website.4
Items to avoid include:
Cigarettes
Tomato sauces, unless first simmered at least 3 hours, no
lid on pan
Diet foods and drinks with aspartame
Smoked food of any kind, particularly fish and meat
Fruit and vegetable products and their juices in bottles,
cans, or pouches
Chewing gum, as most chewing gum in the USA contains
aspartame
Jellies, jams, and marmalades not made fresh and kept
refrigerated
Slivovitz and other fruit schnapps
Black currant and tomato juice products, fresh or processed
Overly ripe or near rotting fruits or vegetables
The Neurotoxic Properties of Splenda
Another popular artificial sweetener is
sucralose, sold under the brand name Splenda. Sucralose is a
synthetic chemical created in a five-step patented process, in which
three chlorine molecules are added to one sucrose (sugar) molecule.
Some will argue that natural foods also contain chloride, which is
true. However, in natural foods, the chloride is connected with
ionic bonds that easily dissociate when ingested. In Splenda,
they're in a covalent bond that does not dissociate.
And, since your body has no enzymes to break down this covalently
bound chloride, harm can ensue... The reason why your body has no
enzymes for this task is because, in nature, there are NO covalent
chloride bonds to organic compounds—they only exist in synthetic,
man-made form. Aside from Splenda, other examples of synthetic
covalently bound chloride compounds include DDT, PCBs, and Agent
Orange.
Previous research indicates that about 15 percent of sucralose is
absorbed into your digestive system, and ultimately stored in your
body fat. A 2008 animal study5
found that Splenda reduced the amount of beneficial intestinal
bacteria by 50 percent, increased the intestinal pH level, and
affected a glycoprotein that can have crucial health effects,
particularly if you're on certain medications.
More recent research6
detailing Splenda's oxidative effects, suggests the sweetener may
have neurotoxic properties, which doesn't surprise me in the least.
The researchers, who assessed the effects of sucralose on water
fleas, concluded that: "exposure to sucralose may induce
neurological and oxidative mechanisms with potentially important
consequences for animal behavior and physiology." As reported by
GreenMedInfo.com:7
"Like so many novel patented chemicals released onto the
market without adequate pre-approval safety studies, we do not
know if this preliminary toxicological research will be
applicable to human exposures. In fact, there are only
318 study citations on this chemical in existence since
it first began to be researched in the 70's. This most recent
study is the first in existence to look at its effect on the
enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is found in all animals.
This information deficit is all the more remarkable when
you consider there are over 7,000 published studies in existence
on either turmeric or its primary polyphenol curcumin, which is
still not readily administered by the conventional medical
establishment mostly due to 'safety concerns,' despite what the
voluminous positive data on its relevance to over 600
health conditions indicates."
FDA Approval Means Little When It Comes to Ascertaining Safety
As previously noted by Dr. Janet Hull,8
many tend to excuse the negative health effects of aspartame simply
because it has received the stamp of approval by the FDA. But as
discussed in her article, "Abusing the FDA Approval Process,"9
the FDA requires that the industry do its own research,
and actually places the burden of proof on the company making
the product. Rarely is the industry research reviewed by independent
researchers. Should you still be confused on this issue, thinking
that the buck somehow stops at the FDA, FDA spokesman Theresa
Eisenman recently clarified who is ultimately responsible
for making sure a food product is safe, stating that:10"Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their food
products are safe and lawful..."
But what company would really make a serious effort to find
problems with the very products they want to capitalize on? Despite
this illogical premise, the FDA trusts corporations to be honest in
their research and evaluations. How likely do you think it is that
this "honor system" will actually ensure that each product released
to market is safe?
When it comes to artificial sweeteners, aspartame in particular,
there's no doubt in my mind that the system has protected industry
profits at consumers' expense. And we've not seen the last of it.
Despite mounting evidence showing that artificial sweeteners as
a group have adverse health effects, the FDA has just approved
yet another artificial sweetener called Advantame,11,
12,
13 concocted from a combination of aspartame and vanillin,
an artificial vanilla flavor.
Being 20,000 times sweeter than refined sugar, Advantame is the
sweetest artificial sweetener so far. To put this into perspective,
aspartame, sucralose, and saccharine range from 200 to 700 times
sweeter than sugar. Also, as reported by the LA Times:14
"Like aspartame, advantame contains phenylalanine, which
is metabolized with difficulty by people with a rare genetic
disorder, phenylketonuria. But because of its intense sweetness,
advantame would be used at much lower volumes than is
asparatame. As a result, the FDA has declared that it can be
safely consumed by those with phenylketonuria."
Having a Hard Time Giving Up Artificial Sweeteners?
When you consume artificial sweeteners, your brain actually
craves more calories because your body receives no satisfaction on a
cellular level by the sugar imposter. This can contribute to not
only overeating and weight gain, but also an
addiction to artificial sweeteners. To break free, I recommend
addressing any emotional component of your food cravings using a
tool such as the Emotional Freedom
Technique (EFT). A version of EFT specifically geared toward
combating sugar cravings is called
Turbo Tapping. The video below with EFT practitioner Julie
Schiffman also demonstrates how to use EFT to fight food cravings of
all kinds.
If you still have cravings after trying EFT or Turbo Tapping, you
may need to make some changes to your diet. My free
nutrition
plan can help you do this in a step-by-step fashion. As for
safer sweetener options, you could use
stevia or Luo Han, both of which are safe natural sweeteners.
That said, if you struggle with high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, diabetes or extra weight, then you have insulin
sensitivity issues and would likely benefit from avoiding ALL
sweeteners.
Last but not least, if you experience side effects from aspartame
or any other artificial sweetener, please report it to the FDA (if
you live in the United States) without delay. It's easy to make a
report — just go to the
FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator page, find the phone number
for your state, and make a call reporting your reaction.
Copyright 1997- 2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.