Aspartame... is it really that bad?

brenteesha

Hey everyone. I have been calorie counting since early January, but quite a while before that I had removed aspartame from my diet. Up until spring/summer 2010, I was drinking anywhere from 4-6 cans of aspartame-flavored diet pop (or soda, depending on your locale) per day, plus whatever I drank at work since I was in food service at the time.

My older sister stays pretty up-to-date on newer health trends, such as the whole anti-high fructose corn syrup craze, quinoa, kale, etc. She sent me a link to an article written by a doctor, and talked about all the different health problems that have been linked to aspartame. It also talked about the way aspartame breaks down within the body -- apparently one of the bi-products is toxic. When reading that it was linked to depression and anxiety, I realized a correlation. Less than a year (probably closer to 6 months) after I switched to diet pop many years ago, I started an incredibly bad bout of depression that lasted several years. There were stressful events that contributed as well, and the depression subsided before I stopped drinking diet pop... but the possibility was enough to force me to make the switch. It also ended up being healthier, because I started drinking Pepsi Throwback (real cane sugar -- no artifical sweeteners or HFCS) and only one can a day.

However, now that I've decided to try and lose some weight, products such as aspartame are back in the forefront of my mind. I've started buying Diet Coke with Splenda or Pepsi One (also Splenda), but when I'm at work the vending machine doesn't have these choices. I was practically falling asleep at my desk today, and I ended up buying a Diet Mtn Dew to help with that. 20 oz of this is not a huge worry to me, but I wanted to inquire with others since I'm sure I will be having this debate in my head many times in the near future.

I've heard varying, conflicting reports about aspartame. In college, one of my professors told me that one would need to consume extremely large quantities of diet pop (gallons upon gallons each day) in order to consume enough aspartame to have negative consequences. However, the article I mentioned earlier made it sound much more serious, with a plethora of different consequences that may be attached, not to mention the toxic chemical released into your body after it breaks down.

This is where I ask my fellow MFPers for their input.... what do you think about aspartame? Have you had any personal experience with it? Or have you received any sound medical advice pertaining to the subject?

tigersword

Aspartame is aspartic acid + phenylalanine. Both of those are amino acids that your body needs on a daily basis anyway. They are also in every single protein source you eat. In fact, 4 oz of chicken breast contain as much aspartic acid and phenylalanine as 23 cans of diet soda.

Do some people have bad reactions to it? Sure, but millions of people have bad, sometimes instantly fatal reactions to peanuts or shellfish. Does that mean it's bad for everyone else? No.

Also, as for the "toxic chemical" during metabolism, I assume you mean either formic acid (formaldehyde) or methanol. Both are actually naturally occurring compounds in the human body, as well as found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, in higher concentrations than you'd get from a diet soda, so any article that pushes that as a negative on aspartame is scaremongering.

Mo_babee

Do some people have bad reactions to it? Sure, but millions of people have bad, sometimes instantly fatal reactions to peanuts or shellfish. Does that mean it's bad for everyone else? No.

I'm so glad I don't have to type this because it's exactly what I was going to say...thanks tigersword...

Besides anything in EXCESS is bad...

MariaMariaM

Yes, it is bad for you.

Splenda is not that great either.

rjt1000

Do some people have bad reactions to it? Sure, but millions of people have bad, sometimes instantly fatal reactions to peanuts or shellfish. Does that mean it's bad for everyone else? No.

I'm so glad I don't have to type this because it's exactly what I was going to say...thanks tigersword...

Besides anything in EXCESS is bad...

BAM, next post is the "its bad for you." I'm looking for a thread on aspartame where there are 5 accurate posts before the "it's bad, horrible, banned in all other countries" post.

rjt1000

Yes, it is bad for you.

why?

abradley114

Yes its awful for you. anything 0 calories besides celery is bad for you! and when i cut out diet coke and splenda I lost 10 pounds a few years back

rjt1000

Yes its awful for you. anything 0 calories besides celery is bad for you! and when i cut out diet coke and splenda I lost 10 pounds a few years back

i'm trying to figure out if you're serious or joking. I'm going to go with joking.

Acg67

Yes its awful for you. anything 0 calories besides celery is bad for you! and when i cut out diet coke and splenda I lost 10 pounds a few years back

Totally agree! Water is terrible for you!

