Chewing gum habit 'poisons' woman

[Birdbomb]

Chewing gum habit 'poisons' woman

Abigail Cormack thought she was dying from a mystery illness. She never realised her daily chewing gum habit was probably poisoning her.


The sugar-free gum contained aspartame, a food additive widely used in thousands of products, including gum, diet soft-drinks and tea and coffee.

The additive is prompting debate in the international medical world about its safety.

When Ms Cormack, 25, of Wellington, began suffering crippling muscle cramps and tingling in her hands and feet about five months ago, she feared she was having a heart attack.

She started suffering heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, depression and skin rashes, was unable to sleep and had to take sick leave.

But, despite a battery of tests, doctors could not pinpoint the cause.

"They thought it might be a salt imbalance, maybe I was over-training at the gym.

"I was prescribed anti-inflammatories and Valium to help me sleep but it just got worse and worse. I thought I was dying."

Finally, an internet site alerted her to the possibility of aspartame poisoning.

Under the brandname NutraSweet, aspartame is used in more than 5000 foods and beverages worldwide.

For the past few years, Ms Cormack has chewed through up to four packets of chewing gum a day.

She did not suspect the seemingly innocuous habit could be slowly poisoning her.

Aspartame is digested into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol, which converts into formaldehyde - a deadly neurotoxin used as embalming fluid.

The food industry says these are all "naturally occurring" substances in foods and the amounts are too small to be harmful.

No study has found a definitive link between the compounds and serious effects in humans, but some research has found higher incidences of chronic fatigue, migraines and other conditions.

Ms Cormack admits her chewing gum consumption was "excessive".

"But there were no warnings it could be doing me harm."

Her GP, Penny Rowley, was at the point of referring her to a neurologist when she heard about the gum habit.

She confirmed aspartame poisoning as the likely culprit, and within 24 hours of giving up gum, Ms Cormack's symptoms disappeared.

Dr Rowley said it was the first case she had seen.

"I was certainly surprised but it seems to have worked."

Clinical pharmacologist Professor Carl Burgess, from the Wellington School of Medicine, said that though someone would have to take "megadoses" of aspartame for it to be toxic, some people were more susceptible to allergic reactions.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority says there is no scientific evidence of any significant harm from a large daily intake of aspartame.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4102374a10.html


All things in moderation!

Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!

Anyone who chews gum to that extent would be highly annoying.

[Birdbomb]

[Bernard]

There are a whole lot of folks who are shouting from the rooftops about the evils of aspartame. I'd rather have have natural sugar.

[Shelley]

They have a new 'natural' sweetner now made from stevia leaves. Anyone know about it?

[RobinN]

1996: Gebel T; Dunkelberg H
[Influence of chewing gum consumption and dental contact of amalgam fillings to different metal restorations on urine mercury content]
Zentralblatt für Hygiene und Umweltmedizin = International journal of hygiene and environmental medicine 1996;199(1):69-75.
It had been shown previously by various authors that contact of amalgam fillings to metal fillings of different type can increase the electrochemically caused amalgam corrosion in vitro thus leading to an elevated release of mercury. So it was recommended to renounce of a dental contact of amalgam to metal fillings of other type. One aim of the present study was to evaluate possible influences of this contact in vivo on the urinary mercury contents in human volunteers. Neither approximal nor occlusal contacts had any influence on the urinary mercury excretion in comparison to a reference group with similar amalgam status. Furthermore, the influence of gum chewing on urinary mercury levels was taken into account. It could be shown that the consumption of chewing gum resulted in a significantly higher mean urinary mercury content in probands with amalgam fillings in comparison to people with similar amalgam status (gum chewers: 1.36 Hg/24 h vs. non-chewers 0.70 microgram Hg/24 h). Thus, gum chewing has to be considered as important parameter of influence on the urinary mercury levels of people with amalgam fillings.

http://www.biomedexperts.com/Abstrac...ns_on_urine_me

"Don't Chew Gum--If you have mercury fillings"

At this point, most people know that mercury dental fillings are dangerous,
but a study done at a university hospital in Sweden found that chewing gum
could hasten the breakdown of the amalgam fillings. This in turn can produce
significantly higher and dangerous levels of mercury in the blood.

Heavy gum chewers had three times the amount of mercury in their urine than
infrequent chewers. The mercury levels increased in direct proportion to the
number of amalgam fillings and the time spent chewing. Chewing gum or food
will cause the release of mercury from fillings. Mercury is extremely toxic and
will cause brain damage, among other problems. What is truly amazing is that
mercury is treated as a hazardous substance before it reaches the dentist's
office. It is then treated as a hazardous waste when it leaves the dentists
office, but the American Dental Association still says it's OK to put in your
mouth. Figure that one out.

Most people don't realize the grave danger that exists in the simple and seemingly innocent act of chewing gum. However, studies have shown that gum chewing greatly increases the exposure to mercury.

One recent study found that heavy gum chewers had twice the amount of mercury in their blood and three times the level in their urine and breath exhalation than did infrequent chewers. And if you were to compare with those who don't chew gum at all, the difference would likely be even greater.

This is very important, as those most vulnerable, such as pregnant women, may be unknowingly exposing their unborn children to mercury which is a know teratogen (substance that causes birth defects).

However, despite the grave risks, gum manufacturers are NOT required to put any kind of warnings on their products regarding increased mercury release.

http://www.mercola.com/article/mercury/no_mercury.htm

[brain]

That is why I stick to the REAL
thing baby, the REAL thing ...



The ALL-AMERICAN ....

[drarvindr]

????
The amount of methanol formed from the chewing of a stick of gum must be minuscule!! how much gum did she chew anyway? The cases of methanol poisoning i have seen have been of alcoholics drinking local liquor( laced with methanol) and of idiots in the hospital who drank methylated spirit (i couldn't believe these morons the first time). That required at least a few gulps of methanol to do the job. Who are the gum companies kidding? methanol is not a normal body constituent. The biggest danger i have seen is in children with PKU who cannot chew this stuff as most of the aspartame becomes phenylalanine.
I hate gum anyway. makes my teeth ache.

[RobinN]

I get mouth sores withing 24 hrs, when I consume it (aspartame and other fake sweeteners). So I wonder what kind of sores it produces in the intestinal wall.