The Aspartame Thread

"FDA does not approve something just because a powerful man wants it to be approved. They just don't."

You know that because?

All we're doing at this point is throwing around opinions.

"FDA does not approve something just because a powerful man wants it to be approved. They just don't."

You know that because?

All we're doing at this point is throwing around opinions.

I know that because I have a PhD in pharmacology, which requires an understanding of how drugs are approved for human use. Food compounds would have to follow a similar process, including countless hours at the bench doing biochemical and cell work, countless hours testing the compounds in mice and/or rats, and then in "higher" mammals like dogs, cats, pigs, and/or primates. You have to have AT LEAST two species before you can move into human trials. It then has to go through multiple phases of human trials, in double blind, placebo controlled studies. The FDA reviews all the literature available on the compounds including any literature that contradicts the findings presented by the people "pushing" the drug. Most compounds are rejected by the FDA.

Of course, this is the internet. You're welcome to disbelieve my credentials.

Surely you don't believe that the FDA is somehow made up of super humans that are incapable of being corrupted.

Well, since I'm an un-intelligent, uneducated, snaky, childish, rude conspiracy theorist...I'll let you scientists form a consensus without me.

I'm a moderate diet soda drinker now (Sprite Zero), but used to drink diet sodas often in place of water (maybe 2-3 cans a day). I have had a few attacks of vertigo in recent years. But I suspect this is more related to my age and Menieres disease than artificial sweeteners (Menieres runs in my family--my dad has it); there is a strong hereditary component to this disease. (I'll also note my dad has never touched artificial sweeteners.) One thing not mentioned in here (at least that I've not seen) is that soft drinks have a LOT of sodium. I've noticed a greater frequency of morning vertigo attacks after indulging in excessive salty snacking, and also after drinking alcohol instead of water at dinnertime.There is some science out there that says vertigo and ear crystal problems can be triggered by dehydration. So I'm working on upping my water intake, and going for moderation in my caffeine, sodium, and alcohol--all known causes of dehydration. That seems to be working, for me at least.

JMO, but I'd guess excessive caffeine intake is the likely culprit in a 3-5 can/day Dr Pepper habit leading to anxiety or panic attacks. Excessive caffeine has definitely been linked to anxiety attacks in people, whereas 'allergic' reactions to artificial sweeteners are more individual. In other words, there's no science that can (yet) say artificial sweeteners are bad across the board for all humans b/c they universally cause migraines, or universally cause anxiety attacks,or universally cause vertigo, etc. If an artificial sweetener is responsible at all for those effects, it seems to be only on an individual reaction/allergy level. So caffeine would seem the most suspect, here.

One more plus for artificial sweeteners; a decline in tooth decay.

...
Dr. Willett said the long-term safety of the artificial sweeteners remained an open question. “It’s interesting to keep in mind, if you smoke cigarettes, the lung cancer risk doesn’t go up for 30 years,” he said. “And that’s a really powerful carcinogen. A lot of things don’t show up for several decades.”
...
In terms of relative risk — the known dangers of sugar and weight gain versus the uncertainties of artificial sweeteners — “artificially sweetened beverages are much less bad than the full-sugar beverages,” Dr. Willett said. Still, diet sodas are less than optimal. “I view them like a nicotine patch,” he said.

The better solution to protect health: Eat and drink less sweet stuff.

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.