ASPARTAME.....Good or bad for you?

lainie71

I also agree - bad.

It's artifical; natural is better. Also, aspartame, nutrisweet, etc even though they are no calorie still have the same effect on your body in terms of thinking it has eaten something sweet (ie same chemical reactions produced) except because your body has not, the chemicals are produced and there is nothing for them to react with so it creates additional problems.

Try to look for natural sources of sweetners. You will find your tastes will change over time.

Good luck!

flag91

I stay away from anything artificial. I'd rather do without. That's just me.

I agree. It's chemically altered which introduces too many toxins into the body. Your body has enough to fight in its day-to-day battles. I'd rather have real sugar, but at a lower quantity than doing fake stuff.

belladonna786

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

ya lets not get into that I am not up for a debate. I knew someone would come back with this

stephl81

Aspartame is broken down into two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. These amino acids are found in chicken and bananas naturally. Methanol is a digestive byproduct of aspartame and that's also in certain fruits/fruit juices.

Aspartame is not good or bad. It just is. There are some people who get headaches from aspartame and if you're one of these people you should obviously not consume it. If you're NOT one of these people then the dosage levels at which anyone would experience negative effects from aspartame, are so high that you'd have to consume a BUTTLOAD of it to have problems.

In short, enjoy your diet soda if it doesn't give you headaches.

Agreed! I regularly consume aspartame and never have any problems with it. I drink it in my coffee and when I have a diet DP. But like this guy said it depends on you and unless you are eating a bucket of the stuff I wouldnt worry.

belladonna786

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

SideSteel has this problem of ending stupid arguments by using LOGIC!

whatever

SideSteel

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

ya lets not get into that I am not up for a debate. I knew someone would come back with this

I am happy to entertain your claim that aspartame is bad, but until you provide any evidence you're just being alarmist.
And even though the burden of proof isn't on me, here's some leisure reading:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17828671
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12180494

drmerc

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

SideSteel has this problem of ending stupid arguments by using LOGIC!

whatever

Oh no your fear mongering failed *hug*

PaleoRDH

I chew tons of gum w/aspertame but it's not good for you. i'm cutting it out starting monday (starting the 21-day sugar detox on monday).....................

IronPlayground

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

SideSteel has this problem of ending stupid arguments by using LOGIC!

hexaphim

I used to be completely addicted to Pepsi Max, but I stopped drinking it completely about three weeks ago. It was hard at first, but it's getting easier!

I stopped drinking it because I'd heard that drinking sugar free sodas could exacerbate your sweet tooth. Now, I don't know if that's true for everybody, but it definitely seems to be working for me!

Camille0502

I don't know if it is bad or not - but I don't trust it. The FDA can't even seem to get drug testing right. A drug is released on the market then a year or so later, they discover that it causes all sorts of random ailments. And food doesn't even go through the rigorous testing that drugs do! Plus, there is a multi-million dollar market for artificial sweeteners so I think the manufactures have a vested interest in keeping negative information out of the general public's hands.

I gave up all artificial sweeteners (occasional diet soda or accidental ingestion because I didn't read a label thoroughly) after my 8 year old daughter was born (I gave them up during my pregnancies, too). I just don't see the point. I don't think they help anyone lose weight. Think about it, artificial sweeteners are relatively new (70s) - people in the 30's, 40's 50's and 60's weren't nearly as fat as we are today and they didn't have ANY artificial sweeteners. They just ate less! You don't need them to lose weight and if you do - you have too much sugar in your diet anyway.

belladonna786

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

SideSteel has this problem of ending stupid arguments by using LOGIC!

whatever

Oh no your fear mongering failed *hug*

I dont fear monger its what I choose for myself and i am not the only one that thinks so. So thanks and have a GREAT day

AnninStPaul

if you are drinking diet soda etc instead of water, it's bad for you (relative to water alone). I gave up artificial sweeteners 5 years 3 mos ago (I only remember because it was the weekend of my parent's 50th wedding anniversary), and have never looked back.

downinaggieland98

I stay away from anything artificial. I'd rather do without. That's just me.

