We fatlings in addition to loving savory foods we also like sweet food. Many a fatling order a couple of double beef Whoppers and fries only to wash it all down with a giant diet Coke. Fat girls in denial would shovel down 2000 calories of delicious fast food in one sitting because they think diet drinks somehow counteract the effects of calories. The true fatling shoot up with a little extra insulin and then orders up an extra large shake along with a regular Coke.
The faithful reader of Bigger Fatter Politics know that we are not an anti-weight loss organization like the NAAFA style angry jealous fat girl brand of Fat Acceptance because we know that not everyone can "handle the fat" so we don't oppose the use of artificial sweeteners so long as they are safe. Fat people have enough health issues to worry about and diabetes is just one of them.
The following article spells out the danger of Nutrasweet the most widely used artificial sweetener.
Aspartame—"A Chemical Poison"? By Dr Mercola Click for more information on Nutrasweet
The book "Prescription for Nutritional Healing" by James and Phyllis Balch lists aspartame under the category of "chemical poison." While many still refuse to believe that toxic or otherwise health-harming ingredients would be allowed to be used in food manufacturing, the evidence against aspartame and other artificial sweeteners is, in my opinion, overwhelming...
Aspartame is made up of three chemicals:
Aspartame is made up of three chemicals:
- Phenylalanine (50 percent)—Phenylalanine is an amino acid normally found in your brain. Persons with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) cannot metabolize phenylalanine and must avoid it at all costs to prevent the accumulation of phenylalanine in their brain, which can be lethal. It has been shown that ingesting aspartame, especially along with carbohydrates, can lead to excess levels of phenylalanine in the brain even in persons who do not have PKU. Excessive levels of phenylalanine in your brain can decrease your serotonin levels, which in turn can provoke emotional disorders such as depression.
- Aspartic acid (40 percent)—According to the work of Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, there are about 500 scientific references showing that excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid (about 99 percent of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is glutamic acid) in our food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute symptoms. Aspartate and glutamate act as neurotransmitters in your brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Excess aspartate or glutamate in your brain can kill off neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into your cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells. The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate and glutamate is why they are referred to as "excitotoxins." They literally "excite" or stimulate your neural cells to death. It is important not to confuse this with the amino acid glutamic acid, which is a normal part of foods and an important nutrient.
- Methanol (10 percent)—Methanol, also known as wood alcohol, is a deadly poison. It is gradually released in your small intestine once the methyl group of aspartame encounters the digestive enzyme chymotrypsin. Inside your body, methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde, the latter of which is another lethal neurotoxin and a known carcinogen, which passes freely through your blood brain barrier to cause brain damage. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), methanol is considered "a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." The EPA recommends limiting consumption of methanol to 7.8 mg/day. A one-liter (approx. 1 quart) aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products can consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily, or 32 times the EPA limit.
Aspartame Is Carcinogenic
In 2006, the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center of the European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences released a study which revealed that aspartame can induce a wide range of malignancies in rodents, including lymphoma and leukemia, concluding that aspartame is a potential carcinogen at doses much less (20 mg/kg bw) than the current acceptable daily intake (ADI) for humans in Europe (40 mg/kg bw) and in the United States (50 mg/kg bw). .[4]
A follow-up study published in 2007 confirmed and reinforced aspartame's "multipotential carcinogenicity" at a dose level close to the ADI for humans, including the discovery that fetal exposure results in increasing its carcinogenic effects later in life.[5]
