Aspertane: something everyone should know

[alancw3]

well now that the oil of coconut thread got me thinking about health i thought i would share this email i got awhile ago from a friend about aspertane. thankfully i am not a soda drinker.

Sweet Poison
>
>In October of 2001, my sister started getting very
sick. She had stomach
>spasms and she was having a hard time getting around.
Walking was a major
>chore. It took everything she had just to get out of
bed; she was in so
>much pain.
>
>By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and
muscle biopsies and was
>on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors
could not determine
>what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and
so sick...she just
>knew she was dying.
>
>She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance,
etc., in her oldest
>daughters name, and made sure that her younger
children were to be taken
>care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she
planned a trip to FL
>(basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.
>
>On March 19th I called her to ask how her most recent
tests went, and she
>said they didn't find anything on the test, but they
believe she had MS.
>
>I recalled an article a friend of mine E-mailed to me
and I asked my sister
>if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As
a matter of fact, she
>was getting ready to crack one open that moment... I
told her not to open
>it, and to stop drinking the diet soda !!! I E-mailed
her the article my
>friend, a lawyer, had sent.
>
>My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone
conversation and told
>me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she
could walk!!!! The muscle
>spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but
she sure felt a lot
>better. She told me she was going to her doctor with
this article and would
>call me when she got home.
>
>Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed!
He is going to call
>all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed
artificial sweeteners
>of any kind...
>
>In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the
Aspartame in the diet soda...
>and literally dying a slow and miserable death.
>
>When she got to FL March 22nd, all she had to take
was one pill, and that
>was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well
on her way to a
>complete recovery . and she is walking!!! No
wheelchair!!!
>
>This article saved her life If it says "SUGAR FREE"
on the label, DO NOT
>EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!
>
>I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD
ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE
>on "ASPARTAME," marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,'
and 'Spoonful.'
>
>In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced
that in the United
>States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple
sclerosis and systemic
>lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what
toxin was causing this to
>be rampant.
>
>I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on
exactly that subject. I
>will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the
temperature of this
>sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in
ASPARTAME converts to
>formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn
causes metabolic
>acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the
sting of fire ants. The
>methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions,
multiple sclerosis and
>systemic lupus.
>
>Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although
multiple sclerosis is
>not a death sentence.. methanol toxicity is!
>
>Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as
multiple sclerosis,
>especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.
The victim usually does
>not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she
continues its use;
>irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may
become a life-threatening
>condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus
become asymptotic,
>once taken off diet sodas.
>
>In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis,
(when in reality, the
>disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms
disappear. We've seen
>many cases where vision loss returned and hearing
loss improved markedly.
>
>This also applies to cases of tinnitus and
fibromyalgia.
>
>During a lecture, I said, "If you are using ASPARTAME
(NutraSweet, Equal,
>Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia
symptoms, spasms,
>shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps,
vertigo,
>dizziness,headaches, tinnitus, joint pain,
unexplainable depression,
>anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or
memory loss...you
>probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!"
>
>People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I
have some of these
>symptoms."
>
>Is it reversible?" Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet
sodas and be alert for
>Aspartame on food labels!
>
>Many products are fortified with it!!!
>
>This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my
speakers) remarked that so
>many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during
his recent visit to a
>hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who
were heavy Diet Coke
>addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is
beyond coincidence!
>
>Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically
altered, multiple
>SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that
actually makes you
>crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make
you GAIN weight!
>
>These products also contain formaldehyde, which
stores in the fat cells,
>particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is
an absolute toxin and
>is used primarily to preserve "tissue specimens."
>
>Many products we use every day! contain this chemical
but we SHOULD NOT
>store it IN our body!!!
>
>Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once
free of the "diet
>products" and with no significant increase in
exercise; his patients lost
>an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.
>
>Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We
found that some
>physicians, who believed that they had a patient with
retinopathy, in fact,
>had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame
drives the blood sugar out
>of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory
loss due to the fact
>that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC
when taken without the
>other amino acids necessary for a good balance.
Treating diabetes is all
>about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the
Aspartame passes the
>blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the
neurons of the brain;
>causing various levels of brain damage, seizures,
depression, manic
>depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and
rage.
>
>Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms
in non-diabetics, as
>well.
>
>Documentation and observation also reveal that
thousands of children
>diagnosed with ADD and AHD have had complete
turnarounds in their behavior
>when these chemicals have been removed from their
diet. So called "behavior
>modification prescription drugs" (Ritalin and others)
are no longer needed.
>Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first
place!
>
>Most of these children were being "poisoned" on a
daily basis with the very
>foods that were "better for them than sugar."
>
>It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands
of pallets of diet
>Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women
fighting in the Gulf War, may
>be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War
Syndrome.
>
>Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects,
i.e., mental
>retardation, if taken at the time of conception and
during early pregnancy.
>Children are especially at risk for neurological
disorders and should NEVER
>be given artificial sweeteners. There are many
different case histories to
>relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and
other neurological
>disturbances due to the use of NutraSweet.
>
>Unfortunately, it is not always easy to convince
people that Aspartame is
>to blame for their child's illness.

