What else is there for us?

Is nothing safe anymore?

Got two separate emails about the same topic: toxic materials in everyday objects.

The first one, from Pretchie, is about aspartame and how it really affects our bodies. As you all know aspartame is the main ingredient of sugar substitutes which are marketed under the brand names NutraSweet, Equal and Spoonful. It’s also used in all the diet soft drinks and in a host of 'sugar free' products.

Here is an excerpt from that email:

Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to Formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. (Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.) The methanol toxicity mimics among other conditions multiple sclerosis. People were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error. The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where methanol toxicity is!

Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use, irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become life-threatening. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic once taken off diet sodas. In the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision returned and hearing improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus.

The second email came from Indi and this time it’s about how reusable bottles are dangerous (forwarded from Boingboing).

I remember being told not to reuse those mineral water bottles as it creates a fertile breeding ground for bacteria which you then ingest. I don’t know exactly how it works but I stopped using them. I even bought my daughter a water container for her trips outside of the house.

Nalgene, is considered by many mountain climbers as the best water container to bring to a climb. It’s sturdy and it comes in a variety of designs and a number of really purty colors. But guess what, Nalgene is also toxic.

Read on:

So I did what any bacteria-fearing primate would do and bought a nice, reusable Nalgene bottle. Boy oh boy, nothing makes you look or feel more like a tree-hugging, mushroom hunting nature girl than one of those bright, hard plastic bottles! Until it comes out that Nalgene gives you BRAIN DAMAGE! Yes, Bisphenol A, used to make Nalgene bottles and other hard plastic projects, apparently seeps into the body and can, in certain doses, mess with the function of the brain. (I’m paraphrasing/exaggerating and not everybody agrees, so look it up.)

I could almost dismiss the fear as environmentalist fear mongering, but it turns out that California legislators take the threat seriously enough to consider banning it in children’s products.

Click here for the whole story.

Ano ba ito? Everything around us is bad for us.


aren't they the cutest? can't believe they cause brain damage.

To make things worse, El, another good friend told me that tomato vendors in the wet markets dip their produce in a kerosene/water solution to make the tomatoes shinier and last longer.

As Indi so exasperatedly wrote: lahat na toxic! arrrrgh.

One way to combat this is to go organic but they’re very expensive. I tell you these are dangerous times. And we don’t need an actual war to feel like we’re under siege.