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[Mr. TOP SECRET]

In this lecture, Dr. Russell Blaylock explains one of the most important connections between nutrition and our health, how nutrition affects our behavior.

Citing a series of important studies, he shows that good nutrition can powerfully enhance our memory, mood, and behavior in a socially desirable way.

Like wise he shows us that poor nutrition can lead our youth into a world of violence, crime, depression and suicide.

By using an impressive array of studies on both juvenile and adult prisoners, Dr. Blaylock demonstrates these principals and outlines specific measures you can take to protect your children from these detrimental effects. Most importantly, he shows us that it is never too late to make these nutritional changes.

[Day_Tripper]

That was GREAT!   A lot of that stuff I knew already, but I learned a lot more.  A friend of mine has been on anti-depressants and found out recently that she is allergic to wheat.  She's changed her diet and is now weening herself off the meds.

I found the wheat allergy/schizophrenia correlation very very interesting.  I've always wondered about schizophrenia. 

Doesn't this show what a total and utter sham our medical industry is?  Did you catch the part where he said that every school shooter was on drugs?  SSRIs?  I've been saying that for years.  I hate big pharma.  I know my mother would have her mind back and be off prozac and all the other drugs, if she changed her diet and exercised.  But, I couldn't get her to turn off the TV for a week in high school, let alone get her to eat right.

This article seems to fit here and just recently came out.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/childhood-candy-habit-adult-violence/article1309326/

Childhood candy habit = adult violence?

That's the provocative conclusion of British researchers exploring the links between diet and behaviour

Candy may give kids cavities and make them a bit hyperactive. But can too many sugary treats at an early age lead to violent acts in adulthood? That's the provocative conclusion of British researchers exploring the links between diet and behaviour.

They found that children who ate sweets and chocolate every day were at a significantly elevated risk of being convicted of a violent crime by the age of 34.

The results are based on data from the British Cohort Study, a massive research effort to chart the long-term health of almost every person born in Britain during a one-week period in April of 1970. That amounts to more than 17,000 people who are assessed at regular intervals.

The new analysis revealed that 69 per cent of those with a criminal record of violence downed candy daily as children.

The researchers looked at other social and economic factors that might have skewed their findings. When everything was taken into account, the link between sweets and violence persisted.

"As far as we can tell, this is a fairly robust result, statistically at least," said lead researcher Simon Moore of Cardiff University. Dr. Moore acknowledges that the study "raises more questions than perhaps it answers." How, for instance, could sugar spark criminal acts years later?

He can't say for sure, but he thinks it may be related to child-rearing practices. If parents use candy to pacify a disruptive child it could end up encouraging or reinforcing bad and impulsive behaviour.

"Basically, as children, they've learned that if they are aggressive, vocal and antagonistic they will get a reward," he said in an interview.

In their research paper, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, the researchers write: "Giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may stop them learning how to wait to obtain something they want. Not being able to defer gratification may push them towards more impulsive behaviour, which is associated with delinquency."

Dr. Moore said it's also possible that high levels of sugar, or additives contained in some sweets, may "cause changes in the way these kids function, with increased likelihood to violence later in life."

Of course, Dr. Moore and his colleagues are just speculating about potential explanations. More research is needed to confirm their findings. But if they are right, the study provides fresh hope that a change in child-rearing practices could help curb at least some violence in society.

[Day_Tripper]

And this happened to be on Mercola's site today.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/13/Artificial-Sweeteners-More-Dangerous-than-You-Ever-Imagined.aspx

Artificial Sweeteners -- More Dangerous than You Ever Imagined
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
October 13 2009 | 26,864 views

    http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htmBy Dr. Mercola

    If you still believe sweeteners like Equal and NutraSweet are safe, you’ll want to pay very close attention to this special report.

    You’re probably aware of the dangers of consuming too much sugar and that sugar is not healthy for you. You might have been led to believe that artificial sweeteners like aspartame are safer, and less likely to cause you to gain weight.

    Well, neither of those beliefs are true.

    Slick marketing of products containing aspartame by giants in the food industry -- especially marketing that sends the message it’s healthy to consume these products -- might be giving you a false sense of security.

    You might even be convinced you’re doing the right thing for your health and the health of your family by using products artificially sweetened with aspartame.

    You couldn’t be more mistaken.

    It’s not pleasant to learn that corporations, government-sponsored regulatory agencies and politicians are more interested in lining their pockets than protecting your health and the health of your loved ones. But unfortunately, these are serious issues that you must consider for your and your family’s safety.

    Manufacturers, marketers and others with financial interests have successfully convinced millions of consumers the chemicals used in artificially sweetened products are safe. Don’t believe them! The arguments used to convince you these ingredients are healthy and “natural” will be addressed later in this report.