Stevia, which, which is a sweet herb,
>NOT A MANUFACTURED ADDITIVE, helps in the metabolism
of sugar, which would
>be ideal for diabetics. It has now been approved as a
dietary supplement by
>the FDA. It is known that for many years the FDA
outlawed this true sweet
>food," due to their loyalty to MONSANTO Chemical
Company."
>
>Books on this subject are available:
>
>EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS written by Dr.
Russell Blayblock (Health
>Press 1-800-643-2665) AND: DEFENSE AGAINST
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE-written by
>DR H. J. Roberts, also a diabetic specialist.
>
>These two doctors will soon be posting a position
paper with case histories
>on the deadly effects of Aspartame on the Internet.
According to the
>Conference of the American College of Physicians, "We
are talking about a
>plague of neurological diseases directly caused by
the use of this deadly
>poison."
>
>Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional
Hearings when Aspartame
>was included 100 different products and strong
objection was made
>concerning it's use. Since this initial hearing,
there have been two
>subsequent hearings and still, nothing has been done.
The drug and chemical
>lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO'S
patent on Aspartame has
>EXPIRED!!
>
>.

[alancw3]

cont'd because of 10,000 character limit:

There are now over 5,000 products on the market that
contain this deadly
>chemical and there will be thousands more introduced.
>
>Everybody wants a "piece of the Aspartame pie." I
assure you that MONSANTO,
>the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And
isn't it ironic that
>MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes
Association, the
>American Dietetic Association and the Conference of
the American College of
>Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New
York Times. These
>cannot criticize any additives or convey their link
to MONSANTO because
>they take money from the food industry and are
required to endorse their
>products.
>
>Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill
that would require
>label warnings on products containing Aspartame,
especially regarding
>pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would
also institute
>independent studies on the known dangers and the
problems existing in the
>general population regarding seizures, changes in
brain chemistry,
>neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The
bill was killed.
>
>It is known that the powerful drug and chemical
lobbies are responsible for
>this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death
on an unsuspecting and
>uninformed public.
>
>Well, you're informed now!!!! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!

[Tailwinds]

Interesting you should bring this up now. I've just completed a diet and nutrition course, and this topic was covered. What you posted does not surprise me after what I learned in that course.

There is a strong link between aspartame and brain tumors -- and other neurological disorders. Symptoms of aspartame poisoning can range from a general "fogginess," to memory loss -- to MS or brain cancer!

It's really quite alarming that lobbying can push such toxic chemicals through our system (legally and biologically). There were so many, well-grounded studies showing the indisputable, harmful effects of aspartame that were simply ignored for the sake of financial profit. :butt:

The same can be said for other substances -- foods, medications, etc. -- but I digress...

[Hardlyrob]

Take a look here...http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

[Chris]

People that spread this have an agenda. I'm sure that there are negative effects to aspertame, but the amount that would have to be consumed to create any actual damage is well beyond the average or double the average consumption levels. The alternative (huge amounts of sugar consumption) can lead to far greater health problems IMHO.

Edit: I didn't mean to imply that you all have an agenda, just that those who send these and all of the other "miracle cure" or dire warning emails full of nothing but anecdotal and unconfirmed evidence. My apologies if I offended anyone here. That was not my intention.

[Serpico]

.
sugar free soda = serpico fuel

nothing better than caffeinated beverages with zero calories and zero sugar

:beer:
.

[aj4e]

Perhaps it is the placebo effect...but I have suffered from severe joint pain for nearly ten years, which is unusual given that I am a 27 year old woman. I do not drink diet soda, but I do chew sugarless gum, sweetened with aspartame, all the time.

