Sweet Poison - Book Review

Sweet Poison
By Janet Starr Hull
New Horizon Press
HB 1999
PB 2004
Janet's website



This is the story of Janet Starr Hull, a Texas Nuitrionist, who fell ill during the 1980s and was diagnosed with Graves Disease. Janet began having ongoing sharp headaches, which the doctors said were just migraines. No medicine was helping. And she was eating healthy foods - including sugar-free yogurts, sugar free gum, sugar free everything, and drinking diet sodas.

Her doctor had told her that she had Graves disease and that her thyroid would have to be irradiated (or destroyed) and that she would be on medication for the rest of her life. But there was one problem that the doctor could not explain. One of the symptoms of graves disease is unexplained weight loss. Janet was putting ON weight, not losing it. This is why she refused to allow her doctor to irradiate her thyroid.

It took Janet some time to associate her headaches with the diet drinks she was drinking. It took even longer to discover that aspartame was the culprit and why. So she went to a nutritonist who told her to stop drinking al diet sodas and to stop eating any and all "sugar free" foods. She did so, and in just a few months, her headaches stopped, her weight gain stopped and her general health improved.

After some time of investigation, Janet discovered that Aspartame was made up of 1 amino acid and 2 chemicals. In the human body, both chemicals break down to substances that are very toxic to the human body.

"Methanol [one of the breakdown products of aspartame] has no therapeutic properties and is considered only as a toxicant. The ingestion of two teaspoons is considered lethal in humans" (Monte, Woodrow, "Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health", Journal of Applied Nutrition, Vol. 36, Number 1, 1984, p. 44).

There have been 92 symptoms reported to the FDA in connection with Aspartame. but the FDA refuses to recall aspartame or make it illegal.

Whats this I hear about Graves Disease and Aspartame
How safe is Aspartame

Mark Gold is another person who has been reseaching and investigating Aspartame for a numnber of years.

What you should know about Aspartame.

Can aspartame cause visual damage?

Official answer - No. Scientists know that only huge quantities of methanol can affect vision. A small amount of methanol is formed when aspartame is digested or when its components separate. However, the amount of methanol one could possibly consume from aspartame is well within safe levels, and is actually less than that found in many fruit and vegetable juices.

Unofficial answer - Stuff and nonsense. These "Scientists" are industry scientists who are talking about acute poisoning of methanol as opposed to chronic poisoning. The EPA admits that the effects of chronic low-level administration of methanol have never been tested in long-term experiments (EPA 1994). A recent, double-blind experiment of short-term methanol exposure showed small, but key changes in brain response and energy level after exposure to methanol equivalent of that found in two liters of diet soda for an adult or 1 liter of diet soda for a child (Cook 1991). One would hope that there would have been long-term, independent studies on this issue long before aspartame was approved. A methanol expert and eye specialist, Dr. Morgan B. Raiford, M.D., Ps, Msc Med. Ophthalmology testified before U.S. Congress about one of the many persons he had seen with eye damage from aspartame (Raiford 1987):


Can persons with diabetes consume aspartame?

Official answer - Yes. The American Diabetes Association has stated that aspartame is acceptable as a sugar substitute and can be included in a diabetic meal plan.

Unofficial answer - There is no properly conducted research that shows that medium- or long-term administration of aspartame is safe for diabetics. There are some poorly-designed, industry studies which were relatively short-term. Considering that fact that significant numbers of diabetics have reported severe health problems from aspartame in the relatively short time that it has been on the market, and considering that fact that proper tests have not been conducted, and considering the fact that the American Diabetes Association gets significant amounts of money from Monsanto, one should not take their wishful thinking too seriously


How is aspartame handled by the body?

Official answer - Aspartame is digested just like any other protein. Upon digestion, aspartame breaks down into it basic components and is absorbed into the blood. Neither aspartame nor its components accumulate in the body over time.

Unofficial answer - This is an outright falsehood. Even the industry researchers admit that it is not handled like any other protein. Chapter two in the industry's own book on aspartame proves this "information" wrong.

I have to admit, though, saying that it is handled like any other protein makes good PR, but it would be laughed out of any reputable scientific journal.

Saying that aspartame's components don't accumulate in the body is based on a few poorly conducted animal tests and wishful thinking. Formic acid (a toxic metabolite of methanol) likely can accumulate in the organs (Liesivuori 1991). No one knows if DKP or a metabolite of DKP accumulates in the body over time. Proper tests have not been conducted. Aspartic acid may accumulate for a significant amount of time like another excitotoxic amino acid, glutamic acid (Toth 1981). Much of the damage caused by aspartic acid and glutamic acid ingested orally is clearly laid out by Dr. Russell Blaylock, Professor of Neurosurgery, in his well-referenced book, "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills." Either way, gradual damage can be caused by aspartame breakdown products even when they do not accumulate. A chemical does not have to accumulate to cause damage.

And now the yogurt companies are petitoning the FDA to be excused from listing chemical ingredients added to the yogurt, on their containers. This is so they do not have to state the presence o aspartame, nutra-sweet, equal, etc. This article is dated March 2009. Why do yogurt producers even NEED to add ANY chemicals?

If you or your family, consume products with aspartame, Nutra, Equal, artifical sweeteners in them, PLEASE Please STOP drinking/eating them now. Switch to water. Not only will you lose the extra weight you are carrying, you will also lose the symptoms you may be exhibiting, and you will become much healthier as well.

I have started a new blog about Aspartame Safety.