Aspertame-Fake Sugar WARNING

I cut out all aspartame a few years ago. I had switched to diet pops to help with weightloss and noticed dizziness and terrible headaches. When I stopped drinking diet pops the headaches went away. I've had several other people I know stop also and we've all felt better. Now I know instantly if I've had aspartame as I got a lot of stomach upset.

I stay away from it too, but have spoken too a doctor who specialized in nutrition and he said that it's more a myth and you would have to have an allergy to Aspertame for it to affect you? I personally stay away from it, because sometimes the reactions can be something difficult to pin point like memory loss, etc. But was curious if anyone else has heard this?

My boss is an Ph.D. organic chemist. He also had said it was a myth. But people can have reactions like any other food.

I agree with the yukky aftertaste. That's the original reason I stopped having anything with aspertame in it. Now I really don't like putting something in my body that was made in a laboratory. I'll be honest, that's not to say that I never have an artificial sweetener. I am trying to cut back, tho. I don't use it in baking, but I do use it in my tea.

However, there seems to be a lot of foods that not only contain aspertame but also HFCS to hide that aftertaste. I used to like the Dannon Light & Fit yogurt....until they changed the formulation. It used to have splenda as the sweetener. Yes, it wasn't real thick. Then they changed to aspertame and HFCS. Not to mention that the calories were higher.

Bottom line --- you HAVE to read labels.

A really good low carb sweetener that I use is Xylo Sweet, also known as xylitol. My dentist first recommended it to me because it is made from a plant and the bacteria in your mouth cannot digest it so it actually prevents plaque! I use it mainly because it is low carb and does not cause your insulin to rise like sugar does. Same cals as sugar, but definitely not the same effects!

I quickly found another article, referencing the study I heard about on Doctor Radio.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027482_diet_soda_kidney_disease.html

(NaturalNews) According to the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the number of people in the US diagnosed with kidney disease has doubled over the past 20 years. About 20 million Americans are at risk for developing kidney disease and the ASN web site states another 20 million Americans already have some evidence of chronic kidney disease. And when chronic kidney disease progresses, it often leads to kidney failure or end stage renal disease (ESRD) -- resulting in ongoing, expensive dialysis treatments or even kidney transplants.

But like countless other diseases and conditions, kidney disease doesn't just strike out of the blue. It is often the result of what people do to their own bodies. And researchers have just reported two direct ways diet appears to be associated with declining kidney function. The culprits? Eating food high in sodium (like the fast foods and processed junk snacks Americans love) and drinking artificially sweetened sodas.

Those are the findings of two new studies, both conducted by Julie Lin, MD, and Gary Curhan, MD, ScD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital, which were recently presented at the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting held in October in San Diego, California. The first study, entitled "Associations of Diet with Kidney Function Decline," examined the impact of specific dietary components on declining kidney function over 11 years in more than 3,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. Dr. Lin and Dr. Curhan found that "in women with well-preserved kidney function, higher dietary sodium intake was associated with greater kidney function decline, which is consistent with experimental animal data that high sodium intake promotes progressive kidney decline."

In previous research, scientists using information collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a long-term collection of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the US, had found a link between sugar containing sodas and urinary protein. However, they did not collect data on any kidney function changes related to drinking sweetened sodas. So, in their second study, Dr. Lin and Dr. Curhan, decided to specifically check for any kidney function decline in women who drink sodas regularly. Once again, they used data from the Nurses' Health Study.

In a statement for the media, Dr. Lin reported they found "a significant two-fold increased odds, between two or more servings per day of artificially sweetened soda and faster kidney function decline; no relation between sugar-sweetened beverages and kidney function decline was noted." Moreover, this association persisted even when the researchers accounted for age, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, physical activity, calorie intake, diabetes and cigarette smoking. Clearly, artificially sweetened sodas are detrimental to kidney health.

"There are currently limited data on the role of diet in kidney disease," said Dr. Lin in a statement to the press. "While more study is needed, our research suggests that higher sodium and artificially sweetened soda intake are associated with greater rate of decline in kidney function."

So fake sugar and real sugar are both bad for you?? What is a girl to do?? I only use it in my coffee so any suggestions would be helpful. I just cannot do the real sugar thing in my coffee though.

I now use "Agave Syrup" or "Stevia" or fruit juices to sweeten things.

Agave Syrup is made from the Agave cactus plant. It is super sweet, and you would think it was real syrup if you drank it. Even my 8 year old didn't notice a thing. The awesome thing about it is that it is low on the glycemic index. It is so low that it is recommended for diabetics. I use this in my tea, oatmeal, pancakes, etc.

Stevia is a plant, but it is packaged like sugar. I did find the plant at a mega home improvement store's garden department in the herb/mint section. 4 little packets have as much fiber as a bowl of cereal! I use this in my herbal tea at night. It does have a small, bitter taste...but so does Aspartame. it took me a day to get used to it. Now, I love it.

I drink plain water, Pelligrino, or club soda....all with a splash of 100% natural cranberry or grapefruit juice. Now, I don't miss my diet cokes or regular cokes.

Also, natural peanut butter and nonsweetened apple sauce is a good subsitute for sweetness in many baking recipes...and even in your oatmeal..