My dentist told me about this xylitol they are now using to sweeten gum that supposedly helps improve the health of your teeth. So I switched. And my joint pain nearly ceased. At a regular check up with my physician, she asked how my joints were doing, expecting the same old tired and achy answer. I told her they were remarkably pain free. She asked me a million questions to try to figure out what I was doing differently now, as all previous methods did not alleviate my pain. We deduced that it came down to the gum, the sugarless gum I chewed day in and day out. Now that I wasn't ingesting all that aspartame, I felt fine.

The really interesting part was when I tried another new gum, still containing xylitol. My joint pain came back shortly thereafter. My doctor asked what I had changed this time, so my first thought was the gum since that was what triggered the change last time. I told her I had switched brands, but it was still sweetened with xylitol, so I didn't know why that would matter. She checked the label, and sure enough, it was not only sweetened with xylitol, but also with aspartame.

My personal opinion from my personal experience, aspartame hurts, and I avoid it when I can.

[Tailwinds]

People that spread this have an agenda. I'm sure that there are negative effects to aspertame, but the amount that would have to be consumed to creat any actual damage is well beyond the average or double the average consumption levels. The alternative (huge amounts of sugar consumption) can lead to far greater health problems IMHO.

What kind of research have you studied to lead you to this conclusion? Or are you just trusting that if it's been approved by the FDA that it must be safe?

There has been enough research to clearly show that aspartame is dangerous, and the severity of damage that can occur varies from person to person. It does have a cumulative effect, though, and I'll try to avoid it even though I haven't had any effects from it that I've noticed. I'll try to stick w/real food.

Yes, refined sugar consumption is not healthful, either. Thankfully, there are other, far more healthful alternatives.

[RPS]

Should we ban products like peanuts and milk protein because they make some people sick? IMO it comes down to risk / benefit.

We are all different and what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for others -- whether food or bicycling. Even water will kill us if we drink too much.

[Chris]

I heard this years ago. I suffer from migraine's and drink diet soda. I thought there might be a connection, so I looked into the research pretty thoroughly. I work at a major hospital that has an extensive research library and I have discussed this with many of the research physicians as well. Essentially what you find in the research is that copious amounts of the substance can have negative effects on lab rats. There are NO human studies that indicate the results you cite, only anecdotal evidence. I am not one to throw out anecdotal evidence, because I think that there is something there. I don't disbelieve the gum story above or the fact that others have developed seizure disorders or even brain tumor type symptoms from aspertame. In the majority of these cases two things were common. The person citing their experience drank more than the average amount of diet soda and when they discontinued using, the symptoms went away as well. That says two things to me (and I am always capable of being wrong) moderation of any substance is key, and these examples seem much more like allergic reactions to the substance rather than illnesses which we are all destined to develop if we continue to use the product.

I have no trust in the FDA btw. :)

I think you are wise in avoiding as many unnatural substances as you can. That only seems reasonable, but there are those among us who are clearly addicted to diet coke (I swear just one more and I will stop)...


What kind of research have you studied to lead you to this conclusion? Or are you just trusting that if it's been approved by the FDA that it must be safe?

There has been enough research to clearly show that aspartame is dangerous, and the severity of damage that can occur varies from person to person. It does have a cumulative effect, though, and I'll try to avoid it even though I haven't had any effects from it that I've noticed. I'll try to stick w/real food.

Yes, refined sugar consumption is not healthful, either. Thankfully, there are other, far more healthful alternatives.

[Ginger]

My observation has been that different chemicals and foods affect different people differently. There are extreme sensitivity cases reported for practically all foods and I suspect more for manufactured additives.

There are so many additives that can cause issues that if you're having an odd sort of metabolism issue; going on the white diet if tolerated (rice, bananas, yogurt) and drinking only purified water for two or three months, then slowly reintroducing other foods might not be a bad idea...but people would rather go to a doc and get some pills to take care of an issue than to suspect the foods they've always eaten and doing detective work on their own. Your body knows more than the docs if you listen to it.

[cydewaze]

This is the problem with "pharmaceutical" sugar substitutes. They exist to make money, and that's about it. I've read all sorts of things about aspartame. Some are BS, some aren't. It's not good stuff, and it's absolutely worse for you than sugar, unless you're diabetic.

IMO, if someone wants to lose weight, they should drink water instead of chemically-sweetened soda.

