The White, the Pink and the Blue The lethality of sweeteners

by Phillip Day

When it comes to identifying the most common poison we willingly use against ourselves - an amazing feat resulting in millions of deaths worldwide every year - there is no contest. The perpetrator is as unlikely a candidate as any I'll name, its unmasking all the more creepy since it burrowed into our civilisation like a parasite, draped in the false colours of comfort and familiarity. It has an entire industry behind it as usual, hell-bent on marketing. It's whiter than heroin, sweeter than your fiancée, more soluble than the National Debt, and more pernicious than nicotine because, like a true demon, this little beauty comes in a million disguises and dresses like a friend.

We grew up being brainwashed with 'Sugar and spice and all things nice', 'Sweetheart', 'Sugar-plum" - all painting the white stuff in a cute and cuddly light. But let's take a hard look at sugar and its partners-in-crime, aspartame and saccharin. Are you nervous about shattering some highly refined illusions?

Dr William Coda Martin was the first publicly to label sucrose a poison. Martin's definition came about after he applied the definition of a poison as "…any substance applied to the body, which causes, or may cause disease." So what is sucrose? Obviously the first task is identifying exactly what sugar is, for there are a number of them. Here are the main ones:

Glucose - found with other sugars but occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables. Many junk foods are converted into glucose or blood sugar, the form in which energy is made available to the brain. Glucose is always present in the bloodstream and is a key material in the metabolic functions of plants and animals.
Dextrose - known as 'corn sugar', manufactured from starches
Fructose - found in fruits
Lactose - milk sugar
Maltose - malt sugar
Sucrose - refined sugar manufactured from cane and beet

SUCROSE (THE WHITE)
The last, sucrose, is the one that goes into tea, coffee, soft drinks and sodas, and shows up in everything from tomato ketchup to Red Bull. There are few processed foods today that do not contain either sucrose, aspartame or saccharin. Sugar's popularity for 300 years has made it the sweetheart of the sugar industry, which is wealthy beyond most people's imaginations. Naturally, the sugar barons are willing to do or say just about anything to keep their product bathed in a safe and neighbourly light. So what are the problems?

Refined sugar, or sucrose, is manufactured from cane and beet extract, which has had its salts, fibres, enzymes, proteins, vitamins and minerals removed. What's left is a white, crystalline substance devoid of meaningful nutrition, labelled 'a carbohydrate', which unfortunately gives manufacturers wide licence to lump it in with the complex carbohydrates, the sum of all declared under 'carbohydrates' on food packaging. Thus the real content of sucrose can be effectively concealed in a product without fraud being perpetrated. The different sugars listed above are composed of different chemical structures which affect the body in quite different ways. The well-meaning, 'think-no-evil' public has once again been snowed by a single word into accepting one sugar for all. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sugars contained in natural whole-foods are easily metabolised by the body. Nature has ensured that fructose, for instance, has the necessary vitamins and minerals in fruits to allow this simple monosaccharide sugar to be converted into energy. Note that the vitamins and minerals which accompany fructose in Nature are essential for this conversion to occur.

Problems with sucrose begin with the rapidity with which it is hydrolysed into glucose and fructose after consumption. Fructose, as previously mentioned, is metabolised directly to produce energy. Abrupt intakes of glucose, however, provoke a massive secretion of insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar and storing fat. The result of excess insulin secretion is a sudden drop in blood sugar, which, as I discuss in The Mind Game, can bring on a whole range of symptoms including violent mood changes and upsets.

Now we have low blood sugar and get that wobbly sensation. What are we craving? Sugar! So, in go the doughnuts, Twinkies, Ding-Dongs and Bear Claws. Up goes the blood sugar again, out squirts the insulin to regulate the glucose, and down comes blood sugar with a thump. This chaotic pattern can eventually cause our cells to become resistant to insulin, resulting in the infamous Syndrome X (insulin resistance) and type 2 diabetes.

Sucrose is a great oxidiser, the theory being that 'free-radicals' constantly seek to stabilise themselves by robbing healthy cells of electrons. This action in turn degrades the cell and the cell dies. A recent study conducted at the University of Buffalo involved 14 healthy men and women fasting for 12 hours before being given a drink containing 75 grams of glucose, equivalent to the sugar content of two cans of soda. Six control patients were given a water and saccharin solution. Researchers collected prior blood samples from all the subjects and then at one, two and three hours after consuming the beverages. The purpose was not to highlight any irregularities with saccharin but to demonstrate the oxidation potential of sugar. The results were as follows:

Ø Free-radical generation in the subjects who consumed the sugar water increased markedly at one hour and more than doubled at two hours
Ø There was no change in free-radical generation in the control participants
Ø In those who had consumed the sugar water, levels of alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E), a powerful antioxidant, had dropped by 4% by the second hour and remained depressed at hour three

Researcher Dr Joseph Mercola remarks on these results: "Another reason to avoid sugar is to slow down the aging process. If you want to stay looking young, it is very important to limit sugar to the smallest amount possible. It is the most significant factor that accelerates aging. It is a negative fountain of youth. It does this by attaching itself to proteins in the body forming new sugar-protein substances called advanced glycation end-products (AGE). The higher the AGE levels, the faster you are aging. As this study points out, sugar also increases oxidation elements in the body (free radicals) which accelerate the aging process."

Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs) are readily seen as hard yellow-brown compounds that are, as Dr Mercola states, the results of blood sugar bonding with proteins in the body's tissue. This process is the precursor to degenerative disease and may manifest as accelerated aging, premature wrinkles and grey hair. We are oxidising and pre-aging our bodies to an early death with sucrose as surely as the pickup rusts its way to the scrap-heap if we leave it outside during winter. Scientific American puts it this way: "After years of bread, noodles and cake, human tissues inevitably become rigid and yellow with pigmented AGE deposits."

All refined sugars are parasitic. They have no accompanying vitamins and minerals and no nutritive value. They leach valuable minerals when the body attempts to do something about them. Sucrose can cause copper deficiency, which reduces elasticity of veins and arteries leading to aneurism and stroke. As we'll find out later, we sophisticated Westerners do not detoxify our bodies and take out the garbage, which means the build-up of sucrose metabolites and partially detoxified sugars continues to accumulate as fat, faithfully stored by estrogen and insulin, rendering an acid siege within us. As the onslaught continues, the body must dig deeper to marshal more minerals to rectify the acid/alkali imbalance. More calcium is taken from bones and teeth resulting in an increased risk of osteoporosis.

Excess glucose is initially stored in the liver in the form of glycogen. As more sugar is stuffed into our sagging bodies daily, the liver swells to accommodate it, waiting in vain for the garbage truck to remove it from the body (detoxification/elimination). Reaching its limit, the liver pours the glucose back into the bloodstream in the form of fatty acids, which are then taken to storage bins in the inactive areas of the body such as the belly, thighs, hips, breasts and backs of our upper arms (triceps area).

But the sugar keeps a-comin'. "Another doughnut, Officer?" "Thank you, ma'am, one more can't hurt.' Oh, but it can. Once the inactive storage areas are filled to capacity, the body begins distributing more surplus energy into the active organs like the heart and kidneys. These fats accumulate as rapidly as the sucrose pours in, impairing vital organs, causing hormonal imbalance, lethargy, abnormal blood pressure and mood swings. As the circulatory and lymph systems are invaded, vital Vitamin C reserves are depleted which threatens the cardiovascular system. An overabundance of white cells occurs, leading to the slowing down of tissue formation. The system is near collapse at this point but still the sugar keeps a-comin'. "Do you want the one with extra icing, Officer?" (naughty giggle). "Only if you insist, young lady."

How about the cellulite, varicose veins and rotten teeth? How about the kids bouncing off the walls with mineral depletion and ADHD, since sucrose robs minerals, impairs brain function resulting in emotional instability, concentration difficulties, hyperactivity, violence, black eyes, detention, lousy grades and conceivably even a school shooting or two.

NOT SWITCHED ON
Glutamic acid, the key to proper brain function, is derived from a diet rich in plant whole-foods. Glutamic acid is broken down by B vitamins into compounds that regulate stop and go functions in the brain. Unfortunately these B vitamins are manufactured by symbiotic bacteria in our intestines which are killed by sugar metabolites, resulting in depletion of our B-vitamin production. This in turn impairs brain function. The symptoms in adults can include sleepiness and the inability to calculate or remember, to dizziness, heightened PMS symptoms and violent impulses.

Pancreatic function may be inhibited by excess sucrose, resulting in a shortage of enzymes like trypsin and chymotrypsin. Excess sugar may lead to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate and rectum. Sugar has been implicated in colon cancer, with an increased risk in women, and biliary tract cancer. Sugar can cause appendicitis, increase the risk of Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis and exacerbate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease have also been cited.

DIABETES
Sucrose and insulin resistance are known to cause type 2 diabetes. This condition usually only occurs in adults and in its early stages can be controlled by diet, supplements and exercise. Diabetics not only lose their sensitivity to insulin, which regulates the build-up of blood sugar, but also suffer systolic blood pressure increase, fainting and coma. Culprits such as white bread and flour, pastries, white rice, breakfast cereals and alcoholic drinks all yield excessive glucose which exacerbates the aforementioned effects.

