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NutraSweet
By Lita Lee, Ph.D.
6/19/01
The following information comes from H.J. Roberts’ book, Aspartame (NutraSweet*), Is It Safe? By H.J.
Roberts, M.D. A more recent book, Excitotoxins, The Taste That Kills, by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. is
also an excellent indictment against this toxic substance. This article illustrates why substances isolated
from whole foods or herbs can be dangerous, be they amino acids, vitamins, minerals, sucrose from whole
sugarcane, fructose from fruit or aspirin from white willow bark.
The FDA approved NutraSweet on July 15, 1983 despite disapproval by in-house FDA scientists,
concerned investigators and consumer groups. On Thursday, July 17, 1986, a consumer group petitioned
the FDA to ban NutraSweet because of links to epileptic seizures (San Jose Mercury, July 18, 1986).
Their petition cited research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology led by Dr. Richard Wurtman,
who reported seizures in consumers of aspartame products. Wurtman believes that NutraSweet lowers the
threshold to seizures.
However, an FDA spokesman maintained that aspartame is safe. Says Dr. Gerald Gaull, vice president
for nutrition and medical affairs for the NutraSweet Company, “We have no new scientific evidence that
in any way suggests that our product is anything but completely safe.” (Aren’t you relieved?)
Statistics
Aspartame is consumed by over 100 million Americans in over 1200 products. Aspartame can be found
in soft drinks, puddings, deserts, gelatins, cereals, hot chocolate, gum, fruit drinks, yogurt, ice cream, teas,
and cookies. Aspartame is recommended by doctors, nutritionists, most diet centers and TV ads.
Conscientious mothers choose sugar-free foods, thinking it is a healthy choice. Diabetics and dieters alike
choose aspartame-sweetened foods and beverages. The per-capita consumption of synthetic sweeteners
including NutraSweet and Saccharin increased from 6.2 pounds in 1975 to 16 pounds in 1985. As of
1989, NutraSweet claimed 70% of the synthetic sugar market (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 6, 1989).
The effects of aspartame are not related to the dose. Effects have been observed from as little as a sip of
diet soda, a stick of chewing gum or in a nursing child whose mother who drinks a diet soda. Others react
after having consumed extraordinary amounts of aspartame, possibly induced by the intense thirst it
causes.
Toxicity Mechanisms of Aspartame
The chemical name for NutraSweet is aspartame. Aspartame contains 50% phenylalanine, 40% aspartic
acid, and 10% methyl alcohol (methanol or wood alcohol). Methanol is the first to be released during
digestion. The lowest fatal dose of methanol observed was three teaspoons of a 40% solution. The body
attempts to detoxify methanol by converting it to formaldehyde and finally to carbon dioxide. Methanol
is poisonous to the brain, optic nerves, and retina. It causes double vision and blindness.
The FDA says that aspartic acid and phenylalanine from aspartame are metabolized just like any protein.
Not so says Roberts. There is a profound difference between the rates of digestion, absorption and
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assimilation of whole-food proteins containing these amino acids AND aspartame. There is no unbalanced
flooding of single amino acids into the system when proteins are slowly digested to produce single amino
acids. Consuming phenylalanine as dietary protein does not significantly elevate plasma or brain levels of
this amino acid. In fact, some amino acids compete with phenylalanine for brain uptake. By contrast,
ingesting ONE aspartame drink can double the phenylalanine in the brain.
Neurotransmitters influence brain, nerve and endocrine function. Phenylalanine is the precursor to two
neurotransmitters, dopamine and norepinephrine. Others derived from amino acids include epinephrine,
serotonin and acetylcholine. The marked increase of brain phenylalanine following aspartame ingestion
can alter brain concentrations of this and other amino acid-derived neurotransmitters. Increased plasma
phenylalanine is found in the well-known condition, PKU (phenylketonuria) but it is also associated with
other conditions. For example, increased plasma phenylalanine is found in patients with chronic kidney
failure, diabetes when the insulin level drops, iron deficiency, obesity, cirrhosis of the liver, malnutrition,
infection, leukemia and in women on oral contraceptives. All of these people may be unusually
susceptible to aspartame toxicity.
The epileptogenic effects of aspartic acid are discussed in the article on seizures.