But the thing that really irks me is that they bother with these sweeteners at all, when a perfectly good, all-natural sugar substitute exists: stevia (http://www.stevia.net/). But since stevia threatens pharmaceutical sweetener sales, it's banned, unless you buy it as a supplement from GNC. :rolleyes:

[Grant McLean]

This is the problem with "pharmaceutical" sugar substitutes. They exist to make money, and that's about it.

Someone with diabetes might disagree with that.


g

[cydewaze]

Someone with diabetes might disagree with that.
Did you write that because I wrote "unless you're diabetic", or did you stop reading the post after the first sentence?

[dauwhe]

Can't we all just argue about low-trail geometry, "planing", and the rolling resistance of tires? :)

Dave

[Grant McLean]

Did you write that because I wrote "unless you're diabetic", or did you stop reading the post after the first sentence?

just didn't see that. sorry, my bad.

g

[cydewaze]

just didn't see that. sorry, my bad.

g
It's all good man. :beer:

[cadence231]

Anything that has to do with Rumsfeld really creeps me out.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_3329.cfm
Time line: http://www.rense.com/general33/legal.htm

[1centaur]

To swing this amazingly back to cycling (be patient)...

My wife ingests a lot of aspartame (no kidding - 50 packets in a large Dunkin' coffee was not unheard of last I counted - she buys 7 boxes of 200 packets at a time from Costco), and a few years ago I spent some days reading all the goods and bads about it. It became very clear to me that people of good will and solid intellect, some scientists and some not, on both sides of the aspartame equation, are genuinely convinced they are correct. Equally, people who love to scream about toxins in our environment and people who believe Monsanto could not have pushed aspartame through the FDA if there was a legitimate problem have established their positions as well. I concluded that unless I was a research scientist who could put together a huge double blind study I would never have a good answer. However, I did have a human experiment (sample size of one) living in my house and consuming quantities far greater than were contemplated by all the studies I saw. She continues to be very healthy. I subscribe to the some are sensitive, some are not school (as with MSG), not the it's a toxin school. Personally, I avoid it almost all the time (thanks to my metabolism and cycling I suppose).

Cycling tie-in you ask? That experience, of it not being possible to reach a conclusion based on the facts presented and my judgment of those presenting them, informs my view of the doping debate. Scientists get whetted to their opinions and defend them with ferocity even though they may not be correct. The heads of WADA and the UCI are just reeds to be buffeted by those currents, with their conclusions less likely to be faultless than idealogical (such as might be said for how pre-Iraq intelligence was interpreted). While some assume that all cyclists with a positive test are guilty of doping, I suspect some tests will turn out to be less conclusive than conventional wisdom now believes them to be, and the newest tests have the highest likelihood of such. However annoying the lawyers for those accused may be, they should at least improve the odds that the tests used are the most accurate possible, not just the ones that made it through a few bureaucratic hoops before use.

[big shanty]

Between the pro-coconut oil thread, and this "artificial sweeterers are poison" thread, it is clear that a lot of people are reading and buying into Dr. Mercola's wacko scrawlings.

[big shanty]

maybe I'll beat you all to the punch and start the "krill oil thread"

[slowgoing]

Symptoms of aspartame poisoning can range from a general "fogginess," to memory loss -- to MS or brain cancer!

Can you direct me to research on the link between aspartame and MS? I've never seen that before.

Update: I just looked this up. Here is what the MS Society says.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/headlines-aspartame.asp

[Tailwinds]

Can you direct me to research on the link between aspartame and MS? I've never seen that before.

Update: I just looked this up. Here is what the MS Society says.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/headlines-aspartame.asp

Interesting.

This is info that I received from a naturopath who instructs a diet and nutrition class at my school. I'd like to see the research, too, so I'm going to ask her for that when I see her on Wed.

CYCLING CONTENT: I'm going for a ride now that it's warmed up to 28 degrees. :banana:

[Ahneida Ride]

I know a Brilliant chemist at a leading drug company.
He recently retired. He holds numerous patents and was
a 'Big Shot". I've had many interesting conservations with this
individual.

Know this: Drug companies are in business to make frn.
frn = federal reseve notes
If they cure people along the way, well that is ok too.

[Hardlyrob]

Of course food and drug companies are in it to make money - everyone is in it to make money - including the local organic farmer. They don't give the heirloom tomatoes away do they?

