Posted: 10 July 2008
From: Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum., Bettym19@mindspring.com
To: scitimes@nytimes.com, letters-nytimes.com
Date: Tue, Jul 08, 2008 10:21 pm
Subject: Beware of Drink Mixers Based on Diet Soda
Dear Editor:
Aspartame contains free methyl alcohol. In molecular chemistry its one molecule of aspartic acid to one molecule of methanol to one molecule of phenylalanine. That's a lot of wood alcohol. You remember that skid row drunks used it during prohibition and thousands went blind or died. Same thing with aspartame/NutraSweet/Equal, etc.
The free methyl alcohol which is classified as a narcotic, causes chronic methanol poisoning. This affects the dopamine system of the brain and causes addiction. Many victims using aspartame and no other alcohol slur their words and act inebriated.
Interestingly enough ethanol is the antidote for methanol poisoning. Aspartame: Methanol and the Public Health by Dr. Woodrow Monte. http://www.dorway.com/monte84.html Methyl alcohol in aspartame is also discussed in Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic by H. J. Roberts, M.D., http://www.sunsentpress.com
Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum.
Founder, Mission Possible World Health International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770-242-2599
E-Mail: BettyM19@mindspring.com
http://www.wpwhi.com
http://www.whno.net
http://www.dorway.com
Aspartame Toxicity Center: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com
July 8, 2008
Really?
The Claim: Beware of Drink Mixers Based on Diet Soda
By Anahad O'Connor
Usually it is solely the liquor component of a cocktail not the mixer that determines its inebriating effects. But some people contend the artificial sweeteners in diet soda speed the absorption of alcohol.
Odd, perhaps, but research suggests it's true. In a 2006 study, a team of scientists recruited healthy subjects and had them consume vodka cocktails. On some occasions, it was a 20-ounce drink mixed with a sugar-sweetened beverage, and on others it was a nearly identical drink mixed instead with a diet beverage.
In the diet-mixer conditions, the alcohol entered the subjects' bloodstream about 15 minutes faster, and their blood-alcohol concentration was higher, peaking at 0.05 percent, compared with 0.03 percent with the regular mixer.
One theory is that the alcohol is absorbed more quickly because there is no sugar to slow it down, which would mean that club soda would have a similar effect. A second study in 2007 also showed that alcohol was absorbed far more quickly when mixed with carbonated beverages than with flat mixers, possibly because of the effervescence. As a result, experts say, it's best to choose flat mixers like orange or cranberry juice over diet sodas or juices.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Compared with sugar-sweetened drinks, artificial sweeteners can speed inebriation.