[Sca-cooks] sugar substitutes (Mostly Aspartame, but not totally)

[Patricia Collum]

The formaldehyde theory for aspartame- now mind you this is heard from a
friend of a friend in the chemistry community (I was an industrial chemist
at the time)- There was a professor at a local university, who got left out
of the profits when it came time to make it into nutrasweet. Guess who was
the leader of the formaldehyde-in-aspartame campaign? This happened within a
month or two after the gumballs were in the mail introducing the new
sweetener to the public. Something about sodas left to get warm in the sun,
etc. The chemical was there, but in very teensy amounts.

Cecily
----- Original Message -----
From: "El Hermoso Dormido" <ElHermosoDormido at dogphilosophy.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 3:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] sugar substitutes (Mostly Aspartame, but not
totally)


> I've also heard the conspiracy-theory accusation that it "turns into
> formaldehyde" when you ingest it...and you know what?  It strikes me as
> something that's probably true in a literal sense - I seem to recall
> that similarly poisonous wood alcohol is a natural byproduct (in small
> amounts, obviously) of amino acid metabolism, and formaldehyde is a
> similar molecule.  If it is true, then, once again ANY protein-containing
> food will "turn into formaldehyde" when you eat it...and the body IS
> prepared to deal with it in "natural" amounts.  I'm convinced this got
> turned into a bit of handy fear-mongering by somebody wanting to drum up
> sales for his or her "The Man(tm) is out to poison you" book...
>
> Okay, now the disclaimer.  The body IS obviously also prepared to deal
> with another common amino acid - Glutamic Acid...the stuff in MSG.  It's
> also widely recognized that it IS possible to be sensitive to an unusually
> large (or perhaps just unusually fast-absorbed?) amount of it at one time,
so
> this is not to deny that some people may very well be unable to deal with
a
> "disproportionate" amount of one of the two amino acids in Aspartame.
I've
> always assumed that Phenylalanine is the culprit here - it's a precuror to
> a number of related neurotransmitters, and my assumption is that this is
where
> the association with headaches (and the fear of brain cancer) comes in.
If so
> keep your eyes out for "Alitame", for which I'm STILL waiting to be
released.
> Same concept, but with the common, related, non-essential amino acid
Alanine
> instead of Phenylalanine, which ought to get rid of any real neurological
> sensitivities anyone may be having to Aspartame.
>
> There are two studies I'd LOVE to see done with Aspartame:
>
> A study of blood levels of Phenylalanine after meals comparing the
> effects of foods containing aspartame and foods not containing it.
> (which would also show whether or not Aspartame's amino acids are
> any more quickly absorbed than other amino acids in foods).
>
> A similar study on the effects of protein content of ingested foods
> on the reported effects of aspartame (i.e. I would suspect that
> eating high-protein foods would alleviate any "imbalance" in the
> proportion of Phenylalanine to other amino acids being absorbed into
> the body and as a result reduce or, most likely, eliminate symptoms
> caused by said imbalance).
>
> (Since in the modern diet, the majority of "sweet" foods, where
> Aspartame might be used as a substitute for other sweeteners, seem to be
> relatively low protein, and since people looking for low-calorie
substitutes
> are probably NOT eating a "normally balanced" diet, it seems reasonable
that
> people who consume aspartame are more likely to run into amino-acid
> "imbalances" and such and therefore most likely to notice.)
>
> Okay, enough pedantry from the science-fascist corner of my brain.  Hold
on
> while I lock him back up again...
>
> On the subject other sweeteners:
>
> Splenda is good stuff.  Less aftertaste than aspartame has, at least to my
> taste buds.  I had always wondered about its heat-stability, though ,
since it
> doesn't seem to do much in my hot tea.  (Oh, Splenda(tm) - generic name
> "Sucralose", is the "halogenated organic compound" I mentioned before,
too...)
>
> I've been wondering for a while now when Acesulfame K (which I otherwise
don't
> know a whole lot about) would become available for purchase "raw".  It
seems
> to get used a lot in conjunction with other sweeteners (usually Aspartame)
and
> in my experience seems to cut down the aftertaste.
>
> Saccharine's nasty.  I think the health concerns are grossly overblown for
the
> small amounts normally consumed by people, but it tastes DISGUSTING to
me...
>
> There's some sort of plant extract called "Stevia" that seems to be really
> popular among the aforementioned "The Man(tm) wants to poison you" crowd.
> Might be good stuff, but I've yet to find something that explains what's
in it
> that makes it sweet.  (I would be not at all surprised but highly amused
> should it turn out to be a naturally-occurring peptide a-la
Aspar/Alitame...)
> So far every site I've found that talks about it seems to feel that "all
> natural" and "it's not Evil Nutrasweet" are all anyone needs to know about
> it...
>
> And, of course, if you're only worried about blood-sugar levels rather
than
> calories, there's the various sugar alcohols - Sorbitol, Mannitol,
Xylitol,
> Maltilol, etc.  To me, Sorbitol has a slightly funny taste, but Xylitol's
not
> bad.
>
> signed,
> El Hermoso Dormido, Mad Food Scientist in Training...
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