UponThisRock

Yes its awful for you. anything 0 calories besides celery is bad for you! and when i cut out diet coke and splenda I lost 10 pounds a few years back

I started eating ice cream a few years back and lost 10 lbs. Thus, ice cream is essential to weight loss.

mstemen

Well according to "studies" what's good for you one day is bad for you another, take red wine for example. Conflicting studies are found all the time. I take them all with a grain of salt. My family uses aspartame and splenda because my husband is diabetic and although he loves his sweets, sugar would literally kill him. Just use it sparingly if you're concerned. There are plenty of other things in this world that are bad for us (smoking and drinking) and people do them all the time.

rebecky27

I'm curious on this as well. Tiger made some excellent points, backed by supporting data. Can the people that think it is bad support that statement with actual data? ("I lost 10 lbs when I cut it out" doesn't count, as I'm sure there were other factors involved in losing the weight - unless it was a controlled weight loss expierement..)

kaotika

--

brenteesha

Yes its awful for you. anything 0 calories besides celery is bad for you! and when i cut out diet coke and splenda I lost 10 pounds a few years back

Totally agree! Water is terrible for you!

LMAO!! I'm sure mustard is probably toxic too, then...

brenteesha

Yes, it is bad for you.

Splenda is not that great either.

Thanks for your reply. I'm sure that Splenda isn't great either, I'm leery of most artificial sweeteners... but that same article that scared me about aspartame suggested that Splenda isn't quite as bad.

As far as your claim of being bad for you, can you elaborate? Why do you think it is bad for you?

DeenieWeenie

I'm not a doctor. But I do know what it does to me! It causes me to have Migraines! My Endocrinologist, Dentist and family doctor told me to stay away from it, that it's not good for me. So I quit drinking it.

MariaMariaM

There are many threads that discuss aspartame, splenda, and other artificial sweeteners. You an also google it and find the many reasons artificial sweeteners are not good for you.

Whatever I type here will be attacked by all of those who don't agree with my statement and I don't feel like going back and forth on the subject. I have read many threads discussing similar issues and whoever doesn't agree with the majority gets hammered, specially if the person believes in natural / organic way of life.

Finally, I believe that an autoinmune disease I have is linked to diet sodas I drank in the past. Never had them before coming to the United States and then got hooked on diet coke. A few years later, I got a rare autoinmune disease that doctors don't know much about. I was told that I would have to let it progress and there wasn't much that could be done. I went online and started looking for answers and reading. I decided to clean up my act, eliminate processed foods, eliminate diet coke and eat just natural/organic. Disease stopped progressing and it is dormant. Drs have no idea why but told me to continue doing whatever I am doing.

I can mention many names that explain the reasons but those names are hated in this message board.


The OP asked if it is really that bad for you and I answered: Yes, it is bad for you.

This is all I would say about this.

MariaMariaM

Yes, it is bad for you.

Splenda is not that great either.

Thanks for your reply. I'm sure that Splenda isn't great either, I'm leery of most artificial sweeteners... but that same article that scared me about aspartame suggested that Splenda isn't quite as bad.

As far as your claim of being bad for you, can you elaborate? Why do you think it is bad for you?

Here is a link that I have on hand about aspartame and splenda, I am sure the post will be ridiculed and attacked. After you read them, you can decide for yourself on whether it is good or bad for you.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/06/aspartame-most-dangerous-substance-added-to-food.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/03/sucralose-dangers.aspx

LorinaLynn

It's bad for some people, and seems ok for others. Some people have sensitivities to some products, some don't. My niece can't use artificial sweeteners, but I haven't had any issues. There were times that I thought I might have had issues, because reading about aspartame, I had some of the side effects, but all those symptoms went away with improved mental and physical health, while still drinking diet soda & Crystal Light.

I do break out in a rash from Ivory Soap and the adhesive on Bandaid brand bandages, but those products seem ok for others, too.

rjt1000

There are many threads that discuss aspartame, splenda, and other artificial sweeteners. You an also google it and find the many reasons artificial sweeteners are not good for you.

Whatever I type here will be attacked by all of those who don't agree with my statement and I don't feel like going back and forth on the subject. I have read many threads discussing similar issues and whoever doesn't agree with the majority gets hammered, specially if the person believes in natural / organic way of life.

Finally, I believe that an autoinmune disease I have is linked to diet sodas I drank in the past. Never had them before coming to the United States and then got hooked on diet coke. A few years later, I got a rare autoinmune disease that doctors don't know much about. I was told that I would have to let it progress and there wasn't much that could be done. I went online and started looking for answers and reading. I decided to clean up my act, eliminate processed foods, eliminate diet coke and eat just natural/organic. Disease stopped progressing and it is dormant. Drs have no idea why but told me to continue doing whatever I am doing.

I can mention many names that explain the reasons but those names are hated in this message board.


The OP asked if it is really that bad for you and I answered: Yes, it is bad for you.

