Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
New Zealand's leading source of information on Organics & Sustainable Living
School Test: Dump the Diet Coke.31-07-2007Soil & Health wants schools to try a 60-day diet beverage and sugar-free gum break to test for pupil behaviour improvement. Diet and sugar-free products often contain the neurotoxin aspartame. “With increasing behavioural, mental health and obesity issues in the community, also prevalent in our schools, it is timely that visiting anti-aspartame expert Betty Martini’s simple 60 aspartame free days experiment be tried,” said Soil & Health spokesperson Steffan Browning. “Aspartame consumption has been linked to many health symptoms, including those expressed as ADHD, anxiety, depression, irritability, confusion, memory loss, insomnia, dizziness, migraines, cramps, abdominal pain, numbness or tingling of extremities, rashes, chronic fatigue, and personality changes. These same symptoms are increasingly expressed among our young people, and a short spell without aspartame may assist with a marked improvement in quality of life for some, and their families and teachers.” “60 days aspartame free has been recommended for identifying more subtle health effects, although Diet Coke and Wrigleys gum consumer, Abby Cormack, recently had immediate benefit from her severe aspartame poisoning symptoms when she stopped aspartame intake.” “ Unfortunately many schools, while concerned with sugar in their rapidly growing obese students, have retained aspartame containing diet drinks in the school canteens,” said Browning, “Yet aspartame through its action on serotonin can increase the desire for carbohydrates, aggravating the obesity problem. Serotonin depletion is also directly linked with depressive disorders ” “Corruption of political process has allowed aspartame to be allowed into the food chain, even though as far back as 1985, the USA Congressional Record, Senate, S - 5511, recorded this statement: "Aspartame has been demonstrated to inhibit the carbohydrate-induced synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin (Wurtman affidavit). Serotonin blunts the sensation of craving carbohydrates and this is part of the body's feedback system that helps limit consumption of carbohydrate to appropriate levels. Its inhibition by aspartame could lead to the anomalous result of a diet product causing increased consumption of carbohydrates."” “Withdrawing diet drinks and other sugar-free labelled products from school canteens, as is increasingly happening in the USA and Europe, is a must for New Zealand. A trial period by schools is the least Boards of Trustees can do to improve the health of their students and the effectiveness of the teaching staff,” said Browning. Soil & Health and the Safe Food Campaign are hosting Betty Martini, international anti-aspartame campaigner and expert from the USA, and Wellington aspartame sufferer Abby Cormack, to public meetings at Wellington Central Public Library, Mezzanine Floor 6-8pm today, Tuesday 31 July, and Auckland Thursday 2nd August 7-30pm at the Auckland Medical School, 85 Grafton Road. Contact: The Soil & Health Association of NZ Spokesperson Steffan Browning 021 725655 steffan@buyorganic.co.nz Wellington: Alison White, Safe Food Campaign, (04) 476 8607 or 021 169 9120, alison@safefood.org.nz Abby Cormack, Ph: (04) 971 6282 or 027 388 4622, abbycormack@gmail.com Auckland: Chris Wheeler, Mission Possible, Ph: 021 505 025, chrisw2@pl.net Jenny Scott, ADHD Association, (09) 520 0618 or 021 044 0546, bnjscott@xtra.co.nz The Soil & Health Association of New Zealand Inc PO Box 36-170, Northcote, Auckland Phone: (09) 419 4536 Fax: (09) 419 4556 |
|
Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