Another lifestyle issue is physical and emotional stress. This triggers what is known as Fight or Flight Syndrome. When we become stressed or physically threatened, the body prepares for combat or flight by generating powerful shots of adrenalin and cortisol. These hormones provoke the release of stored glucose into the bloodstream for energy to fuel explosive physical action. This causes a surge of insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. Notice how, in previous eras, the Fight/Flight response would resolve itself with action (either fight or flight), which in turn would burn up the sugars. Today when we are stressed with money, relationships, hardships or work pressures, or simply getting our kicks watching the FA Cup or playing video games, this Fight/Flight response can endure for days, weeks or even months. The result can be diabetes.

Dr Joseph Mercola clarifies a common mistreatment: "The overall concept of insulin for Type 2 diabetes is absurd and makes absolutely no sense if one understands the way the body is designed to work. However, since nearly all traditional physicians don't comprehend basic human physiology with respect to diet and health, it is not surprising that they could come up with the prescription for disaster of giving someone who is already overloaded with insulin more of what caused the problem.

The main reason most adult onset (type 2) diabetics have diabetes is that they have too much insulin. This is usually a result of having too many grains. The solution in nearly all of these individuals is to consume a proper low grain [low gluten] diet and to exercise one hour per day."

Experts say those with type 2 diabetes should change their diets to incorporate high-fibre vegetables, pulses, legumes and nuts and avoid processed foods (processed meats and dairy products), especially the high-glycaemic carbohydrates such as grains, bread, pasta, pastries, alcohol, potatoes, all of which yield glucose. Water only should be drunk - 4 pints or 2 litres a day. Small amounts of low-glycaemic fruits such as pears and apples are acceptable along with their seeds.

William Martin recounts some early observations with refined sugar: "Sir Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin, noticed in 1929 in Panama that, among sugar plantation-owners who ate large amounts of their refined stuff, diabetes was common. Among native cane-cutters, who only got to chew the raw cane, he saw no diabetes….

Later, the sugar-pushers advertised that sugar was chemically pure, topping Ivory soap in that department, being 99.9% pure against Ivory's vaunted 99.44%. "No food of our everyday diet is purer!" we were assured. What was meant by purity, besides the unarguable fact that all vitamins, minerals, salts, fibers and proteins had been removed in the refining process? The sugar-pushers came up with a new slant on purity: "You don't have to sort it like beans, wash it like rice. Every grain is like every other. No waste attends its use. No useless bones like in meat, no grounds like in coffee." 'Pure' is a favourite adjective of the sugar-pushers because it means one thing to the chemists and another to the ordinary mortals."

SACCHARIN (THE PINK)
Saccharin has long been a traditional alternative for those with the sugar blues. It is a synthetic, white crystalline powder which, in its pure state, is over 500 times as sweet as sugar cane. In its commercial state it is 350 times as sweet, meaning you need proportionately less to approximate the sweetness of table sugar. Saccharin's compound is C6H4CONHSO2, declaring itself to be once again a 'carbohydrate'. It has no nutritive value and is not digested by the body. Dr Elizabeth M Whelan explains some problems:

"Saccharin, which has been in use as an alternative to sugar since the early 20th century, officially assumed the 'carcinogen' title in March 1977 when a rodent study in Canada produced an excess of bladder tumours in the male animals. This finding immediately triggered the threat of the so-called "Delaney Clause", a Congressionally mandated provision that requires the Food & Drug Administration to ban - literally 'at the drop of a rat' - any synthetic food chemical shown to cause cancer when ingested by laboratory animals.

When millions of weight-conscious Americans got the word that their only available low-calorie sweetener was going to be banned (cyclamates had been banned in 1970 for similar reasons), they were outraged and immediately bought up almost every little pink packet in the land. Congress responded to this outrage by protecting saccharin from the Delaney Clause and allowing it back on the market with a health warning. Saccharin's reputation was further tarnished when the US National Toxicology Program, referring again to the Canadian rat study, elected to put saccharin on its 'cancer-causing" list - formally declaring it an "anticipated human carcinogen."

Evidence indicates that saccharin is a weak carcinogen in animals. Its potential for mischief in humans remains the subject of some debate. In May 2000, the upbeat United States National Institute for Environmental Health Services removed saccharin from its list of suspected carcinogens. Three years earlier though, a board of independent experts, which included the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the California Department of Health, had voted to err on the side of caution and keep it 'a suspected carcinogen'.

Dr Samuel Cohen, a pathologist at the University of Nebraska , is probably America 's foremost authority on saccharin. In answer to the investigative panel's queries on how exactly saccharin causes cancer, Cohen replied that when the sodium form of saccharin combines with rat urine, it creates crystal-like stones in the bladder. These stones damaged tissue, leading to the potential for cancer. Cohen cast doubt on saccharin's danger to humans when he explained the significant differences between rat and human urine and how they reacted with saccharin.

