From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sun Sep 07 2003 - 18:12:41 MDT
On Mon, 8 Sep 2003, Alex Ramonsky wrote:
> Right; I see where you're coming from. I'm pretty convinced though that
> _anything_ that causes a glucose 'spike' is bad news, to be honest.
No argument. But for people that crave sugar -- it looks like Alteon
may have a near term solution -- vs. may other aging related problems
where we are a decade away or more.
The promotion of obesity/diabetes/insulin resistance issues are complex
because it looks like Insulin-Like-Growth-Factor (or related hormones)
are involved. Those in turn may be related to the "rate" of operation
of the mitochondria which in turn may be related to free radical production
and damage to DNA which in turn may be related to DNA double strand breaks
and repair which corrupts the genetic code. So in general, I would agree
that it seems like a good idea to avoid 'spikes'. We probably are not
naturally evolved to handle them. But in terms of what kills us I'd
place more emphasis on obesity rather than on 'spikes'.
> Actually I meant to ask about this...I though the FDA had banned
> aspartame in the USA due to finding problems with brain damage in kids?
Nada. I just read the label on the bottle of diet coke in my fridge
and in addition to caffeine, aspartame is on the ingredient list.
Interestingly it also has a warning about containing phenylalanine.
> Most britons I talk to seem to believe this. Is it not true?
I have heard that there is a strong debate over aspartame. I did a
limited amount of research on this a few months ago but did not find
anything that would scare me into not drinking it.
It may be yet another one of those substances where due to genetic
differences "your mileage may vary". So its a complicated mess --
one may deny oneself the sensual pleasures of life making life
really uninteresting, causing depression that leads to suicide, OR
one may consume a natural substance (glucose) that may accelerate
protein glycosylation and may promote obesity and therefore a somewhat
premature death, OR one may consume aspartame which may not make one
age faster but may alter ones brain chemistry in undetermined ways.
So, pick your poison.
Robert
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