http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/Innomen/review/43325772/
This is basic chemistry people.
“Aspartame is the methyl ester of the dipeptide of the natural amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine. Under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions, aspartame first generates methanol by hydrolysis. Under more severe conditions, the peptide bonds are also hydrolyzed, resulting in the free amino acids.”
http://www.edinformatics.com/math_science/science_of_cooking/aspartame.htm
Stomach acid: “(A)n acid solution with a pH of 1 to 2 in the stomach lumen, consisting mainly of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (around 0.5%, or 5000 parts per million), and large quantities of potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl).”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_acid
So, these two undisputed facts establish that Aspartame breaks down into methanol in the stomach, generally.
Aspartame + Stomach acid = Wood Alcohol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol#Toxicity
“(I)t is metabolized to formic acid (which is present as the formate ion) via formaldehyde in a process initiated by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver.”
Every step of that process is cited or universally agreed on. The ONLY room for debate is quibbling about what “harm” means, what “mean” means and how much is too much.
Well color me paranoid but I try to avoid drinking wood alcohol as a general rule, right along with paint thinner and antifreeze.
This is related to one of my earliest posts.
http://underlore.com/TBA/?p=63