ASPARTAME (THE BLUE)
Twenty years ago another sugar alternative began adorning diners the world over under the brands Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful and Equal-Measure. Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965 by James Schlatter, a chemist working for G D Serle Company, who was testing anti-ulcer compounds for his employers. Aspartame's original approval as a sweetener was blocked by neuroscientist Dr John W Olney and consumer attorney James Turner in 1974 due to concerns over its safety and G D Serle's research practices. However, aspartame duly received its approval for dry goods in 1981 and soft-drink sweetener in 1983 despite worries over its neurological effects. In 1985, G D Serle was purchased by Monsanto, and Serle Pharmaceuticals and The NutraSweet Company were created as separate legal fictions.

According to researcher Alex Constantine in his essay entitled 'Sweet Poison', aspartame may account for up to 75% of the adverse food reactions declared to the US FDA, due primarily to its reported ability to affect neurological processes. Dr Olney found that an excess of aspartate and glutamate, two chemicals used by the body to transmit information between brain neurons, could kill those neurons by allowing too much calcium to collect in the neuron cells to neutralise acid. This neurological damage led Olney to label aspartate and glutamate 'excitotoxins', in that they 'excite' or stimulate the neural cells to death.

Side-effects of aspartame reportedly include multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, memory loss, hormonal problems, hearing loss, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, AIDS dementia, brain lesions and neuroendocrine disorders. Risks to infants, children and pregnant women were also underscored by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, which traditionally follows FDA policy and a softly-softly approach to chemical problems. The Federation declared: "It is prudent to avoid the use of dietary supplements of L-glutamic acid by pregnant women, infants and children. The existence of evidence for potential endocrine responses… would also suggest a neuroendocrine link and that… L-glutamic acid should be avoided by women of childbearing age and individuals with affective disorders."

COMPONENTS OF ASPARTAME
Phenylalanine: The amino acid L-phenylalanine, used by the brain, comprises 50% of aspartame. People suffering from the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU) cannot metabolise phenylalanine, so an excess builds up in the brain, leading to serotonin decrease, emotional disorders and depression.

Methanol: Also known as wood alcohol. The poison methanol is a 10% ingredient of aspartame, which is created when aspartame is heated above 86oF (30oC) in, for example, the preparation of processed foods. Methanol oxidises in the body to produce formic acid and the neurotoxin formaldehyde, used also as a prime ingredient in many vaccinations. The EPA considers methanol "…a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidised to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic."

A one litre carbonated beverage sweetened with aspartame contains around 56mg of methanol. Heavy consumers of diet drinks can ingest up to 250mg of methanol daily, especially in the summer, amounting to 32 times the EPA warning limit.

Dr Woodrow C Monte, Director of the Food Science and Nutritional Laboratory at Arizona State University , was concerned that human response to methanol was probably much higher than with animals due to humans lacking key enzymes that assist in methanol detoxification. Monte stated: "There are no human or mammalian studies to evaluate the possible mutagenic, teratogenic, or carcinogenic effects of chronic administration of methyl alcohol." Monte's concerns about aspartame were so great, he petitioned the FDA through the courts to address his worries. Monte asked the agency to "…slow down on this soft drink issue long enough to answer some of the important questions. It's not fair that you are leaving the full burden of proof on the few of us who are concerned and have such limited resources. You must remember that you are the American public's last defense. Once you allow usage [of aspartame], there is literally nothing I or my colleagues can do to reverse the course. Aspartame will then join saccharin, the sulfiting agents, and God knows how many other questionable compounds enjoined to insult the human constitution with government approval."

Shortly after Monte's impassioned plea, FDA commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes Jr approved the use of aspartame in carbonated beverages. Shortly after that, he left the FDA to join G D Serle's public relations company. In 1993, the FDA further approved aspartame as a food ingredient in processed foods which would always be heated above 86oF as part of their preparation.

Dr Joseph Mercola concludes: "In 1991, the National Institutes of Health listed 167 symptoms and reasons to avoid the use of aspartame, but today it is a multi-million dollar business that contributes to the degeneration of the human population, as well as the deliberate suppression of overall intelligence, short-term memory and the added contribution as a carcinogenic environmental co-factor.

The FDA and Centers for Disease Control continue to receive a stream of complaints from the population about aspartame. It is the only chemical warfare weapon available in mass quantities on the grocery shelf promoted in the media. It has also been indicated that women with an intolerance for phenylalanine, one of the components of aspartame, may give birth to infants with as much as a 15% drop in intelligence level if they habitually consume products containing this dangerous substance."

SUMMARY
The pattern is now familiar. Citizens seduced into consuming poisons whose 'benefits' have been extolled by the 'experts'. If you currently consume sugar, aspartame or saccharin, this chapter has gone some way towards explaining the concerns scientists have with these products and why you should avoid them.