Companies developed the various non-nutrative sweeteners - Aspartame, Saccharine, Xylitol, Acesulfame K for one reason - to meet a consumer need. Just because they were commercial endeavors doesn't mean that they are poisons or toxins. As a business strategy, killing your customers is a rather poor choice for the long term.

As Ginger said, the human metabolism is very complex. Heck even the reactions to the ingredients in a diet soda can be complex. It is also a poor assumption that natural materials are inherently safer than synthetic. This is a point that Bruce Ames chose to research - he's the guy that developed the tests to see if chemicals were potentially mutagenic or carcinogenic in the 1960's that got a bunch of hair dyes, cyclamate, red #2 and other materials banned. He contends that there are many natural materials - including broccoli, red wine and mushrooms that would never be approved for human consumption by the FDA if presented - they contain too many natural toxins at high levels to be considered safe.

Just because they're in it to make money doesn't mean they are trying to kill you, or have no regard for their customers. There are people behind these products and the last thing anyone wants is for something they created to injur or kill someone.

[cydewaze]

As a business strategy, killing your customers is a rather poor choice for the long term.
Seems to have worked for the cigarette companies.


There are people behind these products and the last thing anyone wants is for something they created to injur or kill someone.
Of course they don't want to injur or kill anyone. But once you've got a few million invested in a product, and you're raking in the bucks, you're going to be hesitant to pull it unless there's a HUGE problem (i.e. the pending lawsuits outweigh the profits), and with artificial sweeteners, it's hasn't gotten that far, and probably never will.

[Hardlyrob]

Pfizer just pulled the plug on a new heart drug torcetrapib, less than two weeks ago. This was in stage two human trials, and the cost of the trial - not the development - was $800 million. Development costs must have been $2+ billion over the last 10+ years.

Products get killed all the time. The risk of launching something with a legal liability attached to it because you falsified research, or cut corners dwarfs any profits you could make. Does new information come to light after a product is on the market - sure, and companies respond to that by removing a product from the market or changing it.

The cost of wrongful death lawsuits, and more importantly the hit to the stock value and damage to the brand are what keeps people up at night. As a result companies are extremely conservative when it comes to new product innovation and risk taking. The current complaint of the month against the FDA is that they are too slow in approving new drugs - and as a result people are dying who could have been helped if drugs were brought to market sooner.

[alancw3]

fellow forumites; my reason for posting this thread was to info you all of this potential side effect of aspertane for those who might be experiencing the symtoms mentioned. i don't think it is a case of agreeing or disagreeiing but rather an informed thought process. oh, but i will say don't place such great altruistic value on the FDA. the FDA is run by people and therefore prone to the normal pressures and motivations of the world. i.e. Money, lobbying and policial! now go have a wonderful ride.

[Hardlyrob]

But once you've got a few million invested in a product, and you're raking in the bucks, you're going to be hesitant to pull it unless there's a HUGE problem (i.e. the pending lawsuits outweigh the profits), and with artificial sweeteners, it's hasn't gotten that far, and probably never will.


The artificial sweeteners, and Aspartame in particular have been studied and studied by universities, industry, governments and everybody else. The problem I have with the initial post is that all of these groups have found no data showing that they cause the symtoms described in the email originally posted. As such, there is no foundation for removing the products from the marketplace.

Now, that said, nobody can argue with one person's anecdotal experience. But that's all there is - an anecdote - that attributes the maraculous changes to avoiding one item. If this really happened, it could have been almost anything. There's more than water and Aspartame in a diet soda - what about caramel color - this is a very complex mixture of things where each component has not been tested, yet it is a natural ingredient and has GRAS status with the FDA. What about the phosphoric acid? Potassium Benzoate? Caffeine?

If the big food / big pharma companies have a conspiracy going to continue to injur / kill their customers they have done a HECK of a job to keep this quiet. Almost as good as NASA who did the moon landing on a sound stage.

The other problem with the profit / lobbying argument for Aspartame is that it came off patent in the late 1990's, and the price (and hence profits) plummeted from $17+ / pound to about $3 - making the cost in use cheaper than sugar today.

[Skrawny]

I'll just reiterate my post from the coconut oil thread (http://forums.thepaceline.net/showpost.php?p=289141&postcount=27)

The overuse of anecdotal evidence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence) and the regression fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regressive_fallacy) is common and poorly understood by most who haven't had the benefit of a statistics or philosophy course.

-s