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Based on all of the positive responses I got from my last post, I decided to try the Emergen-C. I tried it for a few days and was able to keep it down. I could tell a difference (for the better) after taking it. However, yesterday I was on another forum that was talking about the artificial sweetener aspartame. Someone wrote in and said that was made up of 40% aspartic acid. I remember reading that on the "other ingredients" list on my Emergen-C box
: (but didn't make the connection at the time).
I am not a scientist/chemist but I am very hesitant about taking this now.... Which sucks because I was really starting to like this stuff and its benefits. I'm not sure what to do.
Can you all give me your opinion, here are some things I've found so far:
http://www.unhinderedliving.com/aspartame.html
Even though both phenylalanine and aspartic acid are amino acids that are present in the food we eat, and are safe when eaten naturally in foods with other amino acids present, taken alone and in elevated quantities they are neurotoxins which can permanently damage the developing brain and nervous system of the fetus, if the child is lucky enough to survive the potential destruction by the maternal immune system. Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin, which stimulates the neurons until they die(5).
and
http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm
What Is Aspartame Made Of?
Aspartic Acid (40 percent of aspartame)
Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, recently published a book thoroughly detailing the damage that is caused by the ingestion of excessive aspartic acid from aspartame. Blaylock makes use of almost 500 scientific references to show how excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid (about 99 percent of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is glutamic acid) in our food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute symptoms.(3)
How Aspartate (and Glutamate) Cause Damage
Aspartate and glutamate act as neurotransmitters in the brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Too much aspartate or glutamate in the brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells. The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate and glutamate is why they are referred to as "excitotoxins." They "excite" or stimulate the neural cells to death.
Aspartic acid is an amino acid. Taken in its free form (unbound to proteins) it significantly raises the blood plasma level of aspartate and glutamate. The excess aspartate and glutamate in the blood plasma shortly after ingesting aspartame or products with free glutamic acid (glutamate precursor) leads to a high level of those neurotransmitters in certain areas of the brain.
Am I way off here... does this stuff only cause damage when it is combined with the other chemicals used to make aspartame? I read it is found in some foods naturally (along with other amino acids), but so is carrageenan and I think msg, and I don't consume those. Maybe someone else could shed some light on this for me or knows more about this than me. I would really appreciate any insights/information/ thoughts, etc...
TIA
Well... I'm off to research the other "other ingredients" listed on the box.

I am not a scientist/chemist but I am very hesitant about taking this now.... Which sucks because I was really starting to like this stuff and its benefits. I'm not sure what to do.

http://www.unhinderedliving.com/aspartame.html
Even though both phenylalanine and aspartic acid are amino acids that are present in the food we eat, and are safe when eaten naturally in foods with other amino acids present, taken alone and in elevated quantities they are neurotoxins which can permanently damage the developing brain and nervous system of the fetus, if the child is lucky enough to survive the potential destruction by the maternal immune system. Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin, which stimulates the neurons until they die(5).
and
http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm
What Is Aspartame Made Of?
Aspartic Acid (40 percent of aspartame)
Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, recently published a book thoroughly detailing the damage that is caused by the ingestion of excessive aspartic acid from aspartame. Blaylock makes use of almost 500 scientific references to show how excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid (about 99 percent of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is glutamic acid) in our food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute symptoms.(3)
How Aspartate (and Glutamate) Cause Damage
Aspartate and glutamate act as neurotransmitters in the brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Too much aspartate or glutamate in the brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells. The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive aspartate and glutamate is why they are referred to as "excitotoxins." They "excite" or stimulate the neural cells to death.
Aspartic acid is an amino acid. Taken in its free form (unbound to proteins) it significantly raises the blood plasma level of aspartate and glutamate. The excess aspartate and glutamate in the blood plasma shortly after ingesting aspartame or products with free glutamic acid (glutamate precursor) leads to a high level of those neurotransmitters in certain areas of the brain.
Am I way off here... does this stuff only cause damage when it is combined with the other chemicals used to make aspartame? I read it is found in some foods naturally (along with other amino acids), but so is carrageenan and I think msg, and I don't consume those. Maybe someone else could shed some light on this for me or knows more about this than me. I would really appreciate any insights/information/ thoughts, etc...
TIA
Well... I'm off to research the other "other ingredients" listed on the box.