[The American model of Corporate Executives moving between Government, top universities, powerful think tanks or NGOs, is now being increasingly exposed in the US as responsible for the stifling of opinion and dissent, and the complete perversion of public life. It has made American citizens guinea pigs in the hands of faceless corporate bureaucrats and soulless corporations, ensuing the very triumph of Mammon that the high values of civilization were supposed to prevent – Editor]

This article aims to create public awareness about the known dangers of Aspartame, Diet Soda, Splenda and how MNCs mess up people’s lives in cahoots with corrupt FDA authorities worldwide. Health Care is Self Care and Right to Health akin to the Right to Life. The State is duty-bound to play a positive facilitating role in this regard; but does it?

Aspartame

When the temperature of the artificial sweetener Aspartame exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in it converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which causes metabolic acidosis [Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame Aspartame Information List; also Splenda & other dangerous sweeteners, www.mpwhi.com. Additional information at www.TruthAboutSplenda.com]

Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is. Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that Aspartame is the culprit. Its continuous use irritates the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition [Ibid]

Patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most symptoms disappear. There are many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia [Ibid]

Those using Aspartame (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss, probably have Aspartame poisoning [Ibid]

Sadly, modern medicine, a pseudo science, cannot diagnose people with Aspartame harm or diagnoses in error. There are many instances when diagnosis is totally off the mark, but each ‘one-disease, one-organ’ specialist goes on giving more and more medicines and creating more and diseases.  Create-more-diseases-and-cash-on-it being is the operating principle of disease-business and crap science [Holistic Healing in Tropical Diseases, Dr. Leo Rebello, Natural Health Centre, Bombay, 2006]. Therefore, instead of running after these foolish ‘medicine men’ just stop drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels. 

Diet Soda

Diet soda is not a diet product, but a chemically altered, multiple sodium (salt) and Aspartame-containing product that actually makes you crave for carbohydrates and gain weight. These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs; no wonder the American population is turning obese and/or suffering from cancers and diabetes [From FAT to Fit, Leo Rebello, www.healthwisdom.org]

Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used mainly to preserve ‘tissue specimens’ in laboratories. Formaldehyde poisoning symptoms include local irritation of eyes, nose, mouth, throat, respiratory and gastro-intestinal tracts, and central nervous system causing vertigo, stupor, convulsions, unconsciousness, renal damage.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. Physicians who thought they had a patient with retinopathy in fact had patients with symptoms caused by Aspartame. The latter drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are neurotoxic. With diabetics, Aspartame passes the blood-brain barrier, attacks the neurons of the brain causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage [Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, First Indian Edition, 1990]

Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in behavior when these chemicals were removed from their diet. So-called ‘behavior modification prescription drugs’ (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Indeed, giving Ritalin for ADD and ADHD is “treatment worse than the disease” [Nature Cure and Yoga Therapy, Dr. Leo Rebello, 2004, 3rd ed.] 

Methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) was patented in 1954 by the CIBA pharmaceutical company (now Novartis), and most brand-name Ritalin is produced in the United States. Methylphenidate is a CNS stimulant. Reported methylphenidate abuse side effects include psychosis (abnormal thinking or hallucinations), insomnia, mood swings, mood changes, nervousness, stomach aches, diarrhea, headaches, decreased sex drive, lack of hunger, gum and skin bleeding and dry mouth [Online library of psychoactive plants, chemicals and related topics from Erowid.org]. It is   also complicit in stunted growth.

In the United States and worldwide, methylphenidate is classified as a Schedule II drug under the Convention of Psychotropic Substances because of its high addictive potential and consequent abuse [Wikipedia]. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, “the uproar over Ritalin was triggered almost single-handedly by the Scientology movement.” The Citizens Commission on Human Rights, an anti-psychiatry group associated with Scientology, conducted a major campaign against Ritalin in the 1980s and lobbied Congress for an investigation. Ritalin’s less common side effects include palpitations, high blood pressure and tachycardia [Ibid]. Most child-patients were being ‘poisoned’ on a daily basis. The drug can cause mental retardation and other birth defects, if taken at the time of conception and early pregnancy [Ibid].

Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should never be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories of children suffering grand mal-seizures and other neurological disturbances. 

Aspartame was approved for use in dry foods in 1981 and in soft drinks in 1983. Late Senator Howard Metzenbaum of Ohio wrote and presented The Aspartame Safety Bill (S. 1554) in 1983 that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. A key element of Metzenbaum’s bill was labelling that would caution consumers how much aspartame they could ingest, the maximum allowable daily intake established by FDA, and a special warning for pregnant women. The bill stated that the warning information “be included on such labels and labelling in a manner which is the most useful to individuals who consume such food.” The bill mandated independent tests by the National Institutes of Health, focusing on brain chemistry, behavioural and neurological reactions, headaches, mood alterations, memory loss and effects on pregnant women and fetuses. It was killed by intense lobbying by the big pharma MNCs in cahoots with the American FDA [Ibid]. The US Food & Drug Administration has long lost is reputation to be able to do its job.    

Monsanto’s patent on Aspartame has expired. But there are over 5000 products in the market in USA alone that contain this deadly chemical and thousands more will be introduced. Monsanto, creator of Aspartame, funds the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians, a fact exposed by the New York Times: “These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to Monsanto because they take money from them and are required to endorse their products.” Also: “The chemical sucralose, marketed as ‘Splenda,’ has replaced aspartame as the no.1 artificial sweetener in foods and beverages. Aspartame has been forced out by increasing public awareness that it is both a neurotoxin and an underlying cause of chronic illness worldwide...”

Splenda/Sucralose 

But “chlorocarbons are never nutritionally compatible with our metabolic processes and are wholly incompatible with normal human metabolic functioning. Any chlorocarbons not directly excreted from the body intact can cause immense damage to the processes of human metabolism and, eventually, our internal organs.” The liver is a detoxification organ which deals with ingested poisons and over time gets damaged beyond repair with such artificial chemicals.  You buy the poison; you buy the disease.

According to PRNewswire-USNewswire, 11 August 2008, US District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer has set 6 January 2009 as the starting date for a potentially landmark civil suit against Johnson & Johnson over its alleged false advertising of the artificial sweetener Splenda. The central issue before the court is whether the advertising of Splenda - a man-made chemical sweetener containing chlorine - makes consumers believe it is a natural product, by using taglines like “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar,” and similar advertising.

Internal documents show Johnson & Johnson knew that its Splenda advertising was causing consumers to believe that Splenda is natural, though it is not. Rulings in France, Australia and New Zealand have found Johnson & Johnson’s advertising of Splenda to be deceptive, but the company continues advertising in the United States and is now the subject of legal scrutiny and public criticism.

Lead Sugar Association attorney Mark Lanier says: “Now we look forward to presenting the truth about Splenda to the jury and focusing on the very real effect of misleading advertising. We are confidant that the outcome will be a victory for consumers everywhere” [PR New and the Sugar Association]. 

Dr. Betty Martini, founder, Mission Possible International, which promotes the natural herb Stevia for diabetics in place of sugar, says “the controversy rages over Splenda (sucralose). Is it safe and natural like sugar or is it a chlorinated hydrocarbon? As lawsuits fly, consider the chemistry of this artificial compound.” She points out that the FDA denied approval of aspartame for 16 years since it was created and then caved in to political/economic pressure when Don Rumsfeld, CEO of the manufacturer, was brought to Washington by Ronald Reagan. A new FDA Commissioner appointed to approve it then became a consultant for NutraSweet’s public relations firm for $1000/day on a 10-year contract! She said this should have made FDA more cautious the next time, but the FDA approved the toxic chlorocarbon Splenda without hesitation and without any long-term testing on human subjects.”

This shows how powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. It is time that people woke up to the dangers from the pharmaceutical mafia. 

Dr. Leo Rebello has nearly three decades of clinical, teaching and research experience in Natural Medicine. He edits www.healthwisdom.org; the views expressed are his own.