This is all I would say about this.

Ahh, it's bad for YOU. Doesn't mean it's bad for me. In fact, it's not bad for me. I drink 6-8 cans of diet coke a day and have for 20 years at least. I'm 50 years old, weight 165 pounds and am very healthy. I have a bad shoulder and some lower back pain from injuries. I never get sick except an occasional cold. Haven't had flu in at least 25 years. Haven't taken 2 days off in a row from work for sickness since I can't remember. Clearly, aspartame is not bad for ME.

So, let's stick to reality. Aspartame is bad for people who have sensitivity to it. As nuts are to my niece. so, nuts are bad for everybody? no, bad for her. not bad for me.

brenteesha

Yes, it is bad for you.

Splenda is not that great either.

Thanks for your reply. I'm sure that Splenda isn't great either, I'm leery of most artificial sweeteners... but that same article that scared me about aspartame suggested that Splenda isn't quite as bad.

As far as your claim of being bad for you, can you elaborate? Why do you think it is bad for you?

I will post some links when I get home but as I said earlier, I am sure the post will be ridiculed and attacked. After you read them, you can decide for yourself on whether it is good or bad for you.

I understand your concern about the drama that occurs in the message boards... I have seen it many times myself. Rest assured that I won't ridicule or harrass you, even if I don't agree with you. Thank you for offering to send the links, I would like to read up more on it. And, thanks for replying to my post!

MariaMariaM

No, aspartame is not bad just for me. It is bad for human beings regardless of sensitivity.

I posted links that I have on hand right now. Believe what you want. And here is the back and forth I didn't want to get into.

myak623

Yes its awful for you. anything 0 calories besides celery is bad for you! and when i cut out diet coke and splenda I lost 10 pounds a few years back

I always wear a hat to workout. I usually weigh myself once a week before a workout. I noticed on the days that I wear a blue hat I dropped pounds. Some of the time I would wear a red hat. A few times, when I weighed wearing the red hat, I didn't lose any weight. I concluded that the red hat was hindering my weight loss and I threw it away.

brenteesha

There are many threads that discuss aspartame, splenda, and other artificial sweeteners. You an also google it and find the many reasons artificial sweeteners are not good for you.

Whatever I type here will be attacked by all of those who don't agree with my statement and I don't feel like going back and forth on the subject. I have read many threads discussing similar issues and whoever doesn't agree with the majority gets hammered, specially if the person believes in natural / organic way of life.

Finally, I believe that an autoinmune disease I have is linked to diet sodas I drank in the past. Never had them before coming to the United States and then got hooked on diet coke. A few years later, I got a rare autoinmune disease that doctors don't know much about. I was told that I would have to let it progress and there wasn't much that could be done. I went online and started looking for answers and reading. I decided to clean up my act, eliminate processed foods, eliminate diet coke and eat just natural/organic. Disease stopped progressing and it is dormant. Drs have no idea why but told me to continue doing whatever I am doing.

I can mention many names that explain the reasons but those names are hated in this message board.


The OP asked if it is really that bad for you and I answered: Yes, it is bad for you.

This is all I would say about this.

Ahh, it's bad for YOU. Doesn't mean it's bad for me. In fact, it's not bad for me. I drink 6-8 cans of diet coke a day and have for 20 years at least. I'm 50 years old, weight 165 pounds and am very healthy. I have a bad shoulder and some lower back pain from injuries. I never get sick except an occasional cold. Haven't had flu in at least 25 years. Haven't taken 2 days off in a row from work for sickness since I can't remember. Clearly, aspartame is not bad for ME.

So, let's stick to reality. Aspartame is bad for people who have sensitivity to it. As nuts are to my niece. so, nuts are bad for everybody? no, bad for her. not bad for me.

Just because you haven't had any negative side effects doesn't mean it is healthy. It also doesn't invalidate her opinion and experience. I appreciate your reply and how you examined the flip side of the argument... but you seem rather combative with this person and I don't really feel that is necessary.

MariaMariaM

Yes, it is bad for you.

Splenda is not that great either.

Thanks for your reply. I'm sure that Splenda isn't great either, I'm leery of most artificial sweeteners... but that same article that scared me about aspartame suggested that Splenda isn't quite as bad.

As far as your claim of being bad for you, can you elaborate? Why do you think it is bad for you?

I will post some links when I get home but as I said earlier, I am sure the post will be ridiculed and attacked. After you read them, you can decide for yourself on whether it is good or bad for you.

I understand your concern about the drama that occurs in the message boards... I have seen it many times myself. Rest assured that I won't ridicule or harrass you, even if I don't agree with you. Thank you for offering to send the links, I would like to read up more on it. And, thanks for replying to my post!