    For now, just keep in mind that the reason you feel products containing aspartame are safe is a direct result of deliberate deception on the part of big business and government.

    Remember:

    If you’re consuming a food or beverage created in a lab instead of by nature, you can be assured your body doesn’t recognize it. This opens the door to short-term and long-lasting health problems for you and your family.

    If you already avoid aspartame, the information you’re about to read will confirm the wise choice you’ve made, and cement your resolve to stay away from any product that contains this potential toxin.

An Accident Waiting to Happen: The Birth of Aspartame

    Like an omen, aspartame was discovered in 1965 entirely by mistake. That’s right ... by mistake.

    G.D. Searle chemist James M. Schlatter was at work in his laboratory developing a drug to treat peptic ulcer disease. The story goes that Schlatter accidentally spilled one of the chemicals he was using onto his finger. He licked his finger clean, and in doing so discovered the sweet taste of the aspartame he had spilled.[1]

    This inauspicious beginning heralded the birth of what has become one of the most potentially dangerous and controversial food additives in human history.

How Aspartame Got to Market in Spite of Itself

    As you’re about to learn, the tale of how aspartame got to market is a disturbing one. It reads like a crime mystery, one you would assume is based on the author’s over-active imagination. Except it’s all true.

    The approval process for aspartame was said to have been riddled with scandal, bribes and other shady dealings within the pharmaceutical industry, large American corporations, and the FDA.

    Initially, the FDA strongly denied the approval of aspartame products. Reasons given were sound and included:

        * Flawed data
        * Brain tumor findings in animal studies
        * Lack of studies on humans to determine longer-term effects

    How aspartame got to market despite initial FDA concerns and evidence of its neurotoxicity is a study in good timing, heavy financial investment, and the impact of political clout.

Timing is Everything

    Aspartame studies were on the rise just after cyclamate was pulled from the U.S. market and saccharin was under serious scrutiny. The disappearance of cyclamate left a void it appeared saccharin might not be poised to fill.

    At the time of the cyclamate ban, the “diet” market was a $1 billion dollar per year business in the U.S.[2] Manufacturers of diet products were in a mad scramble to find a substitute product that would insure they left not a dollar of that billion on the table.

Pouring Good Money Into Bad Studies

    G.D. Searle spent tens of millions of dollars to conduct the necessary approval tests on aspartame.

    Not surprisingly, studies funded by Searle and other groups with a financial interest in aspartame found no adverse health effects. However, independent studies delivered evidence that aspartame consumption did indeed create health problems in test subjects.

Flexing Political Muscle

    In addition to its enormous financial investment in favorable study results, Searle developed what can be fairly described as a diabolical political strategy to insure the FDA would end up with a positive view of aspartame.

Deceptive Safety Studies

    G.D. Searle provided the FDA with over 100 aspartame studies in early 1973. Later that same year, the FDA asked for additional studies. Searle complied, and in June 1974, the FDA granted preliminary approval for the restricted use of aspartame.

    The study findings submitted by Searle were immediately challenged by Dr. John Olney, a neuroscientist who was instrumental in getting monosodium glutamate removed from baby foods, and Jim Turner, an attorney and consumer advocate.[3]

    In August 1974, Olney and Turner filed the first formal objections to the approval of aspartame. Their petition prompted the FDA to initiate investigations into Searle’s lab practices.

    The investigations ultimately led to concerns within the FDA about the validity of the studies submitted by Searle. Investigators uncovered substandard testing procedures and manipulated test data. In fact, what investigators found at Searle was an unprecedented incidence of bad testing procedures and inaccurate results. Final approval of aspartame was delayed.

    Based on the results of these findings, in January 1977, for the first time in history, the FDA requested a criminal investigation into a food manufacturer for willfully misrepresenting results in their safety tests of a product. The FDA asked the U.S. Attorney’s office to examine Searle’s handling of aspartame testing.[4]

    In August 1977, the FDA published a report by Jerome Bressler which pointed to specific issues with Searle’s aspartame safety studies.[5]

    The Bressler Report revealed stunning examples of very bad research. A few examples included:

        * Deceased lab animals were not immediately autopsied, some not for an entire year after death. Decomposition rendered any data from them inaccurate.
        * Tumors found in lab animals were reportedly cut out and thrown away.
        * Animals from whom tumors were removed were labeled “normal,” and obvious tumors were deemed to be “normal swelling.”

    In 1979, the FDA established a Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) to rule on safety issues with aspartame, with the result that NutraSweet would not receive final approval pending further investigation into its link to brain tumors in animals.

Political and Regulatory Dirty Tricks

    During the 1977 criminal investigation initiated by the FDA, the law firm representing G.D. Searle arranged to hire away the U.S. Attorney leading the investigation. Samuel Skinner went to work for Searle in July.

