http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/aspartame3.rss http://www.earthclinic.com/template_img/logo.jpg http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/aspartame3.rss The side effects of artificial sweeteners like aspartame and Splenda: get the truth! Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:40:02 EST en-us http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_26142 /CURES/aspartame3.rss1 Sat, 02 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT Michelle from Northport, New York writes: "FOR YEARS I HAVE BEEN DRINKING MUSCLE MILK , SUCROLOSE AND ACESUFLAME POTASSIUM IN IT. LISTERENE WHITENING PRE RINSE HAS SUCRALOSE IN IT , COFFEE MATE HAS SUCRALOSE IN IT ECT ECT . I WISH THEY WOULD GET RID OF THOSE TOXINS I WISH THERE WAS SOME JUSTICE I COULD GET OUT OF THIS I HAVE TO REBUILD MY HEALTH ALL OVER AGAIN." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_25810 /CURES/aspartame3.rss2 Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_24996 /CURES/aspartame3.rss3 Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] Laurie from Pt. Charlotte, Florida writes: "ALLERGY ALERT! SUCRALOSE 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. " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_23038 /CURES/aspartame3.rss4 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST Gillian from Portland, OR, USA writes: "Aspartame/Splenda: 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 " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_21896 /CURES/aspartame3.rss5 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST 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" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_21900 /CURES/aspartame3.rss6 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST [SIDE EFFECTS] 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!!!" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_21521 /CURES/aspartame3.rss7 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST 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." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_21509 /CURES/aspartame3.rss8 Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST 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!!!" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_21302 /CURES/aspartame3.rss9 Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST [SIDE EFFECTS] 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." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_20881 /CURES/aspartame3.rss10 Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST [SIDE EFFECTS] 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. " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_20359 /CURES/aspartame3.rss11 Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST [SIDE EFFECTS] 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 :)" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_18758 /CURES/aspartame3.rss12 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST [SIDE EFFECTS] Terry from PGH, PA writes: "diet soda 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 " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_19044 /CURES/aspartame3.rss13 Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST Christine from writes: "This afternoon, I visited your site and noted a comment by a reader who said that Ester C made him enraged. It's not the Vitamin C, it's the aspartic acid in the Ester C product. I verified this with an aspartame activist. Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin, a poison that kills brain cells. Yep, it's the same stuff as in aspartame. All of the studies done on Vitamin C were done with sodium ascorbate, which is a type of chemically buffered Vitamin C. It's best to take it as a powder in water, because you can get gastritis if you take too many pills. Hope that helps, Christine http://www.aspartame.ca/page_a7.html "Aspartic acid is an amino acid. Well, amino acids are good for us, right? Don't they keep us healthy ? The answer is yes, amino acids are necessary for good health, EXCEPT when you separate the individual amino acid from its protein chain, and use it as an "isolate" or by itself. (S.Sawada, et al '98) In aspartame, these become synergistic toxins; one component playing off the other in a dangerous, systemic downward spiral. This eventually gives way to clinical manifestations; "hard-to-diagnose" health complications, and a myriad of medical symptoms and illnesses, which can eventually cause irreversible medical complications and death. 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) " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_18241 /CURES/aspartame3.rss14 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=BMR_17255 /CURES/aspartame3.rss15 Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT Betty from Duluth, Georgia writes: "I'm answering the information on aspartame. It says Betty Martini does not exist. Yes, I do exist and have my own web site, www.mpwhi.com I'm the founder of Mission Possible World Health International. We are a global volunteer force in 39 nations warning about aspartame. I work with the world experts. An email I wrote after lecturing for the World Environmental Conference, was signed by Nancy Markle, and made world news. Front groups tried to say it was a hoax, but its not. Since lecturing H. J. Roerts, M.D. declared aspartame disease a world epidemic and wrote a medical text on it, and in fact, dedicated it to me. Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, www.sunsentpress.com The entire story of the World Environmental Conference is on www.dorway.com/nomarkle.html including my invitation to speak. Finally a movie was made to investigate called Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World. So please change your web site. Anyone who wants to know about aspartame can contact me and we have an aspartame information list on www.mpwhi.com scroll down to banners. Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder Mission Possible Intl 9270 River Club Parkway Duluth, Georgia 30097 770 242-2599 www.mpwhi.com, www.dorway.com and www.wnho.net Aspatame Toxicity Center, www.holisticmed.com/aspartame P.S. At the time this happened NutraSweet was owned by Monsanto. Try as they did to get people to think it was a hoax so many people walked out of wheelchairs, regained their sight, lost their fibromyalgia, etc. that they couldn't put out the fire and sold the NutraSweet Company. One of those people who walked out of her wheelchair was Cori Brackett, co-founder of Sound and Fury Productions who went on to make the film Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World. The world experts are in it as well as victims and myself." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_16913 /CURES/aspartame3.rss16 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_16537 /CURES/aspartame3.rss17 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_16283 /CURES/aspartame3.rss18 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] Joyce from Joelton, Tn writes: "I urge you all to read this carefully and pass on to all your loved ones - the time is past due with Alzheimers and autism everywhere. http://www.phxnews.com:80/fullstory.php?article=11141 " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_14441 /CURES/aspartame3.rss19 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] Susan from Phoenix, AZ writes: "During the early 80's I had an eating disorder. It was not to the point where I would throw up however I could eat a dozen donuts and then go out for pizza. It was like there was no shut off. Then I would fast and run and work out to undo the damage. One Thanksgiving I ran 11 miles in the pouring rain after dinner then went back in and ate half a pie. I attended a health fair and there was a speaker there-a PHD specializing in anorexia and bulemia. I told her what was going on and she asked how much diet soda I drank a day. It was considerable amount. I drank it instead of eating after a binge. She told me to not use sacharrin again and the problem would go away. It affected the appetite she said. So I stopped using saccharine and the problem cleared right up. " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_14235 /CURES/aspartame3.rss20 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_13847 /CURES/aspartame3.rss21 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT Susan from Missoula, Montana writes: "Does anyone know which gum or breath mints DO NOT contain Aspartame?" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_12434 /CURES/aspartame3.rss22 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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" http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_12395 /CURES/aspartame3.rss23 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] 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." http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_12396 /CURES/aspartame3.rss24 Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] Patrick from Caldwell, NJ writes: "I'm a forty year old man who feels like he's in his late fifties. For a long time I just figured it was from being overweight and I still am sure that this contributes. But the sheer level of aches and pains for someone so young seemed extraordinary. Every joint hurts constantly, especially on my left side (I'm a lefty so it figures). Being overweight, there were two things I did to keep from becoming more so. First, I never liked sweet sodas, so started drinking lemon/lime seltzer. Second, I do like sweet coffee so used a single packet of aspartame in each cup I drink. One weekend I ran out of seltzer, and being too lazy to get more I just started drinking up my wife's diet orange sodas. By the following Tuesday my aches and pains had worsened so much I considered going to the doctor. Visions of wheelchairs and leukemia were swimming in my head. I put two and two together and went cold turkey as far as artificial sweeteners go, and about three days later and ever since I have been 100% pain free. I'm convinced. " http://www.earthclinic.com/Redirect.php?pageLink=/CURES/aspartame.html&name=RF_12175 /CURES/aspartame3.rss25 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT [SIDE EFFECTS] Mike H from Winter Springs, FL writes: "Aspartame: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You If a product is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and composed of natural ingredients, would you assume it is safe to consume? If the same product is an artificial sweetener, would you assume it helps control your weight? Millions of people use aspartame, the artificial sweetener known as NutraSweet™, with these assumptions in mind. Aspartame can be found in thousands of products such as: * instant breakfasts * breath mints * cereals * sugar-free chewing gum * cocoa mixes * coffee beverages * frozen desserts * gelatin desserts * juice beverages * laxatives * multivitamins * milk drinks \' * pharmaceuticals and supplements, including over-the-counter medicines * shake mixes * soft drinks * tabletop sweeteners * tea beverages * instant teas and coffees * topping mixes * wine coolers * yogurt However, aspartame\'s tainted history of approval and potentially toxic ingredients cast serious doubt on the safety of this sugar substitute. Furthermore, aspartame may actually increase your appetite (Farber 52). While the FDA approval may signal the green light for safe consumption, 85 percent of all complaints registered with the FDA are for adverse reactions to aspartame, including five reported deaths. A closer look at the unscientific studies, suspicious approval methods, and its harmful ingredients, reveal the hidden dangers of this artificial sweetener. In reality, aspartame poses a public health threat. Ailments Resulting From Aspartame The components of aspartame can lead to a wide variety of ailments. Some of these problems occur gradually while others are immediate, acute reactions. A few of the many disorders associated with aspartame include the following: * Birth Defects A study funded by Monsanto to study possible birth defects caused by consuming aspartame was cut off after preliminary data showed damaging information about aspartame. Additionally, in the book, While Waiting: A Prenatal Guidebook, it is stated that aspartame is suspected of causing brain damage in sensitive individuals. A fetus may be at risk for these effects. Some researchers have suggested that high doses of aspartame may be associated with problems ranging from dizziness and subtle brain changes to mental retardation. * Cancer (Brain Cancer) In 1981, an FDA statistician stated that the brain tumor data on aspartame was so \"worrisome\" that he could not recommend approval of NutraSweet.(14) In a two-year study conducted by the manufacturer of aspartame, twelve of 320 rats fed a normal diet and aspartame developed brain tumors while none of the control rats developed tumors, and five of the twelve tumors were in rats given a low dose of aspartame.(15) The approval of aspartame was a violation of the Delaney Amendment, which was supposed to prevent cancer-causing substances such as methanol (formaldehye) and DKP from entering our food supply. A late FDA toxicologist testified before the U.S. Congress that aspartame was capable of producing brain tumors. This made it illegal for the FDA to set an allowable daily intake at any level. He stated in his testimony that Searle\'s studies were \"to a large extent unreliable\" and that \"at least one of those studies has established beyond any reasonable doubt that aspartame is capable of inducing brain tumors in experimental animals ... \" He concluded his testimony by asking, \"What is the reason for the apparent refusal by the FDA to invoke for this food additive the so-called Delaney Amendment to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act? ... And if the FDA itself elects to violate the law, who is left to protect the health of the public?\"(16) In the mid-1970s it was discovered that the manufacturer of aspartame falsified studies in several ways. One of the techniques used was to cut tumors out of test animals and put them back in the study. Another technique used to falsify the studies was to list animals that had actually died as surviving the study. Thus, the data on brain tumors was likely worse than discussed above. In addition, a former employee of the manufacturer of aspartame told the FDA on July 13, 1977 that the particles of DKP were so large that the rats could discriminate between the DKP and their normal diet.(12) * Diabetes The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is actually recommending this chemical poison to persons with diabetes, but according to research conducted by a diabetes specialist, aspartame: 1) Leads to the precipitation of clinical diabetes. 2) Causes poorer diabetic control in diabetics on insulin or oral drugs. 3) Leads to the aggravation of diabetic complications such as retinopathy, cataracts, neuropathy and gastroparesis. 4) Causes convulsions. In a statement concerning the use of products containing aspartame by persons with diabetes and hypoglycemia, the researchers says: \"Unfortunately, many patients in my practice, and others seen in consultation, developed serious metabolic, neurologic and other complications that could be specifically attributed to using aspartame products. This was evidenced by the loss of diabetic control, the intensification of hypoglycemia, the occurrence of presumed \'insulin reactions\' (including convulsions) that proved to be aspartame reactions, and the precipitation, aggravation or simulation of diabetic complications (especially impaired vision and neuropathy) while using these products ... Dramatic improvement of such features after avoiding aspartame, and the prompt predictable recurrence of these problems when the patient resumed aspartame products, knowingly or inadvertently.\" Another researcher stated that excitotoxins such as those found in aspartame can precipitate diabetes in persons who are genetically susceptible to the disease.(5) * Emotional Disorders In a double blind study of the effects of aspartame on persons with mood disorders, findings showed a large increase in serious symptoms for persons taking aspartame. Since some of the symptoms were so serious, the Institutional Review Board had to stop the study. Three of the participants had said that they had been \"poisoned\" by aspartame. Researchers concluded that \"individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener; its use in this population should be discouraged.\"(18) One researcher stated about aspartame, \"I know it causes seizures. I\'m convinced also that it definitely causes behavioral changes. I\'m very angry that this substance is on the market. I personally question the reliability and validity of any studies funded by the NutraSweet Company.\"(19) Additionally, there are numerous reported cases of low brain serotonin levels, depression and other emotional disorders that have been linked to aspartame and often are relieved by stopping the intake of aspartame. * Epilepsy/Seizures With the large and growing number of seizures caused by aspartame, it is sad to see that the Epilepsy Foundation is promoting the \"safety\" of aspartame. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 80 people who had suffered seizures after ingesting aspartame were surveyed. Community Nutrition Institute concluded the following about the survey: \"These 80 cases meet the FDA\'s own definition of an imminent hazard to the public health, which requires the FDA to expeditiously remove a product from the market.\" Both the Air Force\'s magazine, Flying Safety, and the Navy\'s magazine, Navy Physiology, published articles warning about the many dangers of aspartame including the cumulative delirious effects of methanol and the greater likelihood of birth defects. The articles note that the ingestion of aspartame can make pilots more susceptible to seizures and vertigo. Twenty articles sounding warnings about ingesting aspartame while flying have also appeared in the National Business Aircraft Association Digest (NBAA Digest 1993), Aviation Medical Bulletin (1988), The Aviation Consumer (1988), Canadian General Aviation News (1990), Pacific Flyer (1988), General Aviation News (1989), Aviation Safety Digest (1989), and Plane & Pilot (1990) and a paper warning about aspartame was presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Aerospace Medical Association (Gaffney 1986). A hotline was even set up for pilots suffering from acute reactions to aspartame ingestion. Over 600 pilots have reported symptoms including some who have reported suffering grand mal seizures in the cockpit due to aspartame.(21) Why don\'t we hear about these things? The reason many people do not hear about serious reactions to aspartame is twofold: 1) Lack of awareness by the general population. Aspartame-caused diseases are not reported in the newspapers like plane crashes. This is because these incidents occur one at a time in thousands of different locations across the United States. 2) Most people do not associate their symptoms with the long-term use of aspartame. For the people who have killed a significant percentage of their brain cells and thereby caused a chronic illness, there is no way that they would normally associate such an illness with aspartame consumption. How aspartame was approved is a lesson in how chemical and pharmaceutical companies can manipulate government agencies such as the FDA, \"bribe\" organizations such as the American Dietetic Association, and flood the scientific community with flawed and fraudulent industry-sponsored studies funded by the makers of aspartame. Erik Millstone, a researcher at the Science Policy Research Unit of Sussex University has compiled thousands of pages of evidence, some of which have been obtained using the freedom of information act 23, showing: 1. Laboratory tests were faked and dangers were concealed. 2. Tumors were removed from animals and animals that had died were \"restored to life\" in laboratory records. 3. False and misleading statements were made to the FDA. 4. The two US Attorneys given the task of bringing fraud charges against the aspartame manufacturer took positions with the manufacturer\'s law firm, letting the statute of limitations run out. 5. The Commissioner of the FDA overruled the objections of the FDA\'s own scientific board of inquiry. Shortly after that decision, he took a position with Burson-Marsteller, the firm in charge of public relations for G.D. Searle. A Public Board of Inquiry (PBOI) was conducted in 1980. There were three scientists who reviewed the objections of Olney and Turner to the approval of aspartame. They voted unanimously against aspartame\'s approval. The FDA Commissioner, Dr Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr. then created a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the PBOI findings. After it became clear that the Commission would uphold the PBOI\'s decision by a vote of 3 to 2, another person was added to the Commission, creating a deadlocked vote. This allowed the FDA Commissioner to break the deadlock and approve aspartame for dry goods in 1981. Dr Jacqueline Verrett, the Senior Scientist in an FDA Bureau of Foods review team created in August 1977 to review the Bressler Report (a report that detailed G.D. Searle\'s abuses during the pre-approval testing) said: \"It was pretty obvious that somewhere along the line, the bureau officials were working up to a whitewash.\" In 1987, Verrett testified before the US Senate stating that the experiments conducted by Searle were a \"disaster.\" She stated that her team was instructed not to comment on or be concerned with the overall validity of the studies. She stated that questions about birth defects have not been answered. She continued her testimony by discussing the fact that DKP has been shown to increase uterine polyps and change blood cholesterol and that increasing the temperature of the product leads to an increase in production of DKP.(13) Revolving Doors The FDA and the manufacturers of aspartame have had a revolving door of employment for many years. In addition to the FDA Commissioner and two US Attorneys leaving to take positions with companies connected with G.D. Searle, four other FDA officials connected with the approval of aspartame took positions connected with the NutraSweet industry between 1979 and 1982 including the Deputy FDA Commissioner, the Special Assistant to the FDA Commissioner, the Associate Director of the Bureau of Foods and Toxicology and the Attorney involved with the Public Board of Inquiry.(24) It is important to realize that this type of revolving-door activity has been going on for decades. The Townsend Letter for Doctors (11/92) reported on a study revealing that 37 of 49 top FDA officials who left the FDA took positions with companies they had regulated. They also reported that over 150 FDA officials owned stock in drug companies they were assigned to manage. Many organizations and universities receive large sums of money from companies connected to the NutraSweet Association, a group of companies promoting the use of aspartame. In January 1993, the American Dietetic Association received a US$75,000 grant from the NutraSweet Company. The American Dietetic Association has stated that the NutraSweet Company writes their \"Facts\" sheets.(25) What is the FDA doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Less than nothing. In 1992, the FDA approved aspartame for use in malt beverages, breakfast cereals, and refrigerated puddings and fillings. In 1993 the FDA approved aspartame for use in hard and soft candies, non-alcoholic favored beverages, tea beverages, fruit juices and concentrates, baked goods and baking mixes, and frostings, toppings and fillings for baked goods. In 1991, the FDA banned the importation of stevia. The powder of this leaf has been used for hundreds of years as an alternative sweetener. It is used widely in Japan with no adverse effects. Scientists involved in reviewing stevia have declared it to be safe for human consumption--something that has been well known in many parts of the world where it is not banned. Some people believe that stevia was banned to keep the product from taking hold in the United States and cutting into sales of aspartame.(26) What is the U.S. Congress doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Nothing. What is the U.S. Administration (President) doing to protect the consumer from the dangers of aspartame? Nothing. "