Aspartame is composed of three main ingredients: Methanol (10%), aspartic acid (40%), and phenylalanine (50%).
Methanol, although only ten percent of the total, gives rise to a plethora of health problems because the longer one consumes aspartame the more cumulative damage occurs.
The breakdown for methanol is first to formaldehyde, most of which gets stored in the fat cells because the body has a difficult time eliminating this substance. Small amounts of formaldehyde are converted to formic acid (same thing as fire-ant sting poison) which is finally broken down to water and other harmless components. All of those breakdown componets cause damage until the last (water) stage.
The 1998 Spanish “Trocho” or “Barcelona” report proves that the aspartame-sourced formaldehyde does, in fact, get stored in the fat.
Here is an abstract of this report, and here is the entire Trocho Study
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Now for the nitty gritty on methanol, formaldehyde, and formic acid:
- Methanol
- More on Methanol
- More on Methanol
- Formaldehyde
- EPA on formaldehyde
- More on formaldehyde
- More on formdelhyde
- Formic Acid
- Mark Gold on aspartame/methanol
In summary: Methanol is a metabolic poison which, in the absence of ethanol (such as in fruits) is unstable and breaks down into formladehyde, a poison and carcinogen, and formic acid, also a poison and carcinogen.
This is what Monsanto, Nutrasweet, and the US FDA deem appropriate for your diet.