Why Aspartame Isn't Scary

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Just going to pop in here some more science behind not just aspartame but other nutritional sweeteners

    https://youtu.be/FKciZz3hfVc
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited May 2018
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Just going to pop in here some more science behind not just aspartame but other nutritional sweeteners

    https://youtu.be/FKciZz3hfVc

    I watched the video up through the aspartame part and it is pretty spot on in my opinion.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Just going to pop in here some more science behind not just aspartame but other nutritional sweeteners

    https://youtu.be/FKciZz3hfVc

    I watched the video up through the aspartame part and it is pretty spot on in my opinion.

    The synopsis of the others.. if you eat within the ADI standards, then there is no evidence to suggest it will cause any harm. And the only animals models that demonstrated otherwises were insane dosage... About the equivalent of 40 cans of soda a day.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    Well, he was tested for it as a baby and it came up positive. He's been told to avoid aspartame his whole life, and if he consumes it, it makes him feel like crap. What I've read about PKU is that there are less severe forms of it where the body has retained some ability to process phenylalanine. So unless the testing for it in the US is faulty and comes up with false negatives, yes. I am sure he has it. He Just not the form where he can't consume any protein containing phenylalanine without getting sick. I'm not sure when testing babies for PKU became a requirement/ in the US. So that's why I was thinking the guy mentioned above could have maybe had a mild form of it without realizing it. Therefor it could have possibly slowly built up in his body at a faster rate then his body had the ability to processes out. Or it was something completely unrelated to his diet soda consumption (more likely), which is why my friends comment irked be about my occasional diet soda.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    I got curious and did some googling. Because, When I look up PKU I often wonder why we're told the doctor's said he tested positive, yet he can eat any protein with no ill effect. It's just aspartame that makes him feel bad.
    I found an interesting article about the history of testing for it. I'm not sure how it was done in the late 80's. Maybe he did have a false posative, or a higher then normal, but not definativly PKU reading? Or they got crap advice from the doc that tested for it, and he should have been avoiding protien this whole time? He and all his siblings have been diagnosed with some type of mood disorder with varying severities (mild to moderate) at some point in thier lives. Could it be PKU related? (as it is genetic) Or just a coincidence? I'm kind of perplexed now. Maybe someone a little more knowlegeble then I may come to the rescue and offer some insight, lol.

    https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/guthrie-test-early-diagnosis-phenylketonuria
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    @pinuplove I tend to agree on that one. Anyways pretty much anything in excess cannot be good for you. Or so I believe. It seems (key word here) to be that so many anecdotal claims of X Y or Z being "toxic" tends to be related to consuming the product in question in excessive amounts. I'm not saying that about aspartame, or anything really. It's just when I read one of those mommy blogs about things like that, I like to look into it. I then find the case they are making their whole fear mongering blog out of , and find that the person/ case in question consumed or used that product regularly, and in excess for decades. The one that comes to mind is the case against Johnson & Johnson for their baby powder causing cancer. The woman used baby powder on her genitals daily for decades. To my knowledge they have studied normal use (powdering a few baby bums, or occasional adult use) and can not find a correlation to cancer.
  • solieco1
    solieco1 Posts: 1,559 Member
    Now I feel sorry for Sprague-Dawley rats...
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...

    I have nothing to add to any of this conversation, but I wanted to just say... don't take the woo so personally. Some people seem to think it's a positive thing, others use it to show that they dislike a post (not necessarily the same as disagreement), others use it just because they don't like the poster (my woos have doubled in the last week and many on very innocuous posts, I assumed I angered someone somewhere), and some do it just because they are cowardly and don't have any interest in actual discourse, they just want to be disagreeable.

    Thanks for that. I usually don't let it bother me, and just take it as a fact that I was disagreed with & move on. But I have noticed an uptick in the woo's this week as well. I was just hoping some woo-lurkers would come out of the woodwork (woowork?) and add to the conversation. I've been woo'd on really weird things lately is all, and if I am really talking out my *kitten* it would be good to know, lol.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...

    I have nothing to add to any of this conversation, but I wanted to just say... don't take the woo so personally. Some people seem to think it's a positive thing, others use it to show that they dislike a post (not necessarily the same as disagreement), others use it just because they don't like the poster (my woos have doubled in the last week and many on very innocuous posts, I assumed I angered someone somewhere), and some do it just because they are cowardly and don't have any interest in actual discourse, they just want to be disagreeable.

    Thanks for that. I usually don't let it bother me, and just take it as a fact that I was disagreed with & move on. But I have noticed an uptick in the woo's this week as well. I was just hoping some woo-lurkers would come out of the woodwork (woowork?) and add to the conversation. I've been woo'd on really weird things lately is all, and if I am really talking out my *kitten* it would be good to know, lol.

    I haven't seen anything particularly wootastic from you, for what it's worth. :smile:
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    edited July 2018
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...

    I have nothing to add to any of this conversation, but I wanted to just say... don't take the woo so personally. Some people seem to think it's a positive thing, others use it to show that they dislike a post (not necessarily the same as disagreement), others use it just because they don't like the poster (my woos have doubled in the last week and many on very innocuous posts, I assumed I angered someone somewhere), and some do it just because they are cowardly and don't have any interest in actual discourse, they just want to be disagreeable.

    Thanks for that. I usually don't let it bother me, and just take it as a fact that I was disagreed with & move on. But I have noticed an uptick in the woo's this week as well. I was just hoping some woo-lurkers would come out of the woodwork (woowork?) and add to the conversation. I've been woo'd on really weird things lately is all, and if I am really talking out my *kitten* it would be good to know, lol.

    I haven't seen anything particularly wootastic from you, for what it's worth. :smile:

    Aww thanks. :blush: Wootastic I like that. Although I wish we had an IRL woo button. When my aspartame hating friends got going on me about my dietary choice of drinking calorie free soda my woo-dar was screaming. Would it be in poor taste if I dork-stamped them, screamed WOO and ran off the next time they tell me I'm poisoning myself? :tongue:
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...

    I have nothing to add to any of this conversation, but I wanted to just say... don't take the woo so personally. Some people seem to think it's a positive thing, others use it to show that they dislike a post (not necessarily the same as disagreement), others use it just because they don't like the poster (my woos have doubled in the last week and many on very innocuous posts, I assumed I angered someone somewhere), and some do it just because they are cowardly and don't have any interest in actual discourse, they just want to be disagreeable.

    Thanks for that. I usually don't let it bother me, and just take it as a fact that I was disagreed with & move on. But I have noticed an uptick in the woo's this week as well. I was just hoping some woo-lurkers would come out of the woodwork (woowork?) and add to the conversation. I've been woo'd on really weird things lately is all, and if I am really talking out my *kitten* it would be good to know, lol.

    I haven't seen anything particularly wootastic from you, for what it's worth. :smile:

    Aww thanks. :blush: Wootastic I like that. Although I wish we had an IRL woo button. When my aspartame hating friends got going on me about my dietary choice of drinking calorie free soda my woo-dar was screaming. Would it be in poor taste if I dork-stamped them, screamed WOO and ran off the next time they tell me I'm poisoning myself? :tongue:

    I like this idea! Either they'd never bring the subject up again, or they'd be mortified and think twice before they hang out with you again. Either way, I think you win!
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,282 Member
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...


    Yes i am very perplexed by it too - people with PKU need to eat an EXTREMELY limited diet for life - not just avoid aspartame - as Aaron pointed out, diet drinks, while something to avoid if you have PKU ,are by no means the only thing or the highest risk thing.

    and PKU is a specific genetic disease - either you have it or you dont. Nobody has it and doesn't know it.
    And people with it are monitored closely for life - because ireparable brain damage results if they do not adhere to the diet and keep their levels low.

    Cant speak for the US - but in Australia testing of newborns is standard practice and has been for at least 40 years. Would be very surprised if this is not similar in US
    In the days before this, children suffered ireparable brain damage before they were diagnosed.

    I am not wooing you - but just, as you asked, explaining why I disagree with your POV - I realise you posted it in good faith but it does not tally with actual diagnosis or treatment of PKU.

  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Interesting... I'm still perplexed as to why my hubby got told he was PKU... and why he does not react negatively to eating protein. Because what you posted supports what I've read about it. A piece of chicken has way more phenylalanine in it then a can of diet coke. I'm guessing he must have had a positive test for it, but no follow up testing? That kind of boggles my mind a bit. If it is such a serious disease (of which I'm not questioning), then I wonder why no one followed up with it, or even informed my MIL what being PKU entails? Supposedly she was told she had it too. She was presenting with a series of symptoms at the time (including mood and mental type symptoms) that I believe brought about the PKU diagnosis. She was told to quit drinking diet drinks, and she quit them cold turkey. She has likened the experience to coming off of drugs and claims to have actually been addicted, and went through withdrawals coming off of diet soda. Like mood swings, body pains, feeling sick, the whole bit. All the while probably eating plenty of meat along the way.

    Please don't woo me on this, this is just the story I've been told, and I realize it's purely anecdotal. I'm still of the belief that there is no reason to avoid it unless you have a negative reaction to it. (Like with any food really). Instead of a woo, please tell me why you disagree with my POV. I really try not to spread misinformation or pass anecdotal claims as facts. But I do like the opportunity to learn more from different points of view.

    I'm just confused about why on earth would doctors say "Ma'am, you and your baby have tested positive for a potentially life threatening disease that will alter the way you eat for the rest of your life." And was not given any other information other then to "avoid aspartame". Then again they could have had a quack with old or poor information. My hubby and his family have a history of getting some of the quackiest health care professionals I have ever heard of. OR Maybe they could have misinterpreted what they were told too.. I don't know...

    Was that a real doctor who gave that diagnosis or some sort of naturopath or similar? If you still have contact with them you could also ask directly why they'd give a diagnosis like that.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    edited July 2018
    Thanks for the feedback guys!. I'm going with the quack doctor route then. Because the story I've heard and actually looking up PKU has never made sense. I don't believe that doctor is still available. A) this was 30 years ago, and B ) it was likely a VA doctor on the Homestead Airforce Base in FL. Which was wiped off the map by hurricane Andrew. So likely there are no medical records to be able to pull out of curiosity. Somehow his family has managed to get the quackiest quacks of all the quacks. No Naturopaths, or homeopathic doctors. Just the ones they have to go to through the VA (Veterans Aid). There are more stories like this with diagnoses that don't make sense. Just recently my father in law was told that at age 60, there's no way he can develop new allergies to something. He's too old. Even though he most certainly developed a new allergy to something. Hence why he went in to the doctor! So I dunno. :confused: The only logical thing I could think of is they were told he carries the gene that makes it possible. Or it was a false positive, and they never followed up. Which thank God it was false then!