chemicals convert to formaldehyde and diketopiperazine (DKP), two types of neurotoxins, at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, which is way below the average human body temperature (Cohen 2). The chemicals "cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) and chang[e] the chemistry of the brain (Orange 2)" which keeps the brain able to regulate the amount of amino acids allowed in the brain. This affects the hippocampus or the area of the brain that pertains to memory. Methanol is also "released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin (Stegink 1984, p 143)," as quoted on the Holistic Medicine website in the well sourced article "Scientific Abuse in Methanol/ Formaldehyde Research Related to Aspartame." While Monsanto may be correct in saying in a statement on July 1, 1999 that "It is physiologically impossible for aspartame to cause brain tumors because it never enters the blood stream and thus cannot travel to essential organs, including the brain," aspartame's byproduct methanol is absorbed into the blood stream and once there it breaks down into formaldehyde and methanol. On the Holistic Medicine website in the article "Scientific Abuse in Methanol/ Formaldehyde Research Related to Aspartame" Kavet (1990), Monte (1984), and Posner (1975) are cited as finding that methanol causes:...headaches, dizziness, nausea, ear buzzing, GI disturbances, weakness, vertigo, chills, memory lapses, numbness and shooting pains, behavioral disturbances, neuritis, misty vision, vision tunneling, blurring of vision, conjunctivitis, insomnia, vision loss, depression, heart problems (including disease of the heart muscle), and pancreatic inflammation. (1-2)These symptoms are a result of long term, low-level exposure to methanol. When methanol is converted to formaldehyde, which then changes to formic acid. There...