    Skinner’s resignation from the U.S. Attorney’s office stalled the investigation into Searle’s aspartame studies until the statute of limitations expired. The investigation was subsequently abandoned.

    In March 1977, Donald Rumsfeld was hired as the CEO of Searle -- yes, the same Rumsfeld that was the Secretary of Defense in the Bush administration. He brought with him additional political clout by appointing several of his D.C. associates to top management positions.

    In January 1981, Rumsfeld proclaimed he would get aspartame approved within one year.[6] Worthy of note is the fact Rumsfeld was part of newly elected President Ronald Reagan’s transition team -- a team which had carefully selected Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. as the new FDA Commissioner.

    Two months later, in March, Dr. Hayes appointed an internal panel to review the 1979 decision by the Public Board of Inquiry that ruled thumbs down on final approval of NutraSweet.

    Three of the five members of Dr. Hayes’ panel advised against approval of aspartame, citing on the record that Searle’s safety study tests were flawed. Hayes then appointed a sixth member to the panel who tied the vote three-three. Dr. Hayes then cast the deciding vote in favor of approval.

    Hayes, an official with no background on the subject of food additives, claimed aspartame was safe for proposed use, and had undergone more testing and scientific scrutiny than most additives on the market. Shortly after approving this drug he resigned from the FDA panel and was hired by the manufacturer of aspartame for a position in which he was paid several hundred thousand dollars per year.

    So, despite all the game playing and countless unresolved safety issues, aspartame was approved for use in soft drinks in the fall of 1983.

    Less than a year later, the FDA had recorded 600 consumer complaints of headaches, dizziness and other health-related reactions from aspartame consumption.

    The unprecedented number of complaints caused the FDA to call in the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). The CDC concluded adverse reactions to aspartame were occurring in “unusually sensitive” individuals, but there was not enough evidence to prove existence of wide-spread health problems attributable to its consumption.[7]

What is Aspartame, Exactly?

    Aspartame goes by the brand names NutraSweet and Equal. It is one of the first generation of artificial sweeteners and is 180 times as sweet as sugar.

    At the end of 2008, aspartame was found in over 6,000 products including:

    carbonated soft drinks
       

    puddings and fillings

    powdered soft drinks
       

    frozen desserts

    chewing gum
       

    yogurt

    confections
       

    tabletop sweeteners

    gelatins
       

    chewable vitamins

    dessert mixes
       

    sugar-free cough drops

    Products containing aspartame are sold in over 100 countries and are consumed by over 250 million people worldwide.

    The scientific name for aspartame is 1-aspartyl 1 phenylalanine methyl ester. It has three components:

       1. phenylalanine which makes up 50 percent of the chemical by weight
       2. aspartic acid -- 40 percent
       3. methanol (wood alcohol) -- 10 percent

How Aspartame Acts Inside Your Body

    The two primary components of aspartame, phenylalanine and aspartic acid, are amino acids that are combined in an ester bond. You normally consume these two amino acids in the foods you eat. These amino acids are harmless when consumed as part of natural unprocessed foods. However when they are chemically manipulated and consumed out of the normal ratios to other amino acids, they can cause problems.

    Your body initially breaks down the ester link between the two amino acids to turn them into free amino acids. The neurotoxic effects of these chemicals in their “free form” can result in immediate health consequences such as headaches, mental confusion, dizziness and seizures.

    Your body does require small amounts of these amino acids to function properly. However, the high concentration of these chemicals in the form of aspartame floods your central nervous system and can cause excessive firing of brain neurons. Cell death is also possible.

    This is a condition called excitotoxicity.

    Your body doesn’t recognize phenylalanine and aspartic acid in their free form, but your system will try to manage them through metabolization. Whenever your body tries to process an unrecognizable substance, the stage is set for health problems.

    The chemicals in aspartame will be absorbed by your intestinal cells, where they will be broken down into other amino acids and byproducts. A large percentage of the absorbed chemicals will be used immediately in your small intestine.

A Formaldehyde Cocktail

    Ultimately, aspartame will be fully absorbed into your body. Ten percent of what is absorbed is the breakdown product methanol (wood alcohol). The EPA defines safe consumption of this toxin as 7.8 milligrams a day, which is the amount found in about half a can of diet soda.

    It’s not the amino acids themselves or the methanol that are toxic to your system, it’s the breakdown products they turn into along the way -- either during transport, on the store shelf, or during the metabolization process.

    Stored at warm temperatures or for a prolonged period of time, phenylalanine turns into diketopiperazine, a known carcinogen.

    Methanol can spontaneously break down to formaldehyde, also a toxin, which can accumulate in your cells and result in severe health consequences.

