A controversial topic, but a new report concludes that aspartame and acesulfame-K may cause cancer due to the carbon isotope 13C.
On April 4, 2022, researchers in France published a comprehensive study correlating diet drink consumption with artificial sweeteners (aspartame and acesulfame-K) with cancer[1]. Do these results raise many questions about how components of proteins can cause cancer? And how does acesulfame-K (without amino acids) cause cancer?
Reports:
Evidence of Stable Isotope 13C Causing All Cancers
Reginald B. Little. Dept. of Natural Science, Stillman College.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401
In this report, the author concludes that this is evidence of stable unusual, non-primordial isotopes (2D, 13C, 15N, 17O, 25Mg, 33S) causes cancer, and 13C directly causes cancer.
Why do aspartame and acesulfame-K cause cancer?
Aspartame is synthesized from aspartic acid and phenylalanine. And these amino acids are in all proteins. During digestion, proteins are broken down into amino acids. And during the digestion of aspartame, phenylalanine and aspartic acids are produced.
So, what is it about aspartic acid and phenylalanine from aspartame that causes cancer, while aspartic acid and phenylalanine from other foods do not?
Aspartic acid is a non-essential amino acid. Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid, so it is probably phenylalanine that causes cancer. The author here notes that 13C in phenylalanine and aspartic acids are the reasons why aspartame causes cancer.
What about acesulfame-K?
Acesulfame-K is not synthesized from amino acids, but it is synthesized from precursors that have peptide- and oligonucleotide-like structures. And acesulfame-K can possibly decompose and interact to cause the decomposition of oligonucleotides to cause cancer.
Acesulfame-K is known to disrupt not only human cells, but also bacterial cells [2].
For example, experimental data have shown that acesulfame-K accelerates the reproduction of bacterial E. Coli, while aspartame slows down the reproduction of E. Coli.[2].E Coli is also known and often used to enrich amino acids and other biomolecules with stable isotopes of 13C, 15N, and 17O [3].
Acesulfame-K and Aspartame in diet soda accelerate E. Coli numbers in the intestines can cause cancer.
E. Coli is a common bacteria as well as others in the guts and intestines of humans and some animals. Therefore, acesulfame-K and aspartame in diet soda when drunk regularly with carbonates (known to enrich in13C and 17O under pressure) in beverages accelerate E. Coli numbers in the intestines and provide media for E. Coli to produce isotopically enriched amino acids; as the intestines act as fermentation reactors for E. Coli to enrich amino acids such as glycine, phenylalanine, lysine, leucine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid with 13C, 15N and 17O.The resulting isotopically enriched amino acids such as aspartic acid and phenylalanine (from acesulfame-K accelerated E. coli reproduction) can cause cancer in the body.
Why is aspartame enriched with 13C?
Why does aspartame contain elevated amounts 13C? Aspartame is synthesized by the production of aspartic acid and phenylalanine from bacterial cultures (respectively B. Flavum and C. Glutamicum) by fermentation processes.
13C and 15N is involved in such bacterial fermentation processes as it is known that B. Flavum can enrich aspartic acid with 13C and 15N[4,5]. It is known that C. Glutamicum can enrich phenylalanine with 13C [6].Therefore, the synthesized aspartame can be enriched with 13C and possibly 15N.
Author's conclusion
A new study provides a link between chronic aspartame and acesulfame-K intake in soft drinks to cancer of all types. Such a study is consistent with the earlier theory of RBL of isotopes of 13C enrichment and/or clumping to specific bindings of biomolecules of proteins and nucleic acids for cancer genesis and progression. Care should be taken when using bacterial media and algae [7] to synthesize drugs and foods in the future [8].There are currently pressing issues regarding farming and animals and human overpopulation and the environment and the use of these new technologies for new food sources for less impact on the environment and global warming. Care should be taken to assess and measure subtle stable isotope effects of 2D, 13C, 15N, 17O, 25Mg and 33S (which can be introduced into humans by such technologies of algae and bacteria) on human health for diseases.
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- Ramaraju B, McFeeters H, Vogler B, McFeeters RL. Bacterial production of site-specific 13C labeled phenylalanine and methodology for high-level incorporation into bacterially expressed recombinant proteins. J. Biomol NMR. 2017; 67(1): 23-34.
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- Bacteria – The role of bacteria in fermentation. Science.jrank.org. October 2020.