Aspartame Toxicity Symptoms
Aspartame toxicity symptoms come from the ingredients forming it: excess phenylalanine, excess aspartic
acid and methanol. It is easy to tell if your symptoms are caused by aspartame. Simply avoid using it and
see what disappears! Aspartame toxicity symptoms may subside gradually or promptly when the causal
agent is withdrawn.
Below are pertinent facts related to some of the more common complaints.
Headaches and seizures: Headaches, including migraines, are the most common complaint, occurring in
nearly half of those who react to aspartame. The incidence of headaches in the general public is about
10%. People with hypoglycemia due to a sluggish thyroid or inadequate protein digestion are more
vulnerable to aspartame related headaches. Headaches arise in prior sufferers and previously headachefree people alike. It is thought that the effects of phenylalanine and aspartic acid on major
neurotransmitters is involved in the headache mechanism.
Dizziness, unsteadiness, tremors, confusion, memory loss, severe drowsiness and/or narcolepsy,
numbness of limbs, slurring of speech): These symptoms are often misdiagnosed as neurological
disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinsonism and other seizure disorders. This has caused airline
pilots and drivers to loose their licenses, and great loss of productive work among aspartame-sensitive
employees in many fields. Think how angry you would be if your career were halted by an artificial
substance that the FDA says is perfectly safe. This has also caused great animosity towards doctors, who
have refused to believe their patients’ complaints about aspartame toxicity, have diagnosed them with
psychological problems and have recommended psychiatry or psychotherapy.
Roberts gives many clinical examples. Here is one (page 111): An Air Force pilot was permanently
grounded following diagnosis of an idiopathic partial seizure disorder, even though all symptoms ceased
when he avoided aspartame drinks and were re-initiated upon resuming them. He said he developed
uncontrollable tremors after consuming large amounts of aspartame drinks daily, because of marked
sweating and thirst in a hot environment. After four months, he suffered a grand mal convulsion. Many
of these sufferers are placed on toxic anti-epileptic drugs for a condition which is reversible simply by
avoiding the initiating substance - aspartame.
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A word about narcolepsy: Narcolepsy is an embarrassing, uncontrollable sleepiness. It can be induced by
the cola break and the aspartame break (name your product!). Think how many diet-conscious people
develop this syndrome and think that there is something wrong with them! Do not think that this is
dosage-dependent. Narcolepsy was observed in one victim after chewing ONE stick of an aspartamechewing gum. A postman developed narcolepsy and sleep apnea after consuming aspartame products
over a six-month period. He also experienced severe dizziness, marked decrease of vision, tinnitus
(ringing in the ear), memory loss, nausea, personality changes, severe thirst and frequent urination at
night. All medical tests failed to provide a diagnosis. ALL symptoms disappeared within four weeks of
aspartame avoidance except the tendency to narcolepsy. All symptoms returned within three days after
resuming aspartame products.
Psychological-psychiatric symptoms: The most common of these are severe depression, severe irritability,
anxiety attacks, marked personality changes involving mood swings, aggressive behavior, and insomnia.
The following case is from my own experience. I was introduced to an insulin-dependent diabetic woman,
who was intelligent, witty, laughed a lot and was an avid art collector. Gradually, I observed changes in
her personality. She became increasingly aggressive, violent, irrational, and had violent mood swings as
her diabetes went out of control. She became wheel chair ridden and died in an intensive care unit, of
heart, kidney and diabetic complications, after having received many drugs over the years. After her
death, I was told that she was advised to use aspartame as a sugar substitute. She always had a diet soda in
her hand, and would not listen to me when I tried to tell her not to drink it. She said that her doctor told
her to do it.
Diabetes: I will use blood sugar problems as a common example but there are many others documented in
Roberts’ book.
