Aspartame - What you don't know CAN hurt you.

I think EVERYONE should read this. The ingredients that companies put in their foods are not always the healthiest. In most cases, they load up with chemicals that could very possibly be dangerous, but are allowed because of money and greed.

http://organichealthadviser.com/archives/aspartame-dangers

"Millions of Americans gobble down diet sodas, artificial sweeteners and thousands of other products that contain huge amounts of aspartame and never even imagine that they could literally be destroying their health. Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965 when James Schlatter, a chemist for G.D. Searle & Company, was testing an anti-ulcer drug. It is the most common sweetening additive being used in over 6,000 consumer foods, beverages, multivitamins, frozen desserts, cereals, pharmaceutical products, and artificial sweeteners sold worldwide.

Aspartame contains three very insidious components: methanol, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid. All three of these chemicals have each been shown to either stimulate brain cells to death, severely disrupt hormone balances in the brain or act as a dangerous nerve poison.
'Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.

A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame: Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson's disease, alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.'

And did you know that aspartame is 10 percent methanol? Methanol (also known as wood alcohol) is a very deadly poison.

'Methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body. Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin. An EPA assessment of methanol states that methanol "is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." They recommend a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day. A one-liter (approx. 1 quart) aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily or 32 times the EPA limit.'

So if you want to be healthy you have to watch out for yourself and your family. Don't count on the FDA to help you."

The above is just a few tid bits I thought were extremely important. If you consume any artificial sweeteners, like Splenda, please take a look. It’s no joke. I have talked to people who had several major health problems from this stuff. They couldn’t figure out why at first, but when they found this out and stopped consumption, they miraculously improved health wise.

I have thrown out everything with Aspartame and will no longer buy anything that has this. It is honestly way better to consume regular natural sugars even though it may be slightly more calories. The best thing, though, is to avoid processed things for the most part and eat as many natural things as possible.

For a natural sweetener to add to drinks that is zero calories, try Stevia or any other form of it. Look it up. The stevia plant has several healthy and great qualities to it.

I'm not all for the kind of site that this is, but you can google the dangers of Aspartame and get PLENTY of other sources stating pretty much the same thing. I just liked this one the best.

I know a few people who have consumed the stuff all their lives and had several healthy issues. Going to all different kinds of doctor's, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with them. After cleaning up their diets and cutting this stuff out, they miraculously had many of their health problems disappear. I know what the stuff can do. It took the FDA 15 years to pass the stuff and make it legal. It's not biased at all. Just stating facts with the article posted. The full article states that a man persuaded the FDA to pass it for political and money reasons. People can either believe the facts and help make their lives healthier and longer, or they can go on denying it all.

I think EVERYONE should read this. The ingredients that companies put in their foods are not always the healthiest. In most cases, they load up with chemicals that could very possibly be dangerous, but are allowed because of money and greed.

http://organichealthadviser.com/archives/aspartame-dangers

"Millions of Americans gobble down diet sodas, artificial sweeteners and thousands of other products that contain huge amounts of aspartame and never even imagine that they could literally be destroying their health. Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965 when James Schlatter, a chemist for G.D. Searle & Company, was testing an anti-ulcer drug. It is the most common sweetening additive being used in over 6,000 consumer foods, beverages, multivitamins, frozen desserts, cereals, pharmaceutical products, and artificial sweeteners sold worldwide.

Aspartame contains three very insidious components: methanol, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid. All three of these chemicals have each been shown to either stimulate brain cells to death, severely disrupt hormone balances in the brain or act as a dangerous nerve poison.
'Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.

A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame: Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson's disease, alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.'

And did you know that aspartame is 10 percent methanol? Methanol (also known as wood alcohol) is a very deadly poison.

'Methanol breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in the body. Formaldehyde is a deadly neurotoxin. An EPA assessment of methanol states that methanol "is considered a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed. In the body, methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formic acid; both of these metabolites are toxic." They recommend a limit of consumption of 7.8 mg/day. A one-liter (approx. 1 quart) aspartame-sweetened beverage contains about 56 mg of methanol. Heavy users of aspartame-containing products consume as much as 250 mg of methanol daily or 32 times the EPA limit.'

So if you want to be healthy you have to watch out for yourself and your family. Don't count on the FDA to help you."

The above is just a few tid bits I thought were extremely important. If you consume any artificial sweeteners, like Splenda, please take a look. It’s no joke. I have talked to people who had several major health problems from this stuff. They couldn’t figure out why at first, but when they found this out and stopped consumption, they miraculously improved health wise.

I have thrown out everything with Aspartame and will no longer buy anything that has this. It is honestly way better to consume regular natural sugars even though it may be slightly more calories. The best thing, though, is to avoid processed things for the most part and eat as many natural things as possible.

For a natural sweetener to add to drinks that is zero calories, try Stevia or any other form of it. Look it up. The stevia plant has several healthy and great qualities to it.

Sorry but from an ORGANIC review, this is a biased opinion.

My sister is a bio-chemist and in 2001 she read in The British Medical Journal (a non-biased resource) about a study of Aspartame which revealed it stayed in the body a long time after it is consumed. Any artificial chemical that lingers in your insides can be up to no good. I have not touchd a food product containing that stuff since 2001 and I don't let my kids near the "no sugar added" foods either as they all contain it.
Better safe than sorry.

Personally, I don't like the taste of any artificial sweeteners so I rarely drink them, but there is no conclusive scientific evidence that aspartame causes health problems. Most evidence shows that if you are going to drink sweetened drinks, drinking those with artificial sweeteners is safer than drinking those with sugar.

I just posted a couple links to some scientific evidence. Actually, It does exist. Natural sugars are by far healthier. Anything that is processed makes digestion that much harder on the body.

One or even two studies suggesting something is not scientific evidence. People often read a study and think "OMG everything I've been told up to now has just been debunked". But that's not the way medical science works. All available evidence needs to be evaluated to formulate the best medical suggestions. The overwhelming current medical evidence is that body fat and/or insulin resistance are more likely to kill you than aspartame, which is why the current recommendations are to drink soda in moderation but diet soda is better than sugary soda.

There are conflicting studies on just about any subject, which is why it's best to look to reputable medical organization for guidelines.