The Aspartame Thread

LabRat529

Regarding methanol and formaldehyde produced by metabolism of aspartame-

Concentration and dose are critical with evaluating the pros and cons of any substance within the human body.

Yes, methanol and formaldehyde are break down products of aspartame, but they are also break down products of other things like fruit (as already noted). Your body is perfectly capable of handling these compounds provided blood concentration and dose are reasonable, which they are when one is consuming fruit or drinking diet coke.

Charliebarleymo

I try not to drink too much as it makes me grumpy, I think I don't sleep well (not as deep as I should) when I have had a lot of diet soft drinks. I look for diet drinks sweetened with Splenda/Sucralose and xylitol

Be prepared for the backlash against Sucralose and Xylitol coming your way (Not by me - I know nothing!)

BrettPGH

I try not to drink too much as it makes me grumpy, I think I don't sleep well (not as deep as I should) when I have had a lot of diet soft drinks. I look for diet drinks sweetened with Splenda/Sucralose and xylitol

Be prepared for the backlash against Sucralose and Xylitol coming your way (Not by me - I know nothing!)

There doesn't need to be a backlash against anything anyone says in this thread. Just back up your statements with facts is all that's been asked from the beginning.

The "Aspartame causes me X" posts aren't being attacked, we're just asking for evidence of what people are claiming. Because otherwise:

"I was breathing air the other day. My doctor told me I got brain cancer. So air causes brain cancer."

^This is what we're trying to avoid, yet it keeps happening. And when people are asked to back up their statements they time and time again say "science doesn't know everything." It's really just sad to be honest.

olymp1a

"Quite frankly it is a poison. Aspartame poisoning can happen and it can kill you. Forgive my frankness but in my experience it is true. "

Quite frankly, anything you overconsume is poison. Salt (NaCl) is poison. And CAN kill you if you eat too much. I can give hundreds of examples of items we consume and can kill us if we overdo.

I'd say anything needs moderation. Yes I had some side effects when I consumed way too much aspartame. But if I have 1 can per day I'm perfectly fine. It even helped me get rid of craving I used to have for sweets.

beckajw

"Quite frankly it is a poison. Aspartame poisoning can happen and it can kill you. Forgive my frankness but in my experience it is true. "

Quite frankly, anything you overconsume is poison. Salt (NaCl) is poison. And CAN kill you if you eat too much. I can give hundreds of examples of items we consume and can kill us if we overdo.

I'd say anything needs moderation. Yes I had some side effects when I consumed way too much aspartame. But if I have 1 can per day I'm perfectly fine. It even helped me get rid of craving I used to have for sweets.

Water poisoining can happen and can kill you. It's a terrible way to die.

What is your experience with Aspartame poisoning?

gwyn48

Aspartame gives me instant migraines.

When Aspartame first came on the market, I bought everything with it and was eating it 2 or 3 times a day. That entire month I had a constant migraine with the aura's coming on every day.

I now stay completely away from it.

Some formulations of it- like Crystal Light- will give me an instant migraine.
Some like diet pepsi are fine.

It's funny how the research says there is no proof of aspartame giving one migraines, but I can bring one on in an hour by eating/drinking something with aspartame in it.

Blaqheart

Here are many articles relating to the poison known as aspartame:

I have had many bad reactions to this especially migraine headaches and I don't even have migraines! I completely avoid it and no headaches. Read and educate yourself then decide if consuming this deadly sweet is really worth it.

Another thing to know my Mother in law nearly went blind drinking the diet sodas. Luckily she read what Dr. Mercola had relating to the real research on it. She stopped drinking it. Her headaches went away, her asthma improved, and eyesight improved.

Why should you listen to Dr. Mercola? He is a real MD and he knows what he's talking about.

http://www.mercola.com/forms/background.htm

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/10/06/aspartame-killing-us-by-degrees-part-i.aspx


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/11/one-woman-s-astonishing-experiment-with-aspartame.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/31/aspartame-update.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/03/just-how-bad-is-aspartame.aspx

I'm sure if you search his site you will find countless other articles telling you the absolute truth about this.