    Methanol is found naturally in some of the foods you eat; however, it is never bound to amino acids in nature, as it is as an ingredient in aspartame. In nature, for example, methanol is bound to pectin. Pectin is a fiber which allows the methanol to pass through your body without being metabolized and converted to formaldehyde.[8]

    Since methanol in aspartame has no natural binder, nearly all of it turns into formaldehyde in your body. Formaldehyde (which is used in, among other things, paint remover and embalming fluid) is a poison several thousand times more potent than ethyl alcohol.

    The EPA has determined formaldehyde causes cancer in humans. Specifically, it is known to increase your risk of breast or prostate cancer.

    Incidents of both types of cancer have been on the rise at a pace closely associated with the expanding use of aspartame throughout the world.[9]

    The EPA has also concluded there is no known “safe” level of formaldehyde in your body -- risk depends on the amount and duration of your exposure.

    The end waste product of formaldehyde is formate. An accumulation of formate in your body can cause metabolic acidosis, which is excessive acidity in your blood. Metabolic acidosis can cause methanol poisoning and can result in blindness, fatal kidney damage, multiple organ system failure, and death.[10]

The Major Element of Aspartame -- Phenylalanine

    Your body converts the amino acid phenylalanine to neurotransmitters that regulate your brain chemistry. These important neurotransmitters are:

        * L-dopa
        * norepinephrine
        * epinephrine

    However, if your system is flooded with phenylalanine as a result of an aspartame overdose, the resulting increased levels of neurotransmitters can cause problems in the physiology of your brain -- problems which have been linked to a variety of psychiatric disorders. You can also be prone to anxiety attacks, depression, headaches, seizures and tremors.

    If you consume too much aspartame in a short period of time, you might also experience immediate reactions including nervousness, sweating, feelings of fear, and heart palpitations.

    In pregnancy, the concentrating effects of the placenta can magnify phenylalanine levels in a baby’s blood by as much as four to six-fold, and can reach levels so high that cell death results.[11] It’s not much of a stretch to be concerned consumption of high doses of this chemical during pregnancy could result in birth defects.

    The genetic disease Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a condition in which your body is unable to use phenylalanine at all. If a toxic buildup occurs, it can result in mental retardation. People with PKU must avoid all sources of phenylalanine, including aspartame.

Aspartic Acid and Cell Death

    The second largest component of aspartame is aspartic acid.

    Aspartic acid functions as a major excitatory neurotransmitter in your brain. People who suffer from depression or have brain atrophy have been found to have low levels of aspartic acid in their bodies.

    As you might expect, the chemical is found in abnormally high levels in people who suffer from seizures and strokes. In very high doses, aspartic acid can cause brain damage.

    The term excitotoxicity was coined by Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon[12]. It describes the ability of certain amino acids like monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartic acid to literally excite cells to death.

    The scientific community has shown widespread acceptance of Dr. Olney’s concept of excitotoxins and its link to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

    Unfortunately, the FDA refuses to acknowledge the connection between free form amino acids and excitotoxicity. Consequently, no demands have been made of food manufacturers to eliminate chemicals like MSG and aspartic acid from the food supply.

    Excitotoxins can also encourage the production of free radicals. Free radicals can damage tissues and organs throughout your body and may accelerate diseases like arthritis, atherosclerosis, cancer, and coronary artery disease.[13],[14]

    Your blood brain barrier (BBB) is a system of capillary structures that prevent toxins from entering your brain.

    If you have diabetes, hypertension or are a smoker, your BBB may be compromised and you might experience a heightened reaction to aspartame.

    Unborn children and infants up to one year of age have incomplete and not well-insulated BBB’s. Excitotoxins enter their nervous systems easily and quickly.

    Babies under a year are four times more sensitive to excitotoxins than adults.

    During the first year of life, irreversible brain damage can result from chemicals in breast milk that have crossed the unborn child’s blood brain barrier. And yet -- few if any pregnant and breastfeeding women are warned of the dangers of consuming artificial sweeteners.

[Mr. TOP SECRET]

Thanks for the articles DT! You always can find great articles. 

You actually the one who introduced me to Dr.Russell Blaylock. I believe he is a very important tool to have on our side!

[Day_Tripper]

I found him at Dr. Mercola's site.  For years I read Mercola, but at first I thought he was just selling snake oil because of the way his site looks.  But, I kept reading.  Today I believe that he is honestly trying to help people.  He has made mistakes along the way.  He used to say to use cod liver oil for vitamin D, but he changed when he found out there was too much vitamin A that counteracts the vitamin D.  He isn't afraid to admit when he is wrong.

If you're at all interested in nutrition and health I highly recommend http://www.mercola.com

And this Dr. Blaylock guy is great.  What if all disease, mental and physical, can be cured by diet?  If that is true, then those who are attacking our food are criminals and murderers!