[Cyrus]

Hello, I'm inquiring about the dangers of the common artifical sweetener. Are they relevant, or just hype?

[dissimulo]

Check snopes.

[entropyfails]

Personally, I can control my eating so I don't have any need of a sweetener that takes like dog piss. *grin* Aspartame gets the nod from the US government. Other governments ban it. The research (pro/con) is inconclusive at best. (like most "this food is good/bad" studies) No one seems to want to be locked in a box and randomly fed aspartame for years for some reason! *laugh*

The best page on the controversy itself comes from Wikipedia, of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy


At peakoil.com, we've had this discussion before.

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic23988.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Ap ... +Aspartame


Some random links.

Pro Sites:

http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/aspartam ... tameh.html

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ad ... U_HTML.htm


Anti Sites:

http://www.dorway.com/offasprt.html

http://www.greenfacts.org/aspartame/l-3/aspartame-1.htm

http://www.sweetpoison.com/

[katkinkate]

I don't know how 'dangerous' aspartame is but I'm a bit suspicious of it. I read a lot of the for and against propaganda and decided there was enough to warrant avoiding it, as it isn't really necessary in the diet.

I went off aspartame on a Monday. I made sure I wouldn't suffer caffeine withdrawals by drinking more coffee for a while - I wanted to see the effects of the aspartame had on me alone. By that Friday I was in the middle of the worst withdrawal symptoms I have ever had: intense headache (and neck and upper back) and mental confusion - my mind wouldn't work. I couldn't add up a simple row of numbers (I usually have no problem), couldn't understand simple signs or what people said to me, unless they spoke very slowly and I could think just enough to realise I was useless for anything and it would be best to just go home and wait for it to wear off.

I haven't touched it since. It took almost another week before I felt normal again. I drink my softdrinks sugared now. And in consideration for my pancreas, I try to keep my softdrink intake very low (2-3 small bottles a week). I drink more water, juice, teas and coffee.

[JustinFrankl]

In the other thread, "Stop Drinking Coke", holmes made a comment about how "they don't let flyboys in the military drink the stuff". And there are some interesting results via a google search on aspartame+pilots+air+force.

The wiki on the Aspartame Controversy is also interesting, in that most consumer groups are against it, most independent science is against it, but most national and international agencies (government and corporate) are for it.

[gnm]

For what its worth I know a PHd molecular biologist who won't touch the stuff.

-G

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') went off aspartame on a Monday

[KhanCEO]

Aspartame is poison, stop drinking it.

Aspartame is Poison

Stop drinking that crap. It will ruin you.

[ECM]

I can personally attest to having problems from Aspartame consumption. I can use it for a while but eventually I will start having sudden severe nerve tingling in my chest, back, and arms among other problems.

The only reason I use the stuff now is to kick start weight loss as it has a significant effect on my desire to eat.

[Falconoffury]

I read that aspartame makes one fat because of how it works in the body.

Unkown element, replace your intake of artificial sweetener with a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with each meal. It reduces heartburn by a huge amount. Also, get a bottle of digestive enzyme capsules from a health food store.

Do not use over the counter antacids like Zantac or Pepsid AC. Those only provide temporary relief, but make the problem persist over the long term.

The best overall advice I can give for getting healthy, is to eat foods as close to nature as possible. Raw, organic, vegetables, fruit, nuts, and even organically fed meat are all much better than processed food. Avoid all artificial colorings and flavorings.

If you go to Japan and order a steak at a nice restaurant, it might be the best steak you ever had. Why? Because the country has very strict guidelines when testing their meat. They don't allow the growth hormone and antibiotics that american meat has.

One last piece of advice is to get a colon cleanse. Web search it. A clean digestive system is critical to overall health.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Falconoffury', 'U')nkown element, replace your intake of artificial sweetener with a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar with each meal.

[jdumars]

Aspartame is an excitotoxin along the lines of monosodium glutamate. It's indeed a poison, in that it causes cell death through overloading the amino acid receptors. Check out the book by Dr. Russell Blaylock called "Excitotoxins: the taste that kills" and also my site: http://msgfree.dumarsengraving.com

I could go on for hours about this stuff and what it's doing to all of us, but I'll spare you. I eat absolutely no MSG or Aspartame, and that requires knowing everyone who grows or raises my food on a first-name basis. Healthy food and our current population are mutually exclusive. We're already screwed.

[shakespear1]

I had to raise this topic from the dead as I just got finished watching a documentary called "Sweet Misery" on our cable television here. It is about aspartame.

Sweet Misery

I had a run in with this stuff some years ago. It was in coco mix. I mixed up the stuff and started to drink it. In no time my head felt strange as did also my taste buds. I suspect that I am one of the sensitive people to this as mentioned in this documentary.

What was a double whammy for me was the fact that the name of Rumsfeld came up. Apparently he has the distinction of helping SEARLY company to get the stuff through FDA. Amazing.

Ignore evidence at all cost just to make sure he reach his goal. Sounds like what he helped to do with Iraq.

[smallpoxgirl]

Where's Dukey with a conspiratorial youtube video when you need one?

[BigTex]

Aspartame is not good for you. Avoid it if possible.

[I_Like_Plants]

It makes me feel funny. I don't like it. I avoid it at all costs, although I've been known to eat tapioca pudding (that hides the aspartame flavor well) then feel funny afterwards, and basically just sit around until I got feeling better.

I just avoid the shit.

I don't know the research behind it well, or the research being used by the anti-aspartame movement. They are in the process of banning it in the state of Hawaii, which I feel will be one of the few things that wog-run hellhole has done right.

[auscanman]

With the metabolic pathway that aspartame follows once ingested methanol is formed. This can severely damage your vision... and has plenty of other ill effects on the body. I drink regular soft drinks, but haven't touched a diet soft drink for over 5 years, and won't again.

[Flowerr]

Honey is good for you if you don't eat too much. Good antibiotic coverage too. it will last 100 years if kept cool, good storage food.

[eric_b]

Well, after skimming this book at my brother's I will no longer touch aspartame, and I try to avoid msg now (which knocks out many canned and processed foods).
http://www.amazon.com/Excitotoxins-Tast ... 0929173252

Apparently both msg and aspartame are neurotoxic, though individual sensitivity varies. Every now and then it's prolly OK to have, though I wouldn't make a habit of drinking anything loaded with aspartame.

[mmasters]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eric_b', 'W')ell, after skimming this book at my brother's I will no longer touch aspartame, and I try to avoid msg now (which knocks out many canned and processed foods).
http://www.amazon.com/Excitotoxins-Tast ... 0929173252

Apparently both msg and aspartame are neurotoxic, though individual sensitivity varies. Every now and then it's prolly OK to have, though I wouldn't make a habit of drinking anything loaded with aspartame.