9.  Other Potentially Dangerous Chemicals

The FDA's decision to allow the sale of aspartame in tea
beverages and baked goods means that there is a much greater
liklihood that racemized amino acids will form during the
preparation (Boehm 1984, Bada 1987, Gaines 1987). The amount
of racemized amino acids ingested by a person who regular
eats these cooked products may far exceed that obtain from
normal cooked foods (Boehm 1984, Man 1987a) While it is not
expected that most aspartame ingesters will regularly heat
aspartame products to high temperature, it is very possible
that many people will do just that. The effects of ingesting
significant quantities of D-aspartic acid for a lifetime are
not well known.

Man (1983) showed that D-Aspartic acid accumulates in the
white matter of the brain as a person ages. Man (1987b)
showed that the ratio between the levels of D-Aspartic acid
in the grey matter and the white matter of the brain are
approximately the same in normal persons and patients with
Parkinson's, MS, and Alzheimer's Disease. However, Fisher
(1991) showed that the levels of free D-Aspartic acid in the
white matter of Alheimer's patients are approximately twice
the level found in healthy individuals. He also noted that D-
alanine was found at approximately twice the normal level in
the gray matter of Alzheimer's patients.

Since Alzheimer's patients (and many others) can have
damaged blood brain barriers, it is possible that a
significant increase in dietary D-Aspartic acid could lead
to an increase of free D-aspartic acid in the white matter
of the brain. There may be significant adverse health
consequences from the long-term ingestion of heated
aspartame products due to the increase concentration of free
D-aspartic acid. This may be especially worrisome for
Alzheimer's patients. This is an area which has not been
investigated.