phenylalanine in NV

[Guest guest]

Phenylalanine is the same ingredient that is in Coke Zero. I am very surprised

that Nutriiveda contains this. Any thoughts?

Colleen

[Guest guest]

Colleen -long explanation below from an archive (I KNEW this came up before

-YAY!! Love archives!) but in brief there are 3 forms of phenylalanine -the

one that is in NV is found naturally in whole food -it's not added -it's one of

the essential amino acid found in whole food that your body needs every single

day...well with this one - unless one has a rare disease you'll learn more about

below where you can't eat food and have to have special shakes for pretty much

all your meals. You'd know if you had it from birth all babies are tested for

it. So if you don't have a rare disorder -have ever eaten food in your life

-chances are you are safe and then you want to make sure you have all the

essential amino acids every day. I don't want to say the one in Coke Zero is

not a natural form as I don't know..but I also don't drink or let my kids drink

soda except once in a blue moon!!

Info about ingredients

http://pursuitofresearch.org/ingredients.html

Info about why NV may be " working "

http://pursuitofresearch.org/science.html

And info about....the Rodney Dangerfield of Essential Amino Acids - introducing

Phenylalanine...the natural one!

Re: Phenylalanine

There are three forms of phenylalanine, the one found in nutriiveda is the

natural form.

The only person that would not be able to consume the natural form would be

someone with a condition called PKU which is rare and it's I believe one of the

things they test all babies for from birth -and you would know because you

wouldn't be able to eat eggs, meat etc. and would have to stick to an extreme

strict diet for life -or else (lots of bad stuff) PKU is a rare, serious

disorder that you again could diagnose from birth and one with PKU would never

live a normal life in regards to food (I would say if your child eats meat,

dairy and eggs he doesn't have PKU)

Again the natural form of phenylalanine is in meat, dairy, eggs...protein...so

if one wanted to avoid all phenylalanine the only way is to put your child on a

PKU diet -here's more info on what that is but ironically that diet also is a

powder that can be made into a drink -so no getting away from that!

" The PKU diet replaces meat, dairy and eggs with a special medical formula that

does not contain Phe. This formula is prescribed by a doctor at a metabolic

clinic. It may take the form of a powder mixed with drinks or as a premixed

drink.2

Most of the calories a person with PKU eats come from this formula. The

remaining calories, and all of the Phe that a person with PKU needs, come mostly

from relatively low Phe foods such as grains, fruits and vegetables. Since most

food contains some Phe, people with PKU must be careful about what–and how

much–they eat "

http://www.pku.com/What-is-PKU/pku-facts-information.php

I just noticed that my webmaster forgot to add the most important part about PKU

to this question up at the pursuitofresearch.org site so thank you will have her

add that!

I read there was phenylalanine in NutriiVeda, why? The phenylalanine in

NutriiVeda is the natural form found in proteins. Phenylalanine is an essential

amino acid (a building block for proteins in the body), meaning the body needs

it for health but cannot make it. You have to get it from food. Phenylalanine

is found in three forms: L-phenylalanine, the natural form as found in

NutriiVeda; D-phenylalanine (a mirror image of L-phenylalanine that is made in a

laboratory), and DL-phenylalanine, a combination of the two forms

http://pursuitofresearch.org/faq

I have below more information on this as the warnings are in regards to the

other two forms. The following is NOT in regards to the natural form of

phenylalanine and essential amino acid found in protein -it's in regards to the

man made versions =in other words you may want to limit soda

(we don't have soda in our house)

Pharmaceuticals - Effects of Aspartame and Phenylalanine of the body

Expert: R. PhD - 10/22/2003

Question

Hi,

I hope I have the correct category for this type of question.

It seemed the most appropriate but please tell me if it isn't.

I was wondering if you could tell me what the effects of

Phenylalanine and Aspartame are on the body.

I drink a fair amount of diet cola drinks and people keep

telling me that they are bad for me because of all the

artificial colours and flavours.

This seems to be the general attitude to these types of

drinks but, just because everyone says it's true, doesn't

mean it is, so I decided to do a bit of research and find out

for myself.

I have already done research on the effects of caffine and

the artifical colours but I haven't been able to get any good

reliable information about Aspartame and Phenylalanine.

Could you tell me what physiological effects these have on

the body and whether or not the doses involved could

cause problems?

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me.

Regards,

Mark

Answer

Hi Mark!

Phenylalanine is an amino acid while Aspartane is made from two amino acids,

phenylalanine and aspartic acid. A little basic information about these

compounds is shown below:

PHENYLALANINE

Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that is also one of the aromatic amino

acids that exhibit ultraviolet radiation absorption properties and is the most

commonly found aromatic amino acid. It can be converted in the body to

tyrosine, which in turn is used to synthesize two important neurotransmitters -

dopamine and norepinephrine. It is available in three different forms - L-, D-

and DL-. The L- form is the most common and the type in which it is incorporated

into the body's proteins. The D- form acts as a painkiller and the DL- a

combination of the two.

Phenylalanine is required for

It is used in elevating the mood since it is so closely involved with the

nervous system, as well as help with memory and learning and has been used as an

appetite suppressant.