This. It just seems to me the body wasn't meant to break down stuff like this.

AddieOverhaul

Aspartame gives me headaches and migraines. I haven't touched it for a long time now.

PaleoRDH

Bad. Anything tampered with by scientists in a lab is not good for our bodies

What about vitamins? How about medicine?

SideSteel has this problem of ending stupid arguments by using LOGIC!

whatever

I will have to post the links to the research later because I'm at work and have it at home, but there apparently has been research done that aspartame causes the body to release insulin just as a real sugar would, however, since it's not a real sugar and can't be digested, it passes through the body and insulin levels remain a bit high and promote storing of other substances....... as far as vitamins, aren't they usually derived from natural sources? and medicines, although they are "good" in a sense, are also harmful in others, right? i don't know of any drug that doesnt have a side-effect, even aspirin, advil, tylenol......seemingly benign drugs...... that have side effects. Sure, we need medications, i take one that without it I'd be dead, so it's good for me in that sense....... but is it healthy??? No. it causes other problems. but I prefer to be above ground, so i take it........

drmerc

I stay away from anything artificial. I'd rather do without. That's just me.

This. It just seems to me the body wasn't meant to break down stuff like this.

I prefer gut instinct to science as well! we should be friends

beckajw

if you are drinking diet soda etc instead of water, it's bad for you (relative to water alone). I gave up artificial sweeteners 5 years 3 mos ago (I only remember because it was the weekend of my parent's 50th wedding anniversary), and have never looked back.

Why do you say diet soda is bad for you (relative to water alone)?

beckajw

I have tried cutting it since I hear it is bad for you. Also heard it slows down weight loss. Sweeten with stevia if you need to sweeten. Diet cokes etc. are super bad if thats how you are getting aspartame.

It doesn't slow down weight loss. It didn't affect my weight loss at all. That's a myth started by people who want you to eat the way they do.

Diet cokes are not "super bad." That's just silly.

livinbb

I for one cannot tolerate aspartame. The truth of it is that some people can consume it all the time and never realize a side effect from it. I am one of the people of whom this is not true. I started WW before my wedding to lose weight to look good in my dress. Typical. While on WW I never really changed what I was eating only the way it was processed i.e pop was now diet pop, puddings were now sugar free, everything was low cal (and most of it contained aspartame) as I could eat more and still stay within my point range. Now don't get me wrong I don't blame the WW program for this at all, it was my pure ignorance to how to safely and effectively change my lifestyle to achieve the desired results.

Now after about 6-7 month of eating this way and about a month after my wedding my right arm started shaking uncontrollably. I was relieved from work and sought my doctor. Over the course of the next 4 months I was poked, prodded, had CT scans, MRIs was speculated to have epilepsy and MS. All tests came back clear and the doctor's were stumped as to what could be causing this horrible condition. I couldn't drive, work, or do much else. The only way the doctor's were able to stop the uncontrollable shaking was to pump me full of sedatives. Not the best way to live. After visiting with friends of mine, their mother (who is a nurse interested in nutrition and naturopathic medicine) asked me what my diet was like. She was the first and ONLY person to ask me this question. When I told her that I was still actively doing WW and what kinds of products I was eating, she told me to cut out all foods containing aspartame and see what would happen. Within 2 and a half weeks of doing what she had instructed I was no longer experiencing any episodes and was taken off all meds.

Now I say this just to give you a word of CAUTION. This is MY body's reaction to aspartame and now I stay away from it. I am obviously in the camp of stay away from it as it is an artificial sweetener. Having it once in a while might be okay but why not eat a small amount of the natural sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc) instead?

Anyway there is no harm in eliminating it from your diet to see if it is the cause of your headaches. I hope that you can find out what is causing them and eliminate them. Its no fun not feeling 100%

Good luck to you