Aspartame Is A Poison
The study of Parkinson's disease may have just taken an important leap 
forward with a new study that reveals a clue as to exactly who may be most 
at risk to develop this extremely debilitating disorder.
But whether you're in a Parkinson's high-risk group or not, there's one very 
common food additive you need to be aware of that may intensify the symptoms 
of Parkinson's while causing a wide variety of neurological problems for 
those who don't have the disease.
Variation on a gene
Could an inherited defect in cell mitochondria (an important energy 
producing component of the cell) make people more vulnerable to Parkinson's 
disease? This is the question researchers at the Duke University Medical 
School asked when they designed their study, which they say is the first to 
recognize genetic risk factors for Parkinson's.
As reported in this month's issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, 
the Duke researchers examined 9 well-understood gene variations in 609 
Parkinson's patients and 340 control subjects that showed no signs of the 
disease. One gene variation, called "J hapologroup," was found to be much 
more common in subjects that didn't have the disease. Furthermore, the 
variation was more common for those in groups (such as Caucasian females) 
that tend to have a lower incidence of Parkinson's. Their conclusion: The 
inherited J haplogroup gene variation would appear to be protective against 
the cell mitochondria defect that's typical of Parkinson's patients.
Although encouraged by their breakthrough, the researchers noted that 
because all of their subjects were Caucasian, additional biochemical and 
genetic studies will be needed on a wider variety of ethnic groups to fully 
understand exactly how the J haplogroup variant manages to protect cell 
mitochondria.
Not created Equal
In a Duke University press release, the lead author of the Duke study, 
Jeffery Vance, M.D., discussed the difficulties of researching a disease as 
complex as Parkinson's, which is caused by both genetic and environmental 
factors.
Dr. Vance didn't go on to name what those environmental factors might be, 
but studies have shown that pesticides may be a very likely cause, as well 
as possible toxins in processed foods. And according to a growing body of 
evidence, the primary toxin among food sources is the popular 
sugar-substitute aspartame - better known by its brand names: Equal and 
Nutra-sweet.
In an e-Alert I sent you last month ("Choose Your Poison" 3/6/03) I told you 
how aspartame has been shown to make the unpleasant symptoms of Parkinson's 
even more severe for those who have the disease. That of course is bad 
enough, but it seems that aspartame can also trigger reactions in otherwise 
healthy people. In some cases these reactions mimic the symptoms of 
Parkinson's, as well as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and 
fibromyaliga, to name just a few.
Raging hormones
In 1994 the Department of Health and Human Services released a list of more 
than 60 reported adverse reactions to aspartame, including: chest pains, 
asthma, arthritis, migraine headaches, insomnia, seizures, tremors, vertigo, 
and weight gain.
The surprising item on that list is "weight gain," given the fact that 
aspartame is the sweetener used in most diet sodas. In fact, according to 
one study, aspartame may actually STIMULATE appetite, prompting cravings for 
calorie-rich carbohydrates.
But weight gain is nothing compared to some of the horror stories out there.
On an HSI Forum thread titled "Fear The Turtle," a member named John shares 
some of the details of how a steady intake of diet soda prompted a 
debilitating hormonal reaction to aspartame. The details are no less than 
tragic, although John was fortunate enough to discover the source of his 
physical and neurological disorders in time to take the necessary action to 
nurse himself back to relative good health. I say "relative" because 
apparently he will never fully return to the robust health he once enjoyed.

John's story is fascinating, and you can read the full account of his case 
history (along with several others) on a web site called "Aspartame 
Poisoning Information Site" (www.aspartame.ca).

Poison by the liter

The cause of most or possibly all of these adverse aspartame reactions is 
methanol. When aspartame is combined with the enzyme chymotrypsin in the 
small intestine, methanol is released and breaks down into formaldehyde, a 
potent neurotoxin. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers 
methanol to be a "cumulative poison" and recommends a safe consumption of no 
more than 7.8 mg per day. If you drink a one-liter beverage containing 
aspartame, you ingest 7 times that amount - about 56 mg of methanol!

But it gets even worse. Because if the product containing aspartame is 
heated to a temperature above 86 degrees Fahrenheit, "free methanol" is 
created, speeding up the absorption of methanol, and magnifying the effects 
of the neurotoxins. Nevertheless, in 1993 the FDA approved the use of 
aspartame in food items such as gelatin desserts that require heating well 
over the 86 degree range.

The result? People are hurting - people like John, whose life will never be 
the same. According to the FDA's Adverse Reaction Monitoring System, 
approximately 75 percent of all complaints received about food additives are 
aspartame related. That's right: 3 out of every 4! And yet the FDA still 
refuses to acknowledge the evidence that aspartame is essentially poison.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, and you don't 
need a federal agency to state the obvious: Don't drink the aspartame.

...and another thing

Is cabbage beautiful? To a nutritionist it is. Not quite as glamorous as the 
tomato or as elegant as the carrot, cabbage is, nevertheless, nutritionally 
gorgeous.

In yesterday's e-Alert I told you about the interesting misconception of 
"vitamin U." That was the name given to the juice of cabbage cores - a 
treatment that's reported to quickly heal various stomach ulcers. And 
although vitamin U (from the "u" in "ulcer") has not been formally 
recognized, there's no question about the high nutritional value of cabbage.

One of the cruciferous cousins in the vegetable family, cabbage has an 
excellent ratio of calories to nutrients - that is: low in calories, high in 
nutrients. With good amounts of vitamins C, A, and B6, cabbage is also an 
excellent source of calcium (as an HSI member pointed out yesterday), 
phosphorus, and choline, which helps maintain the neurotransmitters that 
support memory.

Cabbage also contains three important phytochemicals (plant chemicals that 
assist in disease prevention): sulforaphane, indoles, and phenolic acids, 
all of which are believed to help impede the production of cancer cells, as 
well as decrease inflammation.

If there's a health drawback to cabbage, it would be the remote chance that 
it could inhibit your body's utilization of iodine - a potential problem for 
those with abnormal thyroid function. But this would only be a concern if 
you were eating an excessive amount of raw cabbage.

So the next time you cruise past the vegetable stalls, don't let those 
flashier veggies distract you from the lowly, but oh, so nutritious cabbage.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute

Sources: "Genetic Risk Factor for Parkinson's Disease Discovered" Richard 
Puff, Duke Medical News, 4/4/03, dukemednews.org "Mitochondrial 
Polymorphisms Significantly Reduce the Risk of Parkinson Disease" American 
Journal of Human Genetics, 72:804-811, 2003, journals.uchicago.edu/ajhg 
"Aspartame - Avoid It" Dr. Joseph Mercola, mercola.com "Menthanol - AKA Wood 
Alcohol or Poison - 10% of Aspartame" Dr. Joseph Mercola, mercola.com 
"Reported Aspartame Toxicity Effects" Holistic Healing Web Page, 
holisticmed.com "Extremely Versatile Cabbage" Paulette Millis, Whole Life, 
wholife.com

 Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
[log in to unmask] 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn