ASPARTAME ARTICLES
ASPARTAME POISONING
Below is an article on aspartame poisoning that's been floating around the internet for years now. We think you'll find it extremely informative.

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From: PLANETNEWS@aol.com
Date: Sunday, December 13, 1998 7:54 AM
Subject: Could be very important information on our health...

Sent to PLANETNEWS: WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE and the MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS FOUNDATION F.D.A. ISSUING FOR COLLUSION WITH MONSANTO

An article written by Nancy Markle (1120197)

"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, they announced that there was an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus, and they did not understand what toxin was causing this to be rampant across the United States. I explained that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

* When the temperature of Aspartame exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME coverts 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 multiple sclerosis; thus people were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error. The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where methanol toxicity is.

* In the case of systemic lupus, we are finding it has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially among Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. Also, with methanol toxicity, victims usually drink three to four 12 oz. cans of them per day, some even more. In the cases of systemic lupus, which is triggered by ASPARTAME, the victim usually does not know that the ASPARTAME is the culprit. The victim continues its use, aggravating the lupus to such a degree that sometimes it becomes life-threatening. When we get people off the ASPARTAME, those with systemic lupus usually become asymptomatic. Unfortunately, we cannot reverse this disease.

* On the other hand, in the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity), most of the symptoms disappear. We have seen cases where their vision has returned and even their hearing has returned. This also applies to cases of tinnitus.

* 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, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss - you probably have ASPARTAME DISEASE!" People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I've got this, is it reversible?" Some of the speakers at my lecture even were suffering from these symptoms. In one lecture attended by the Ambassador of Uganda, he told us that their sugar industry is adding ASPARTAME to the sugar! He continued by saying that one of the industry leader's son could no longer walk - due in part to product usage!

* We have a very serious problem. Even a stranger came up to Dr. Escapist (one of my speakers) and myself and said, 'Could you tell me why so many people seem to be coming down with MS?' During a visit to a hospice, a nurse said that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence.

* Here is the problem. There were Congressional Hearings when ASPARTAME was included in 100 different products. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, but to no avail. Nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Now there are over 5,000 products containing this chemical, and the PATENT HAS EXPIRED!!!!! At the time of this first hearing, people were going blind. The methanol in the ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde in the retina of the eye. Formaldehyde is grouped in the same class of drugs as cyanide and arsenic - DEADLY POISONS!!! Unfortunately, it just takes longer to quietly kill, but it is killing people and causing all kinds of neurological problems.

* ASPARTAME changes the brain's chemistry. It is the reason for severe seizures. This drug changes the dopamine level in the brain. Imagine what this drug does to patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease. This drug also causes Birth Defects.

* There is absolutely no reason to take this product. It is NOT A DIET PRODUCT!!! The Congressional record said, "It makes you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT". Dr. Roberts stated that when he got patients off aspartame, their average weight loss was 19 pounds per person. The formaldehyde stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs.

* Aspartame is especially deadly for diabetics. All physicians know what wood alcohol will do to a diabetic. We find that physicians believe that they have patients with retinopathy, when in fact, it is caused by the poison. ASPARTAME keeps the blood sugar level out of control, causing many patients to go into a coma. Unfortunately, many have died.

* People were telling us at the Conference of the American College of Physicians, that they had relatives that switched from saccharin to an ASPARTAME product and how that relative had eventually gone into a coma. Their physicians could not get the blood sugar levels under control. Thus, the patients suffered acute memory loss and eventually coma and death. Memory loss is due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are neurotoxic without the other amino acids found in protein. Thus it goes past the blood brain barrier and deteriorates the neurons of the brain.

* Dr. Russell Blaylock, neurosurgeon, said, "The ingredients stimulates the neurons of the brain to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Dr. Blaylock has written a book entitled "EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS."

* Dr. H.J. Roberts, diabetic specialist and world expert on aspartame poisoning, has also written a book entitled "DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE." Dr. Roberts tells how ASPARTAME POISONING is escalating Alzheimer's Disease, and indeed it is. As the hospice nurse told me, women are being admitted at 30 years of age with Alzheimer's Disease.

* Dr. Blaylock and Dr. Roberts will be writing a position paper with some case histories and will post it on the Internet. According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians, "We are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this poison."

* Dr. Roberts realized what was happening when ASPARTAME was first marketed. He said "his diabetic patients presented memory loss, confusion, and severe vision loss". At the Conference of the American College of Physicians, doctors admitted that they did not know. They had wondered why seizures were rampant (the phenylalanine in ASPARTAME breaks down the seizure threshold and depletes serotonin, which causes manic depression, panic attacks, rage and violence).

* Just before the Conference, I received a FAX from Norway, asking for a possible antidote for this poison because they are experiencing so many problems in their country. This "poison" is now available in 90 PLUS countries worldwide. Fortunately, we had speakers and ambassadors at the Conference from different nations who have pledged their help. We ask that you help too. Print this article out and warn everyone you know. Take anything that contains aspartame back to the store. Take the "NO ASPARTAME TEST" and send us your case history.

* I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of ASPARTAME, knows how deadly it is. They fund the American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, Congress, and the Conference of the American College of Physicians. The New York Times, on November 15, 1996, ran an article on how the American Dietetic Association takes money from the food industry to endorse their products. Therefore, they can not criticize any additives or tell about their link to MONSANTO. How bad is this? We told a mother who had a child on NutraSweet to get off the product. The child was having grand mal seizures every day. The mother called her physician, who called the ADA, who told the doctor not to take the child off NutraSweet. We are still trying to convince the mother that the ASPARTAME is causing the seizures. Every time we get someone off of ASPARTAME, the seizures stop. If the baby dies, you know whose fault it is, and what we are up against. There are 92 documented symptoms of ASPARTAME, from coma to death. The majority of them are all neurological, because the ASPARTAME destroys the nervous system.

* ASPARTAME DISEASE is partially the cause behind some of the mystery of the Dessert Storm health problems. The burning tongue and other problems discussed in over 60 cases can be directly related to the consumption of an ASPARTAME product. Several thousand pallets of diet drinks were shipped to the Dessert Storm troops. (Remember that heat can liberate the methanol from the aspartame at 86 degrees F). Diet drinks sat in the 120 degree. Arabian sun for weeks at a time on pallets. The service men and women drank them all day long. All of their symptoms are identical to ASPARTAME poisoning. Dr. Roberts says "consuming ASPARTAME at the time of conception can cause birth defects". The phenylalanine concentrates in the placenta, causing mental retardation, according to Dr. Louis Elsas, Pediatrician Professor - Genetics, at Emory University in his testimony before Congress.

* In the original lab tests, animals developed brain tumors (phenylalanine breaks down into DXP, a brain tumor agent). When Dr. Escapist was lecturing on ASPARTAME, one physician in the audience, a neurosurgeon, said, "when they remove brain tumors, they have found high levels of ASPARTAME in them".

* Stevia, a sweet food, NOT AN ADDITIVE, which helps in the metabolism of sugar, which would be ideal for diabetics, has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the FDA For years, the FDA has outlawed this sweet food because of their loyalty to MONSANTO.

* If it says "SUGAR FREE" on the label - DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!!! Senator Howard Hetzenbaum wrote a bill that would have warned all at risk pregnant mothers and children of the dangers of ASPARTAME. The bill would have also instituted independent studies on the problems existing in the population (seizures, changes in brain chemistry, changes in neurological and behavioral symptoms). It was killed by the powerful drug and chemical lobbies, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting public. Since the Conference of the American College of Physicians, we hope to have the help of some world leaders. Again, please help us too. There are a lot of people out there who must be warned, *please* let them know this information."

One reader's response to the above article:
5/2/2006: Nicole from Miami writes us, "While I believe that aspartame is unhealthy, publishing the "Nancy Markle" letter as some kind of substantiated report is beyond irresponsible. There is no Nancy Markle. No one has found her, ever. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
Do right by your readers and publish facts supported by studies. Include footnotes and sources. Don't publish anectodal writings and emails, presenting them as facts."

Websites with more information about the above "Nancy Markle" article.
http://www.nancymarkle.com/
http://nancymarkle.com/nomarkle.html

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2/23/2007: Diane sent us the following link and excerpt from the FDA web site dated August of 2002:

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/02/Aug02/080102/98f-0052-her0001-vol5.txt

From: Betty Martini [Bettym19@mindspring.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 11:25 PM To: FDAdockets@oc.FDA.gov; RXH@CFSAN.FDA.GOV; Jaffe Lyle D Cc: info-anzfa.gov.au; annette.king-ministers.govt.nz; Miguel-Angel.Granero-Rosell@cec.eu.int; peter.wagstaffe@cec.eu.int Subject: Open Objection to approval of Neotame, Docket Number 98F-0052 abd 99 F - 0187, Request for Hearing. All studies on Neotame meaningless because they are based on aspartame which was never proven safe. Original statute of limitation defense voided by rebir

Dockets Management Branch HFA - 305 - Certified Mail Food and Drug Administration 5630 Fishers Lane Room 1061 Rockville, Maryland 20852

To Docket Management/FDA

A new legal case shows the US may recover 3 times its costs when a company's frauds on the FDA cost the taxpayers money. It is likely that frauds by aspartame producers have cost taxpayers billions of dollars. By lying to the FDA a chemical poison has been marketed in 100 countries creating one of the largest plagues in world history. We have epidemics of autism, ADD, Alzheimers, MS symptoms, lupus, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, behavioral and psychiatric problems, sudden death, seizures, brain tumors, blindness, etc., all discussed and documented in Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic by H. J. Roberts, M.D., (www.sunsentpress.com).

During the approval process of aspartame on which Neotame is based the original manufacturer lied to FDA. One of the most famous neuroscientists on the planet , John Olney, M.D. did the studies on the excitotoxin aspartic acid, 40% of aspartame (literally stimulates the neurons of the brain to death - as written on the back cover of Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, M.D. ). He found that it caused lesions in the brains of mice. He told Searle but Searle didn't come clean to you - the FDA. Obviously, FDA would not want an excitotoxin on the market to destroy the brains of consumers? Right?

But the manufacturer continued lying and deceiving the FDA.

Transcript of Document Number 3 from Congressional Record, Voluntary Submission, Confidential Trade Secret Information (12/28/70). This document is psychomanipulation, how they would convince you that assumptions were true. But here is the last paragraph:

"With the spoon-for-spoon, we have no way of estimating maximum likely abuse and hence need to utilize data based on almost complete conversion to DKP. If we include this use in the original FAP, we stand a good chance of ending up with nothing in the short run and nothing in the long run whereas the other approach would give us something in the short run and quite likely as much as we would ever get in the long run. I think it becomes very important for us to start to get our sweetener into commercial channels as soon as possible to minimize the incentive that people now have to work on other sweeteners. Action in the US will tend to influence the outcome in other countries as well."

They concealed the almost complete conversion to DKP, the brain tumor agent because they knew you wouldn't approve it. Lies, lies and more lies.

FDA toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross said:

"Failure to report to the FDA all internal tumors present in the experimental rats, e.g. polyps in the uterus, ovary neoplasms as well as other lesions." (Gross 1987a, page 8).

"Animals which had died were sometimes recorded as being alive and vice versa.. These include approximately 20 instances of animals reported as dead and then reported as having vital signs normal again at subsequent observation periods." (Gross 1985, page S10835).

Wilson, l985 - Dr. Adrian Gross, FDA Toxicologist and Task Force Member:

"They (G. D. Searle) lied and they didn't submit the real nature of their observations because had they done that it is more than likely that a great number of these studies would have been rejected simply for adequacy. What Searle did, they took great pains to camouflage these shortcomings of the study. As I say filter and just present to the FDA what they wished the FDA to know and they did other terrible things for instance animals would develop tumors while they were under study. Well, they would remove these tumors from the animals."

Dr. Gross was not the only FDA toxicologist. There was Dr. Jacqueline Verrett who was also a member of the Task Force that investigated the authenticity of Searle's research. She believed the original aspartame studies were "built on a foundation of sand". (Testimony of Dr. Jacqueline Verrett, FDA Toxicologist before the U.S. Senate committee on Labor and Human Resources, regarding "NutraSweet Health and Safety Concerns." ( Nov 3, l987) . She testified the flawed tests conducted by Searle - used as the basis of FDA approval - were a "disaster" and should have been "thrown out". She said she believed the studies left many unanswered questions about possible birth defects and the safety of aspartame. She let it be known that the team was instructed not to be concerned with, or comment upon, the overall validity of the study. She said a subsequent review discarded or ignored the problems and deficiencies outlined by her team's original report. She said: "serious departures from acceptable toxicological protocols" that her investigative team noted in the reevaluation of these studies were also discounted. She warned that any of the improper practices would compromise and negate a safety study of a food additive. Verrett declared the data in the study was worthless, and the safety of aspartame and its breakdown products have therefore not been determined.

Dr. Verrett emphasized that aspartame is in the marketplace without basic toxicity information. She said there ware no data to assess the interactions with DKP, excess phenylalanine, other aspartame metabolites, additives, drugs or other chemicals. In her testimony, Verrett elaborated on DKP problems, including significant increases of uterine polyps and changes in blood cholesterol. DKP is formed when liquids in particular are presweetened with aspartame. The production of DKP is vulnerable to increase in temperature, and higher temperatures produce increasingly amounts of DKP. She reminded members of the Congressional Committee "that is why initially, aspartame was not intended or not planned to be used in liquids because of this decomposition.. it was decided it was too unstable to be used in hot preparations, hot liquids and also in diet drinks."

Dr. Richard Wurtman of MIT testified in congress in l985 how the phenylalanine in aspartame as an isolate is neurotoxic and goes directly into the brain. FDA knows that, of course, as it tried to remove it from all supplements during the era of the Dietary Supplement bill.

Title 18, Section 1001 of the Criminal Code which declares: "Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the Government of the United States , knowingly and willfully -

* (1) falsifies, conceal, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact: * (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; * (3) or makes or uses any false writing or document knowingly the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned.

FDA chief counsel Richard Merrill recommended to U.S. Attorney Sam Skinner a grand jury investigate Searle for "apparent violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21, USC 331 and the False Reports to the Government Act, 18 USC 1001, for their willful and knowingly failure to make reports to the FDA required by Act 21 USC 355 (i) and for concealing material facts and making false statements in reports of animal studies conducted to establish the safety of aspartame."

The manufacturer was powerful, and two U.S. Prosecutors were hired by the defense team and the statute of limitations expired. Aspartame was approved when Dr. Arthur Hull Hayes over-ruled the Board of Inquiry report of the FDA refusing approval.

Now they want a new patent. As Dr. Jeffrey Bada, a peptide chemist, told me when he first reviewed the formula of Neotame "they just scrambled the formula, same dangerous breakdown products," etc.

Monsanto Communications Director Nancy Nevin said about Neotame in l998: "Compositionally it begins with aspartame, but a simple enhancement to the dipeptide base of aspartame uniquely and markedly changes its sweetness. It is 40 times sweeter than aspartame." Monsanto's Nick Rosa in l998 also said that Neotame is "based on the aspartame formula".

Dr. H. J. Roberts who has declared Aspartame Disease to be a global plague and published the new medical text, Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, www.sunsentpress.com or ' 1 800 814 - 9800 , wrote the Dockets Management Branch on March 3, l998 about Neotame saying:

"The timing and self-serving corporate interests of this petition are suggested by the fact that the patent on aspartame expired several years ago.

The approval of any analog of aspartame for human use MUST be challenged. In my opinion, there is already sufficient evidence for aspartame products to be withdrawn from the market as an "imminent public health hazard" NOW!"

He also said: "As a physician and citizen, I am appalled at the thought of American consumers being again subjected to an anticipated repeat of the aspartame fiasco" ......

Discussed even in the medical text on page 770 - 771 is: Neotame: Will History Repeat Itself?

"The Monsanto Company petitioned the FDA on January 23, 1999 to approve its high intensity sweetener, N-[N-(3.3-dimethybutyl)-L-a-aspartyl]-L-phenylalanine 1- methyl ester, as an all purpose sweetener and flavor enhancer. This analog of aspartame (on which the patent had expired), named Neotame, is 30-60 times sweeter than aspartame.

The author submitted detailed letters of professional opposition to such approval - dated March 3, 1998, February 25, 1999, and April 10, 1999 - pending additional data about the safety of this chemical in humans. He concluded with this opinion:

"I am a totally corporate-neutral physician, who is concerned about the ongoing exposure of the population to aspartame and numerous other chemicals that were approved without adequate long term studies by corporate-neutral investigators and politically neutral regulators. Let me repeat: I anticipate a public health tragedy if the aspartame problem is allowed to be repeated in the case of Neotame without these safeguards!"

Remarkably and coincidentally, my novel projecting a public health scenario caused by a fabricated analog of aspartame was published. It is titled, THE CACOF CONSPIRACY: LESSONS OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM (Sunshine Sentinel Press, 1999). When conceived a decade earlier, the author had no knowledge of Neotame."

All lies are reborn via this new application plus any new ones. Statute of limitation defense is voided by rebirthing this poison. Any studies on Neotame are meaningless because they are based on aspartame which was never proven safe!

Just imagine how much aspartame the government has bought. Equal even has the Presidential Seal. And think how much Diet Coke has been bought by the government.

The tax-payers are owed BILLIONS, and Title 18, Section 1001 is rings loudly.

Aspartame disease is now a global plague, and the medical text gives 20 years of experience with this deadly chemical poison being on the market, drug interaction, chemical hypersensitivity and the legal implications of mass poisoning the people. Dr. James Bowen wrote you 18 years ago that aspartame is mass poisoning of the American public and more than 70 countries of the world. (www.dorway.com). He has Lou Gehrigs just like many of those who served in the Persian Gulf and drank diet pop laced with aspartame, that also interacted with vaccine. Millions of babies have been murdered in their mother's womb. Aspartame support groups contain the comments from the outraged public who have been poisoned. Aspartame Detoxification Centers are now in America and Canada. Case histories are being collected for class action.

Enclosed are the documents that give the evidence the FDA was lied to and knows aspartame is a chemical poison. As you well know, it should never have been approved. Some of your documents t are on www.dorway.com And your Board of Inquiry report saying not to approve aspartame is on www.greatfallspro.com along with Dr. Olney's testimony to the Board of Inquiry and the l985 congressional record. You can purchase from Bob Flint (Mission Possible Maine) actual CD's of these documents. Read the horror stories at the Aspartame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame

All it takes is one drop of Neotame on the market and the statute of limitations is voided!

Betty Martini, Founder, Mission Possible International , 9270 River Club Parkway, Duluth, Georgia 30097, 770 242-2599 www.dorway.com Deadline August 8, 2002 CC: ANZFA, European Union

Enclosures:

Dr. John Olney's Study on Aspartic Acid, 1970 Secret Trade Information Government Record Statements admitting manufacturer Lied to FDA"

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Dr. BETTY MARTINI'S RESPONSE

READER FEEDBACK

[SIDE EFFECTS]  04/25/2009: Mildred from Downingtown, Pa writes: "Hello, just responding to the problems caused by splenda. i have been using splenda for about a year and 1/2 and have been healthly all my life. I only suffer from acid reflux, yet i had 2 seizures last year and in March of this year had a ruptured anuresum and i beleive it is from result of the splenda, but can not prove it. this should be taken off the market i am considering contacting a lawyer."

I called Memphis, Tenn. today where the bakery offices are of this wonderful chain restaurant. Why? to confirm the no sugar wild berry pie had artificial sweetners. We quit buying this pie because everytime I ate it-I simply felt terrible i.e. head fuzzy weird taste in my mouth...the nice people at the bakery portion of the restaurant told us there was no sugar and no artificial sweetners as far as they knew in the wild berry pie. Last night I got a craving for the wild berry pie. After 3 pieces (dinner and lunch)I started to have heart palpatations which prompted my call to Perkins..And indeed-there is artificial sweetner-not confirmed sucralose..in any case FAKE CHEMICALS bodies don't like."

I originally found earthclinic.com when I was googling for natural remedies and came upon the cider vinegar cures for -- well, pretty much everything, it seems! That was helpful, and felt like the site was pretty reliable.

But then I came upon a link to your page about artificial sweeteners, given when someone told about mixing their ACV with Splenda. I followed the link and was very surprised to find a lot of very dubious information, some of it so ludicrous-sounding as to make me question the integrity of your entire site.

For example, the very first article about aspartame was one that I had just encountered on snopes.com a couple of weeks ago when I was researching claims made about Splenda. According to Snopes (a site that I trust implicitly when it comes to information about hoaxes and discredited urban legends), these claims about aspartame's dangerous toxicity and connections to the chemistry of fire ants, etc., are completely unsubstantiated, despite all sorts of true-sounding statistics and credits included in the scare stories. Snopes tried to track down the studies and scientists referenced in these articles and could not find them even after considerable time and effort was expended in their search.

And some of these articles stretch the imagination so far that it's hard not to laugh at the absolute absurdity of some of their anecdotal claims, such as the following, quoted on your site in an article by "Dr. Jim Bowen", who is also apparently a cab driver:

'Upon hearing this, one of my fares screamed out: "Doc! You are sure right! Within a year of the time we started drinking Aspartame pop, three of my immediate family members experienced brain tumors, even though there had never before even been a single brain tumor in our entire known family tree. Moreover, all three then were dead within the year following, in spite of all which medicine, surgery, and radiation had to offer them!"' So what he's saying is that one day this man's healthy family started drinking Diet Coke for the first time in their lives, and within a year, aspartame brain tumors had killed three of them? Do you blame me for not placing a lot of faith in Dr. Jim Bowen after he's used this story from a "cab fare" as evidence of the evils of Splenda? Not only is this story purely anecdotal, but it's given by a cab driver who may or may not be a doctor, and the quote given is supposedly "screamed out", word for word, by a passenger in this man's taxi, just as he's written it. Who "screams out" things like "moreover" and "in spite of all which medicine, surgery, and radiation had to offer them"? Sorry, I just don't buy it.

These recycled claims about Splenda have been circulating on the internet for years now, but I have never seen any of the actual studies they purport to draw from, and I have also never read any of this information in a newspaper or magazine that I would trust. On the other hand, whenever I am handed some new sensational claim or story in email or by word of mouth, I look it up on Snopes.com, a highly respected source of verification. Snopes does the research so that people don't have to get taken in by hoaxes or other disinformation campaigns. This is all very important for me, because I am a diabetic, and have to watch my carbs. Artificial sweeteners (and Splenda in particular, given its non-chemical taste) have been a great boon to my diet, allowing me to keep to a healthy regimen without having to sacrifice taste, and many diabetics depend on such sweeteners in moderation to help satisfy their cravings while maintaining their health. Please consider re-examining the information you're dispensing about aspartame. There may be down-sides to it, but I think that the hysterical claims you've reprinted here are gross exaggerations, and in some cases, complete fabrications.

Sincerely,
Gillian Nance"

01/31/2009: Brad from Port Charlotte, Florida writes: "I write blogs and one of the issues that I am writing about is the study of Stevia (a natural sweetener) vs. Aspartame. I already knew from years ago that aspartame was bad for you, and personally avoided using it or other man made sweeteners, but wow, I never realized just how bad it is. I would think that 92 bad side effects of aspartame and some deadly would be enough to scare anybody away from it.

There are so many areas in the field of wellness that it is endless. Our FDA has really done a number on us in regard to trying to shut us up. It's time to clean up that operation of our government.

Along with this I would like to mention the topic of Vitamin C and the work that Dr. Linus Pauling did in the study of Vitamin C. If somebody want's to make a study of their health, Vitamin C is the place to start in connection to what Dr. Pauling published. He left us a fantastic legacy in regard to using Vitamin C. You can find him on the internet. He died a few years ago at the age of 93. What a fantasstic life.

I have so many issues to write about, but I'm afraid I'm running out of time.

Thank you. Brad Vigansky"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  01/31/2009: Catherine from Seattle, WA writes: "I was fighting a sinus infection last week after landing in California and went to a Whole Foods to get some Vitamin C. I decided to get Emergen-C to add to water because it had a really tempting fruity flavor. Immediately after taking my first packet (which was delicious), I felt a weird sensation in my head and then I got really edgy (as in bad mood edgy). I read the ingredients on the box and sure enough, the vitamin C used in this brand is Aspartic acid, an excitotoxin. The Emergen-C also contained "natural flavors", aka MSG. I waited 24 hours and tried again to see if I would have the same side effects. Again, within a minute of drinking the packet, I got the same sensation in my head. My question is, are you doing more good or harm to the body when you take this form of vitamin c?!! Also, does Whole Foods know what they're selling? I thought they had stricter standards than most health food stores about supplements! I now need to check the ingredients on the dissolvable vitamin c from Trader Joe's that I have at home to see if it's the same stuff. GRRRR!!!"

01/23/2009: David from San Diego, CA writes: "I did an enormous amount of research on sweeteners due to my sweet tooth. According to Dr. Janet Starr Hull writer of "sweet Poison" the only widely used safe artificial sweetener is Saccharin (Sweet N Low), that does come from a natural source. No confirmed cases of cancer in humans in over 50 years of use. The reported "cancer" in rats came from a push by sugar companies that were losing sales. Yes it causes cancer in rats in insanely large amounts (few hundred diet sodas daily). Nearly any substance in those large amounts will cause tumors to grow. I also use the sugar alcohols in small amounts. Another great lower calorie sweetener is Whey Low. Tastes exactly like sugar, since its actually made from sugar with 70% less calories and safe for diabetics."

01/22/2009: Sonya from Huntsville, Alabama, USA writes: "Thank you so much for trying to make the public aware of this epidemic. I myself am a victim of the artificial sweetener side effects. A couple of years ago in an effort to lose weight for my wedding, I started using "diet" products. Within a week, I was experiencing severe headaches, uncontrollable tremors, extreme fatigue, nausea and irritability. Thinking I had become hypoglycemic, I bought a glucose meter and began testing up to 6 times a day. My levels were always normal. At the gym one day, I met a doctor. Explaining my symptoms to her, she asked me if I used artificial sweeteners. I replied that I did and she told me to stop them and see how I felt in a few days. Lo and behold, my symptoms dissipated day by day. She explained that she had written articles on the effects of artificial sweeteners and that honey or natural sugar would be better than ANY artificial sweeteners. She explained that she had a patient that had come to her diagnosed with MS and after she told him to quit the sweeteners, he returned better, able to walk again and was able to cope without his medication for the MS. I am happy to report that 2.5 years later, I am doing much better and refuse to touch anything with artificial sweeteners in it. I try to warn anyone that I know. I've helped friends that had chronic headaches by informing them of the dangers of these sweeteners. Not surprisingly, their persistent headaches ceased. So thank you to everyone sharing their stories and helping to get the word out!!!"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  01/17/2009: Rich from Boca Raton, Fl writes: "Here are my thoughts on Aspertame. I suspect that if someone has Gum Disease, or a leaky Gut, or Diabetes, then a higher concentration of Aspertame is absorbed.

I would guess that the phenyl component might go to fight a fungus, allowing the Methanol to get into the blood and rise sugar levels, creating much more fungus, candida, etc... than it kills.

For "healthy people", or those not afflicted by candida, etc... this may cause no damage. For others, this can cause major problems.
****
The idea that sugar causes cancer has been around for a long time. That cancerous cells eat 15x more sugar, and are surrounded by lactic acid, and are anerobic(oxygen deficient), has been known.

Of course there are many types of fungus and different types of cancers, and I am over-generalizing.

Perhaps the candida eats the sugar, and the lactic acid is trying to kill the candida, but if it fails, the cancer has the ability to spread due to the low ph. Perhaps it's friendly bacteria, acidophilus or lactobacillus creating the lactic acid... then again you generate lactic acid through exercise, so perhaps the lactic acid is just a defense mechanism. Unclear.

Gum disease is treated with Chlorhexadine mouthwash. Chlorhexadine also kills ringworm fungus, and has antifungal properties, so I suspect fungus involved there (perhaps Chronic Mucosal Candidaidis).

Anyways, I suspect in some people they absorb much high concentrations of Aspertame, leading to Methanol poisoning and formaldehyde, etc... as you said."

[SIDE EFFECTS]  01/09/2009: Angela from Richmond, VA writes: "I used to use Equal. I would have these sharp shooting pains in my head and it was frightening. I learned about aspartame and stopped using it. The symptom stopped completely for years.

I noticed that recently I sometimes experience the symptom although not as severe. I wonder if they are sneaking this poison in foods that are supposed to be regular white sugar, although white sugar is a form a poison too. I think I will have to stop consuming foods even with "regular" sugar and maybe even the "no sugar added" ones too. I usually consume low sugars but a little can do a lot of damage for some.

I have accidently consumed low levels of aspartame a few times throughout the years. Whenever I have, the shooting pains start immediately - the same or next day! Please be smart. Don't convince yourself it's okay just because it's on the market and you like the way something tastes and don't want to change your ways. "

[SIDE EFFECTS]  12/29/2008: Lynn from Chiang Mai, Thailand writes: "SIDE EFFECT: 2 years ago I had a Bacardi Breezer and after a short time I experienced a grand mal epileptic seizure. I felt my hearing go and knew I was about to faint. I came to 4-5 minutes later by concerned net-cafe workers who were fanning me. I was completely white and had lost conciousness for several minutes while shaking and jerking.

I just want to warn people of aspartame, I found out it was in the breezer and now I am very weary of this sweetener. It should be taken off the market. I have never had a seizure in my life, and being a traveller it changed my life in terms of travelling, and scared me to the bone. It is totally diregarding people and disrespecting people to keep using this msg and many other food additives. When will we have a say in what we put in us when often times the additives are hidden?

And to Ted, thank you so much for such a great website, you are doing great work and have extensive knowledge. You are helping so many. deep thanks :)"

recent forgetfulness and is unlike me as am a nurse... drinking diet soda and protein drinks... am aware i am forgeting and is bothersome..so attribute it to aspartame and diet things. am very tired and know i am forgeting calling people anddoing things. so am done drinking all diet things.... same thing happened to me after a week of using the sweet and low .. it is like you are aware you are doing stuff but cant control it ,, very disturbing thank you hope it helps some one out"

Aspartic acid, in aspartame, is an excitotoxin. An excitotoxin, is a deleterious substance that excites or over stimulates nerve cells. This occurs in the brain, as well as the peripheral nerves, because aspartic acid, in free form, easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. This pathological excitation of nerve cells creates a breakdown of nerve function, as we will see. (L.E.Rosenberg, McGraw-Hill 1991)"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  10/28/2008: Bruce from Christchurch, New Zealand writes: "I have been consuming about 1 litre a day of diet cola over a three month period. I started getting minor pain in the ankles and lower legs. I put this down to old age etc. In the last 2 weeks the pain became very intense with knees, shoulders and back involved. The pain was now intolerable. I could only crawl around the house. Anti inflamitories had little or no effect. I stopped drinking the aspartame sweetening drink six days ago and the pain has now almost stopped. I am of the opinion that aspartame was the problem. I am of the opinion that the product should be banned."

[SIDE EFFECTS]  09/18/2008: Bret from Phoenix, Arizona writes: "re: Artificial sweeteners: The blindness thing is real. As a nurse I did my thesis on elderly diabetics. One thing I found that blindness in diabetics, an ongoing issue without artificial sweetners,had become so prevalent that no one with a lick of sense could attribute the increase in blindness to variants of diabetes disease itself. What I did find was that as the use of artificial sweetners increased, so did the incidents of retinal deterioration. The curves when plotted on a graph were almost identical. This means as diabetics steered away from sugared soda, they became more and more blind. Bret"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  09/08/2008: Dora from Augusta, GA writes: "I'm so glad I decided to google artificial sweetners. I am appaled to find out what they turn into in your body. I have been having panic attacks since I started drinking diet soda, I just never saw a conection. I also went to the Dr. last year with what my Dr. thought was an MS episode. I now believe it was from the diet sodas I was consuming. I am not ever touching the stuff again!!!! I've even given the stuff to my toddler on occasion. How could the government allow these products to stay on the market without a warning on the label?"

http://www.phxnews.com:80/fullstory.php?article=11141"

So I stopped using saccharine and the problem cleared right up."

[SIDE EFFECTS]  06/20/2008: Kelley from Toddville, Iowa writes: "In hopes of loosing some weight I started drinking diet pop. Before long I noticed that my hips hurt ALOT. I have been on celebrex for years to help with the hip pain, but when I started drinking diet pop the pain was so intense that I was doubling up on the meds as well as taking tylenal to help with the pain.Going to bed was horrible as it hurt so much. Once I stopped drinking pop all together my hip pain went away. I have stopped taking the celebrex and only need tylenal when I have over taxed myself."

06/08/2008: Susan from Missoula, Montana writes: "Does anyone know which gum or breath mints DO NOT contain Aspartame?"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  04/22/2008: Mike from Davenport, USA writes: "I know all too well the side affects of aspartame. I was addicted to diet coke to the tune of 7-8 cans and sometimes bottles for nearly 10 years. Many of the things on the hit list for side affects I experienced. Headaches, migraines, joint pain in my knees, jitteryness and extreme fatigue. I tried so many times to quit on my own but the withdrawal symptoms were just too much. I broke that habit by accident in 5 days and did it without any withdrawal symptoms at all and I couldn't feel healthier. I have not had one headache, not one migraine, no joint pain, nothing. Read my whole story to find out how I broke this addiction. Thanks,Mike www.dietdrinkaddiction.com"

[SIDE EFFECTS]  04/20/2008: Jennie from Fort Wayne, IN writes: "I had a recurring dry cough for over fifteen years until I read that it may be a side effect of artificial sweeteners. I cut way back on Diet Coke (1-2 small glasses per week) and within a couple weeks it disappeared."

I'm convinced."