Should you avoid aspartame? Absolutely if you value your health, but only you can decide what is right for you. I simply provide the links so you may educate yourself and make a full informed decision if the risks are really worth it.

LabRat529

Here are many articles relating to the poison known as aspartame:

I have had many bad reactions to this especially migraine headaches and I don't even have migraines! I completely avoid it and no headaches. Read and educate yourself then decide if consuming this deadly sweet is really worth it.

Another thing to know my Mother in law nearly went blind drinking the diet sodas. Luckily she read what Dr. Mercola hhad relating to the real research on it. She stopped drinking it. Her headaches went away, her asthma improved, and eyesight improved.

Why should you listen to Dr. Mercola? He is a real MD and he knows what he's talking about.

http://www.mercola.com/forms/background.htm

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/10/06/aspartame-killing-us-by-degrees-part-i.aspx


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/11/one-woman-s-astonishing-experiment-with-aspartame.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/31/aspartame-update.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/03/just-how-bad-is-aspartame.aspx

I'm sure if you search his site you will find countless other articles telling you the absolute truth about this.

Should you avoid aspartame? Absolutely if you value your health, but only you can decide what is right for you. I simply provide the links so you may educate yourself and make a full informed decision if the risks are really worth it.

Have you read anything written here, in this forum, or did you just come to post all these links which are closer to propaganda than to scientific articles?

There is science to refute these claims. There's some minimal evidence that in sensitive people, aspartame can cause headaches. There's some evidence that it's contraindicated in things like MS. But you don't need to exaggerate the dangers. And really, you should read the evidence both for and against your personal bias. You certainly should not base your opinion on one source.

fiveohmike

Here are many articles relating to the poison known as aspartame:

I have had many bad reactions to this especially migraine headaches and I don't even have migraines! I completely avoid it and no headaches. Read and educate yourself then decide if consuming this deadly sweet is really worth it.

Another thing to know my Mother in law nearly went blind drinking the diet sodas. Luckily she read what Dr. Mercola had relating to the real research on it. She stopped drinking it. Her headaches went away, her asthma improved, and eyesight improved.

Why should you listen to Dr. Mercola? He is a real MD and he knows what he's talking about.

http://www.mercola.com/forms/background.htm

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/10/06/aspartame-killing-us-by-degrees-part-i.aspx


http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/3/11/one-woman-s-astonishing-experiment-with-aspartame.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/31/aspartame-update.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/08/03/just-how-bad-is-aspartame.aspx

I'm sure if you search his site you will find countless other articles telling you the absolute truth about this.

Should you avoid aspartame? Absolutely if you value your health, but only you can decide what is right for you. I simply provide the links so you may educate yourself and make a full informed decision if the risks are really worth it.

That guy is a joke :

Check out the FDA forcing him to stop making illegal claims

http://www.quackwatch.com/11Ind/mercola.html

TonyaBtrfly

I cant say one way or another about the science but i can tell you my personal experience. I used to drink about 2- 2 liter bottles of diet pepsi everyday. Yeah its alot. But I quit drinking it in January of this year. I had horrible knee pain everyday and my hair was falling out by the handfuls. Since i stopped drinking it my hair isnt falling out and my knees have stopped hurting since about 2 wekks after i stopped. I also used to eat ibuprofen like M & Ms because my head always hurt. I havent taken any in over 3 months. I cant say for sure it was the apartame but if not then what?

wolfi622

. But coincidence is not the same as cause-and-effect.

Yup, Yup!

carld256

This reminds me of a few years back when people would claim they were sensitive to MSG and ascribed all sorts of horrible side-effects to it. But when a bunch of these people were actually tested not one of them could tell which meals had MSG in them and which didn't.