The symptoms of abnormal (low or high) blood sugar are often exacerbated by aspartame products. For
example, hypoglycemia, with all of its symptoms, may be exacerbated by diet sodas, which have zero
nutrition and thus are incapable of modulating blood sugar. Diabetics are in special danger because
aspartame is highly recommended by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and most physicians who
treat diabetics. Roberts is a diabetes specialist and has observed that aspartame can affect patients
adversely at all stages of this disease. He has observed: initiation of overt clinical diabetes, loss of
diabetes control, more frequent reactions to insulin and oral anti-diabetic drugs, non-compliance with the
recommended diabetic diet, and aggravated complications involving the eyes, the kidneys, and the
peripheral nerves. For example (page 192), a 46-year old man with insulin-dependent diabetes was in
complete diabetic control until he began drinking several aspartame beverages and ingesting up to five
table-top packets of aspartame daily. He said, “My diabetes went haywire, and I had terrible insulin
reactions.” Within one week of aspartame avoidance, his diabetes was again under control. The ADA
continues to endorse these products, as do most doctors, whether they are treating diabetics or dieters,
both of whom may suffer blood sugar problems.
Other drug-related inter-actions with aspartame: Roberts has observed drug interactions in aspartame
consumers who take Coumadin (a blood thinner), Dilantin (anti-epileptic drug), anti-depressants, Inderal,
Aldomet or Lidocaine (Xylocaine), used in dentistry. Think how many diet soda drinkers are given
Lidocaine for dental work. Roberts devotes a whole chapter to aspartame-induced complications of these
drugs.
Pregnancy: Even though aspartame was approved as a safe chemical for pregnant women and nursing
mothers, please be advised! Roberts found severe abnormalities, including congenital deformities among
infants whose parents consumed aspartame products at the time of conception, during the pregnancy or
both. For example, a young couple who ingested large amounts of aspartame products prior to and during
the wife’s first pregnancy delivered a child born with several defects. The child died three days after the
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birth. In another case, a pregnant mother who drank diet sodas daily during the pregnancy bore a
permanently blinded child.
Com plaints in 551
Aspartame Reactors
Th is l ist include s symp to ms o bserved in 10%
or more of a spartamese nsitive pe ople .
Sou rce: Roberts
Eyes:
Vi sion prob lems (decreas ed
visi on, blurri ng, tunn el vis ion,
an d bl indn ess)
25 %
Ea rs :
Ti nnitus (ri ngin g)
Neurologic:
Head ach es
Dizzines s, tremors
Memo ry loss , confu sion
Sle epin ess, narcole psy
Pare sthe sias (tin glin g,
nu mbin g)
Sei zu res (e pile psy)
Slu rring of s peech
13 %
45 %
39 %
29 %
17 %
15 %
15 %
12 %
Psychologic-Psychia tric:
Severe dep ressi on
25 %
Extrem e irri tabi lity
23 %
An xi ety attacks
9%
Pers onal ity chang es
16 %
In somn ia
14 %
Che st:
Pal pita tion s/ta chycardia
Sho rtnes s of brea th
16 %
10 %
Gas trointes tinal:
Naus ea,vom itin g
Diarrh ea
14 %
13 %
Endocrine:
Blo od s ugar probl ems
11 %
Misce llaneous
Urina tion prob lems
Exce ssive thirs t
Severe joi nt p ains
Blo atin g
13 %
12 %
11 %
10 %
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"Disclaimer: I am a chemist and an enzyme nutritionist, not a medical doctor. I do not diagnose, prescribe for, treat
or claim to prevent, mitigate or cure any human diseases. I do not provide diagnosis, care, treatment or
rehabilitation of individuals, nor apply medical, mental health or human development principles. I do not prescribe
prescription drugs nor do I tell you to discontinue them. I provide enzymes and other dietary supplements to
improve digestion and to nourish and support normal function and structure of the body. If you suspect any disease,
please consult your physician."
Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. They are not intended
to diagnose, prescribe for, treat or claim to prevent, mitigate or cure any human disease. They are intended for
nutritional support only. The FTC requires that we tell you that the results in case notes and testimonials published
here are not typical, however, they do show what some people have been able to achieve. Individuals vary, which is
why we must always consider the whole person when recommending a course of action. The third party information
referred to herein is neither adopted nor endorsed by this web site but is provided for general information purposes.
The listing of specific disease terms is based upon medical literature and is not a substitute for competent medical
advice. If you suspect a medical condition, you should consult a physician.
Copyright 2001 - 2006. Neither this article, nor any part of it, may be reproduced without permission.
If permission to reprint is granted, the article must include author and URL information.
Lita Lee, Ph.D.
http://www.litalee.com
[email protected]
 2001
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