Aspartame, known to the public as NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful, has been the subject of controversy since it first became an ingredient in food products in 1981.  In 1985, Americans used 800 million pounds of Aspartame, with an average intake of 5.8 pounds per person.  They consumed more than 20 billion cans of aspartame-sweetened soft drinks in 1985 alone.

A study of available literature on the subject reveals that over the years more and more indications have arisen that suggest that the public is at great risk through its repeated use.  Serious consideration should be given to discontinuing the ingestion of aspartame until the safety or lack thereof is firmly established.

For this article, the Complementary Medicine Association interviewed authorities George Schwartz, M.D. and Mary Nash Stoddard.  Dr. Schwartz is a trauma surgeon and the author of In Bad Taste: the MSG Syndrome.  Ms. Stoddard, editor of The Deadly Deception, founded the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and the worldwide Pilot's Hotline for reporting adverse reactions to aspartame.  We will also refer to a comprehensive text entitled Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, MD.  We are grateful to these individuals for their support.

What Does Aspartame Do?

First, aspartame releases aspartate during digestion.  Aspartate is a neurotransmitter used by the neurons in the brain.  It is a type of excitatory amino acid.  Excitatory amino acids are normal and necessary brain chemicals, and as such, they are allowed to cross the blood-brain barrier.  Aspartate, the principal chemical component of aspartame, is a neurotransmitter and a type of excitatory amino acid.  It is a natural and necessary body chemical.  Neurotransmitters cross the blood-brain barrier.

The blood-brain barrier is designed to protect the brain from the invasion of harmful chemicals.  When normal neurotransmitters such as aspartate and glutamate cross this barrier in excess, they will cause poisoning and lead to the death of the nerve cells within the brain and spinal cord.  The blood-brain barrier cannot discern the amount that is needed from too much.  So these neurotransmitters can build up undetected until a toxic level is reached.  This accumulation seems to be particularly insidious in its effect on the developing brains and nervous systems of children.

"The nervous system is designed to control the concentration of excitatory amino acids in the fluid surrounding the neurons, the extracellular space.  The main ones concerning us are glutamate and aspartate.  The nervous system does this by pumping the excess back into glial cells which surround the neurons and supply them with energy.  While this pumping system is very efficient, it uses enormous amounts of ATP, a high-energy compound that all cells in the body use for energy.

"If energy production is reduced in the