I'm guessing it's the same with Apertame. A few people might have some sort of reaction to it, but I don't believe the horror stories.

beckajw

I cant say one way or another about the science but i can tell you my personal experience. I used to drink about 2- 2 liter bottles of diet pepsi everyday. Yeah its alot. But I quit drinking it in January of this year. I had horrible knee pain everyday and my hair was falling out by the handfuls. Since i stopped drinking it my hair isnt falling out and my knees have stopped hurting since about 2 wekks after i stopped. I also used to eat ibuprofen like M & Ms because my head always hurt. I havent taken any in over 3 months. I cant say for sure it was the apartame but if not then what?

Caffeine

Make any other changes in January besides stopping the diet pepsi?

tigersword

Ibuprofen overdose?

tigersword

Aspartame gives me instant migraines.

When Aspartame first came on the market, I bought everything with it and was eating it 2 or 3 times a day. That entire month I had a constant migraine with the aura's coming on every day.

I now stay completely away from it.

Some formulations of it- like Crystal Light- will give me an instant migraine.
Some like diet pepsi are fine.

It's funny how the research says there is no proof of aspartame giving one migraines, but I can bring one on in an hour by eating/drinking something with aspartame in it.

The research does say that some people sensitive to it can have migraines. That doesn't make it a problem for people that aren't sensitive to it.

NikoM5

Aspartame is safe. Period. You can listen to a bunch of people with anecdotal "evidence" or you can listen to facts. Up to you.

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

NikoM5

Some formulations of it- like Crystal Light- will give me an instant migraine.
Some like diet pepsi are fine.

Thus, aspartame is not the cause of your headaches.

fiveohmike

Some formulations of it- like Crystal Light- will give me an instant migraine.
Some like diet pepsi are fine.

Thus, aspartame is not the cause of your headaches.

Bingo

ninerbuff

Well it's been around for about 50 years..................I don't think that we're that naive. Not to mention with all the watchdog groups, legitimate awareness is raised. But for something to be pulled, it has to show conclusive proof to being a danger. There currently isn't enough solid proof to show that aspartame does what many anti aspartame claimants state. And that's from peer reviewed scientific studies that are independent from either the pro or con side.

Well, it's only been in the food supply for about thirty years. Not saying that isn't long enough for adverse affects to appear . . . just aiming for accuracy.

It is difficult to put complete faith in the outcomes of these studies when Searle has funded so many of them. Then you have organizations like "The Epilepsy Institute" claiming there is no link between aspartame and seizures -- then it turns out the Epilepsy Institute is funded by Monsanto.

Thanks for being civil.

The AMA, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition and others aren't funded by Searle and have done studies with basically the same outcomes and current conclusions.

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dhakiyya

not got time to read the whole thread, but I'm very intolerant to aspartame. It does bad things to my digestive system (or you could say my digestive system simply refuses to have anything to do with it and shows it the door LOL) but yeah I avoid that stuff like the plague.

....edited for brevity...

It annoys me when people totally dismiss the health issues with aspartame, they may not affect everyone but they are real and some people don't realise what's causing them. (and yes I know that can happen with intolerances and allergies to natural things as well) I do wish they wouldn't put it in so many different things though, or at least produce aspartame free diet soft drinks, just like you can get gluten free, dairy free etc.

This is why this subject never dies. No matter what the OP says about facts you get statements like.... "I haven't read the whole thread, but aspartame causes health issues...." without one substantial fact to back them up.

It can be frustrating...

Right, well thank you for taking my post completely out of context. I have read the scientific stuff on aspartame (just not in this thread) from both sides, and I acknowledged in my post that I know lots of other people don't have the same problem as me. Have you never heard of people having an intolerane?

If someone is intolerant to lactose or allergic to peanuts you don't turn around and accuse them of being "frustrating". So why can't people who are intolerant of aspartame say so? Are you trying to say that no-one on the whole planet can possibly be intolerant to it? Utter rubbish. You're the one who's being unscientific now.

Aspartame causes ME health issues. That's what I said. Nowhere in my post did I claim that this applies to everyone or anything like that, I said I have an intolerance to it, which I do. And if I have an intolerance to it, then I highly doubt I'm the only person on the planet who does.