Aspartame - Is it dangerous for those with an eating disorder?

Aspartame – is it dangerous for those with ED?

This question has troubled me for years and I know that many people have researched it.  I know that those continuing to warn about this substance are often ridiculed.

I have observed that many people with an eating disorder, particularly those with bulimia, will ingest large amounts of this artificial sweetener when drinking diet soda or coffee into which several packets are added.  Add up all the aspartame consumed in one day and I expect that the total is far more than what is noted to be “normal consumption” in the studies that have purportedly concluded that aspartame is not dangerous to humans.

I disagree with this conclusion.  I know this conclusion has supposedly been upheld by many government studies but I cannot help but think that this substance affects the functioning of the brain when the brain is not nourished appropriately.   Or that something else is going on.  I think this is worth a look.

To review:

Aspartame is synthesized by combining the amino acids L-phenylalanine and L-aspartate.  Aspartame is a peptide.  When it is decomposed it breaks down to phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol.  

I had to dig a bit, but studies have indicated that a “normal” dose of aspartame is thought to be equivalent to 3 12-ounce cans of diet soda, or 36 ounces.  Many people with eating disorders consume far more than that a day.  Think about the 40 ounce diet drinks one can pick up at the corner mini-market and the packets of aspartame added to a cup of coffee or anything else the person wants to have sweetened.

According to this chart  produced by the Canadian Diabetes Association, a packet of aspartame contains between 17 and 33 mg. of aspartame.  A 12 ounce can of diet coke contains 131 mg of aspartame.

So, on an average day, one could assume that a person with bulimia or anorexia could consume at least the equivalent of a six-pack or two 40 ounce “Big Gulps” and perhaps at least 3 packets of aspartame.  Twice that much from the packets if they have two cups of coffee in the morning. 

 This would mean that they were consuming far beyond the “normal” dose; in fact, they are consuming at least 837 mg of aspartame a day or more than twice the “normal” amount assumed by the industry.

Phenylalanine is biologically converted into tyrosine, another essential amino acid. Tyrosine is then converted into L-DOPA and that is converted into dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine are known as catecholamines which interestingly enough, create all sorts of symptoms for someone who has a form of small intestine cancer including anxiety, flushing, or what we call the fight or flight syndrome taken to extremes.   In addition, phenylalanine crosses the blood-brain barrier and uses the same brain pathway as does tryptophan and can interfere with the production of serotonin.

I haven’t even addressed caffeine!

Recall my posts following my discussion with Martie Fankhauser about neurotransmitters.
Depression anyone?  Other symptoms?

Suppose some of those who develop eating disorders only carry one gene for PKU which means they only produce 10 percent of the normal amount of phenylalanine hydroxylase which breaks down phenylalanine?  Even if they don’t carry one gene for PKU, all of the phenylalanine (which makes up 50 percent of aspartame) stays in the body, is in the bloodstream, and crosses the blood-brain barrier, interferes with tryptophan and decreases the amount of serotonin. 

Suppose, in other words, that drinking and eating far in excess of artificially sweetened with aspartame substances exacerbates the chemical changes that occur in the body when a person is developing and then entrenched in an eating disorder.

Are these things related?  How many of those folks with only one gene for PKU also have eating disorders?  How many folks who ingest aspartame to excess with only one gene present evidence of behavioral symptoms for which they are receiving other medications rather than just removing the aspartame?  Does aspartame affect people with other mental illnesses or the genetic set up for other mental illness?

I am asking these questions because I am observing the resurrection of a personality that I haven’t seen for many, many years and this person has not been allowed access to aspartame for several months now.  Is there a cause and effect going on here?  Should this be researched further?  Wouldn’t it be wise for those with eating disorders to stop ingesting aspartame?  Do those who go on diets immediately increase their use of aspartame-sweetened products?  Does this make those folks more susceptible to eating disorders?  To develop symptoms of mental illness?  What about all the teenagers who are drinking diet soda?  

I think these are important questions.