I was editing my post to include what I have right now. Here is one of the links I was referring to.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/06/aspartame-most-dangerous-substance-added-to-food.aspx
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/12/03/sucralose-dangers.aspx

hollyberry2012

it might not be bad for you, but it's bad for me.

it doesn't mix well with Paxil and makes me dizzy. Like I took too much Paxil.

JayByrd107

If you cut out other things at the same time that you cut out diet Coke, you can't positively pin your problems on the Coke. It could have been any of the processed foods you took out of your diet as well.

rjt1000

There are many threads that discuss aspartame, splenda, and other artificial sweeteners. You an also google it and find the many reasons artificial sweeteners are not good for you.

Whatever I type here will be attacked by all of those who don't agree with my statement and I don't feel like going back and forth on the subject. I have read many threads discussing similar issues and whoever doesn't agree with the majority gets hammered, specially if the person believes in natural / organic way of life.

Finally, I believe that an autoinmune disease I have is linked to diet sodas I drank in the past. Never had them before coming to the United States and then got hooked on diet coke. A few years later, I got a rare autoinmune disease that doctors don't know much about. I was told that I would have to let it progress and there wasn't much that could be done. I went online and started looking for answers and reading. I decided to clean up my act, eliminate processed foods, eliminate diet coke and eat just natural/organic. Disease stopped progressing and it is dormant. Drs have no idea why but told me to continue doing whatever I am doing.

I can mention many names that explain the reasons but those names are hated in this message board.


The OP asked if it is really that bad for you and I answered: Yes, it is bad for you.

This is all I would say about this.

Ahh, it's bad for YOU. Doesn't mean it's bad for me. In fact, it's not bad for me. I drink 6-8 cans of diet coke a day and have for 20 years at least. I'm 50 years old, weight 165 pounds and am very healthy. I have a bad shoulder and some lower back pain from injuries. I never get sick except an occasional cold. Haven't had flu in at least 25 years. Haven't taken 2 days off in a row from work for sickness since I can't remember. Clearly, aspartame is not bad for ME.

So, let's stick to reality. Aspartame is bad for people who have sensitivity to it. As nuts are to my niece. so, nuts are bad for everybody? no, bad for her. not bad for me.

Just because you haven't had any negative side effects doesn't mean it is healthy. It also doesn't invalidate her opinion and experience. I appreciate your reply and how you examined the flip side of the argument... but you seem rather combative with this person and I don't really feel that is necessary.

I'm combative of people who post "it's bad for you" across the board. I never said it was HEALTHY. There's a huge difference between something being healthy or not healthy and it being bad for you. Ice cream is not healthy but it's not bad for you. Unless you have a sensitivity to lactose or eat too much of it. If people want to give anecdotal evidence of their experience with something like aspartame, take it for what it is, anecdotal evidence, not data driven info.

That's why so many people have been posting about wearing hats whent they work out and water and mustard being bad for you, etc. Because using correlations between things as if they are cause and effect and using singular anecdotal info is next to useless.

My own experience offsets her experience if we go with single user info. So, net zero. The links she posted have been discredited by many research studies over the past 30 or 40 years.

Same thread, different day......

alysson

I try to keep my sugar levels down because diabetes runs in my family. I try to use natural sweeteners (honey, etc.) or non-calorie sweetener. I don't like the taste of aspartame, so I used Splenda. Once I looked into comparing the different sweeteners, I wasn't too happy with the ingredients in Splenda, & have moved to Stevia based sweeteners. I currently use TrueVia due to taste, ingredients & price. I try to keep up to date on what I consume to make sure it is best for me. Everyone is different. Be informed so you can make the decisions that are best for you.

MariaMariaM

Oh, and just be ready for people to start calling Dr Mercola, Dr quack or whatever people that want to ignore what he says call him.

I think here is where your own research and judgment comes in. You read all the available information you have, you started with the study you referred to, and then start looking for more affirmations/denials. After all the research you did, you then decide what you want to believe in.
I will say that I don't agree with everything Dr. Mercola or Dr. Oz say but I believe in the lifestyle they push for. I read the information presented and then decide what is good for me. I think that I could never go wrong choosing natural over artificial but that is just me.

rjt1000

it might not be bad for you, but it's bad for me.

it doesn't mix well with Paxil and makes me dizzy. Like I took too much Paxil.

EXCELLENT- Thank you. And I don't mean excellent that it's bad for you but for being specific, it's bad for you. Doesn't mean it's bad for anybody else in specific. I really do like the reasonable posts like this.