People suffering from Parkinson's disease It is DLPA (or the D- or L-form alone)

is used to treat depression and the D form may also be helpful in the treatment

of Parkinson's disease and chronic pain in both osteo-arthritis and rheumatoid

arthritis with mixed results Increases blood levels of norepinephrine,

epinephrine and dopamine - all three required for neurotransmission.

Deficiency of phenylalanine

Dietary deficiency is rare but symptoms may include lethargy, edema, weakness,

skin lesions as well as liver damage and slow growth. A deficiency in diet would

only occur with an extremely low protein intake.

Dosage

The dosage listed is the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA), but be aware that

this dosage is the minimum that you require per day, to ward off serious

deficiency of this particular nutrient. In the therapeutic use of this nutrient,

the dosage is usually increased considerably, but the toxicity level must be

kept in mind.

Pregnant women, people suffering from anxiety attacks, high blood pressure,

diabetes and phenylketonuria, should NOT take it. DLPA supplements may interact

with certain antidepressants or stimulants. Please consult your medical

professional.

The daily dosage is unknown but supplements are taken at about 14 mg per

kilogram of body weight per day - which would translate to about 980 mg for a 70

kg male, but since it has powerful mood altering effects, only use under medical

supervision.

Toxicity and symptoms of high intake

Toxicity is rare in dietary intake but large amounts in supplement form may play

havoc with your blood pressure and cause headaches, nausea and heartburn. Large

amounts of this nutrient may also cause nerve damage.

Some people cannot metabolize phenylalanine and should not take supplementation

of this amino acid.

When more may be required

This nutrient could prove of benefit to people suffering from Parkinson's

disease, tiredness, depression, busy with alcohol withdrawal, rheumatoid

arthritis, osteo arthritis and vitiligo.

Food sources of phenylalanine

It is contained in most protein rich foods but good sources are found in dairy

products, almonds, avocados, lima beans, peanuts and seeds.

ASPARTANE

Prior to its approval for use in food and beverage products, aspartame was

subjected to one of the most comprehensive testing programs ever undertaken for

a food additive. Since 1967, more than 200 scientific studies have been

conducted with laboratory animals and a cross-section of men, women and

children. Based on these extensive studies, aspartame has been approved by the

United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Canada's Health Protection

Branch (HPB), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the regulatory agencies of

more than 100 other nations. In 1986 the GAO specifically reviewed the FDA's

regulatory process in reviewing aspartame.

The Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association, after

reviewing all safety issues, has also confirmed that consuming products

sweetened with aspartame is no different than consuming other foods, thus

demonstrating that aspartame is not associated with adverse health effects.

In the Food and Drug Administration's Final Decision on aspartame's approval

(Fed. Reg. 46:38289, 1981), the Commissioner stated:

" Few compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated, close

scrutiny, and the process through which aspartame has gone should provide the

public with additional confidence of its safety. "

Safety of long-term administration of 75 mg/kg of aspartame per day was

evaluated with the use of a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled,

parallel-group design in 108 male and female volunteers aged 18 to 62 years.

Subjects received either aspartame or placebo in capsule form three times daily

for 24 weeks. No persistent changes over time were noted in either group in

vital signs; body weight; results of standard laboratory tests; fasting blood

levels of aspartame's constituent amino acids (aspartic acid and phenylalanine),

other amino acids, and methanol; or blood formate levels and 24-hour urinary

excretion of formate. There also were no statistically significant differences

between groups in the number of subjects experiencing symptoms or in the number

of symptoms per subject. These results further document the safety of the

long-term consumption of aspartame at doses equivalent to the amount of

aspartame in approximately 10 L of beverage per day.

Summary:

Both materials are quite safe as long as you don't drink more than 10 liters of

artificially sweetened drinks a day. (A liter is slightly more than a quart.)

There are exceptions, but in general, the people who say such things are unsafe

are folks who believe that anything made in a factory is unhealthy. They prefer

to eat vegetables that have been fertalized using human excrement instead of

man-made fertalizer. It takes all kinds!

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pharmaceuticals-2456/Effects-Aspartame-Phenylalanine-\

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body.htm

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PS Even though nutriiveda contains the natural form of phenylalanine there is

no fertilizer (or heavy metals either) in nutriiveda either as this pharmacist

insinuates natural products can have in them -it's tested free of any heavy

metals pesticides or herbicides.

The pharmacist perhaps was only kidding. It appears to me that this pharmacist

is defending the other two types of phenylalanine in the above and after reading

it you can decide if you want to continue to consume foods and drinks with the

other two versions -but nobody has to defend or explain why mother nature has

phenylalanine in eggs and meat -PROTEIN...it's (again) an essential amino acid

meaning the body needs it but can't produce it so has to consume it. As I was

told by the company that makes the nutriiveda they wouldn't even be able to tell

us the exact amount found in the protein as they didn't put it there -it's a

trace amount found naturally in protein.

I know I am probably repeating myself but if someone wants to help me answer the

question on this page to make it clear to all those that confuse the three types

of phenylalanine that would be great! http://pursuitofresearch.org/faq

But again if you have a child with PKU- of course just like eggs and meat etc.

You would then not be able to use the nutriiveda either. Again more about PKU

here http://www.pku.com/What-is-PKU/pku-facts-information.php

Other than PKU -or some other rare disorder -all the essential amino acids for

everyone!

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