From the June 1999 Idaho Observer:


Clinton may be suffering aspartame poisoning

by Don Harkins

A growing body of evidence suggests that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) routinely approves the use of synthetic substances that have not been proven to be safe over time. On the other hand, the FDA resisits all attempts by doctors and lay persons to use herbal and botanical rememdies that have proven over centuries of use to have no negative long-term effects. There is some indication that we are purposefully being poisoned. It is strangely heartening that even the president is not above being poisoned -- he drinks aspartame. If you have seen Attorney General Janet Reno lately, you will notice that she is exhibiting Parkinson's symptomology -- she, too, is being poisoned or is not being told about Liquid Deprenyl Citrate.

A group of people who are angered by other people who make fun of his often angrily red nose, have attributed Clinton's rosacea and other health problems to his ingestion of the sugar replacement sweetener aspartame.

A fairly complete list of the symptoms that could indicate methanol toxicity from aspartame ingestion 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,and erratic blood sugar levels.

The possibly aspartame-induced neurotoxicological impairments of a president during wartime should be a vital national security concern.

Beatriz Medina of Rio de Janeiro stated in a letter that she had been told by her newspaper editor to “choose a photograph of Clinton at the Ramstein Air Base, in Germany, with American soldiers, to illustrate his cover article.”

Medina explained that of over 100 photos, only 14 pictured Clinton with soldiers and of the 14, in 13 of them he “was holding or drinking a can of Diet Coke.” Medina said that she chose the 14th photo for the cover story.

Even Monica Lewinsky's description of the presidents behavior as memorialized on the Linda Tripp tapes are seen as symptomatic of aspartame ingestion.

“His face started flushing, he looked zoned out -- “I think he's on drugs, Lewinsky said and added that after awhile he behaved as if he had been drinking.

Some people feel that this behavior, particularly claims that his vision and memory are not clear at times, is an indication that he has been drinking methanol (wood alcohol) -- not ethyl alcohol as commonly found in alcoholic beverages.

The group of people who are concerned about the president's condition have availed the president's staff of information with regard to the volumes of peer-reviewed studies which indicate that aspartame is toxic to people and that one can of aspartame-sweetened soda exceeds EPA allowable safe drinking water standards for methanol.

“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 percent 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,” wrote Rich Murray.

“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,” Murray added.

Peer-reviewed science proves aspartame toxicity

According to several studies, a few of which have been quoted here so that you may convince anybody that you love to stop drinking products that have been sweetened with aspartame, the sweetener is an accumulative toxin in humans. As proven by a 1998 radioactive tracer study in Spain, aspartame provides methanol, which converts to formaldehyde in the tissues (Life Sci 1998;63(5):337-49).

“It is concluded that aspartame consumption may constitute a hazard because of its contribution to the formation of formaldehyde adducts,” wrote Woodrow C. Monte, Ph.D., Professsor of Food Science, Director of the Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona (Journal of Applied Nutrition, Volume 36, No. 1, pages 42-54, 1984). This study is available at: http://www.dorway.com/wmonte.txt

Following is the published abstract of the above referenced study.

“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.

“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).”

In the article “Aspartame ingestion and headaches: a randomized crossover trial,” (1994, Neurology, 44, 1787-93) by Van Den Eeden, et al, it was stated in the introduction that, “...the FDA had received over 5,000 complaints as of July, 1991 in a passive surveillance system to monitor adverse side effects. Neurologic problems constitute the primary complaints in these and several other case series, with headaches accounting for 18 to 45 percent, depending on the case series reported.”

There are reportedly over 9,000 over-the-counter products, including vitamins and pharmaceuticals, which contain aspartame.



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