Aspartame?

The guests on coast to coast last night were talking about Aspartame-- which happens to be a chemical found in processed foods, diet soda, sugars of all sorts, and in candies.

For those of you who don't know much about aspartame or didn't listen to last night's show... here's the wikipedia article of aspartame

en.wikipedia.org...

This website has the effects listed of Asparteme usage

www.holisticmed.com...

Toxicity Effects of Aspartame Use
Selection of adverse effects from short-term and/or long-Term use
Note: It often takes at least sixty days without *any* aspartame or nutrasweet to see a significant improvement. Improvement in health is also often accompanied by weight loss. Check all labels very carefully (including vitamins and pharmaceuticals). Look for the word "aspartame" on the label and avoid it. (Also, it is a good idea to avoid "acesulfame-k" or "sunette.") Finally, avoid getting nutrition information from junk food industry PR organizations such as IFIC or organizations that accept large sums of money from the junk and chemical food industry such as the American Dietetic Association.

* seizures and convulsions
* dizziness
* tremors
* migraines and severe headaches (Trigger or Cause From Chronic Intake)
* memory loss (common toxicity effects)
* slurring of speech
* confusion
* numbness or tingling of extremities
* chronic fatigue
* depression
* insomnia
* irritability
* panic attacks (common aspartame toxicity reaction)
* marked personality changes
* phobias
* rapid heart beat, tachycardia (another frequent reaction)
* asthma
* chest pains
* hypertension (high blood pressure)
* nausea or vomitting
* diarrhea
* abdominal pain
* swallowing pain
* itching
* hives / urticaria
* other allergic reactions
* blood sugar control problems (e.g., hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia)
* menstrual cramps and other menstraul problems or changes
* impotency and sexual problems
* food cravings
* weight gain
* hair loss / baldness or thinning of hair
* burning urination & other urination problems
* excessive thirst or excessive hunger
* bloating, edema (fluid retention)
* infection susceptibility
* joint pain
* brain cancer (Pre-approval studies in animals)
* death

Aspartame Disease Mimmicks Symptoms or Worsens the Following Diseases

* fibromyalgia
* arthritis
* multiple sclerosis (MS)
* parkinson's disease
* lupus
* multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS)
* diabetes and diabetic Complications
* epilepsy
* alzheimer's disease
* birth defects
* chronic fatigue syndrome
* lymphoma
* lyme disease
* attention deficit disorder (ADD and ADHD)
* panic disorder
* depression and other psychological disorders

Also... the FDA might even protect companies that put aspartame in their products

www.mpwhi.com...

Coke and Pepsi use it in their products...

www.mpwhi.com...

What are your thoughts? Why are they allowing this in food and in our drink supply?

Why isn't the FDA doing anything?

[edit on 3-9-2008 by Frankidealist35]

Originally posted by Frankidealist35
Why isn't the FDA doing anything?

actually, the FDA was the problem here.

www.newswithviews.com...

Since its discovery in 1965, controversy has raged over the health risks associated with the sugar substitute. From laboratory testing of the chemical on rats, researchers have discovered that the drug induces brain tumors. On Sept 30, 1980 the Board of Inquiry of the FDA concurred and denied the petition for approval.

In 1981, the newly appointed FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, ignored the negative ruling and approved aspartame for dry goods. As recorded in the Congressional Record of 1985, then CEO of Searle Laboratories Donald Rumsfeld said that he would "call in his markers" to get aspartame approved. Rumsfeld was on President Reagan's transition team and a day after taking office appointed Hayes. No FDA Commissioner in the previous sixteen years had allowed aspartame on the market.

and another article from rense:

/6hm6sf

In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in NutraSweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors."

The FDA had actually banned aspartame based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved.

On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision.

It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then personally broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.

It's easy to make, much "sweeter" than sugar, and profits are much higher than they could ever be with sugar. In contrast, sugar is harder to transport, requires more manual labor, and is actually the cause of some negative political attention in regards to sugar plantations and etc.

This basically shows how the FDA is just another regulation company that makes sure rich people are the only ones that get to play the game.

Stevia is a natural sweetener, but the FDA refuses to acknowledge it, so any products that contain it cannot say "sweetened with stevia," they have to refer to stevia only as a "dietary supplement," although it's a sweetener. Even sweeter than aspartame, without the negative affects.

Aspartame is a chemical that tends to give me headaches, and never tasted quite right o me anyways.

edit: let me add, to conclude this thought.. since sugar would cost someone way too much to create their own (compared to buying a pound of already processed sugar at the store), and aspartame is made in a lab... both of these things have become big business. In fact, before the industrial revolution, today's wars over oil, were about war over sugar.

If stevia was acknowledged as a legitimate sweetener, not only would it be cheaper (anyone can grow stevia, and it only takes a few leaves to sweeten an entire gallon of tea) - but stevia is also non-caloric, and studies have implied it actually promotes dental health. It would put aspartame out of business. But then again, aspartame was originally out of business, unil Rummy stepped in.

Basically the exact opposite of sugar, and without the scary neurological damage hat has been linked to aspartame.

[edit on 3-9-2008 by scientist]

aspartame changes into toxic substances like methanol and formic acid in our system. methanol can result in blindness. so isn't it a healthy sweetener?

[edit: because i wanted not to leave this reply as two liner]

well, i think the aspartame is merely one method to get rid of those fat people who cannot control themselves eating to much and too sweet stuff. this is meant to no offense, and its not my plan, the guy next to me invented it at our internation convention

[edit on 3-9-2008 by Geemor]

another side effect is ... weight gain.

don't get me started on Flouride.

drink your own rain water, grow your own vegies, put up a chook shed, enjoy taking long walks and go tell someone close you love them,if you get all that done become a volunteer and give a worthy charity a donation.

so many ways to get the population down to 500 million ... by when ? ( any latest dates ? )

just my 2 cents worth plus GST less P.A.Y.E.

.

[edit on 3/9/08 by ROO-meh]

I try to avoid as much processed foods and certainly any 'Low-Fat' 'Sugar Free' as a little knowledge and commonsense tell that they are moving away from natural origins? I think the Aspartame and indeed the refining of foods is done on two levels, neither of which are for our health benefits. The first level is big company’s being allowed to introduce ANY substance into the ingredients to supplant a natural one to save money in the production of that product. This always to my mind will change the taste to a more inferior one and build in all sorts of health problems as the body tries to break these ingredients down and will have negative effects that manifest in everyone to a greater or lesser extent. Some may develop a dependency or an actual ailment say, a blood-sugar imbalance? Can you think of a food say a childhood sweet may be that is still around 20-30yrs later and whilst it looks the same it tastes nothing like it used to e.g. A Mars bar here in the UK is one I can think of. It apparently has the same ingredients but at a low level it most certainly has virtually none of the ingredients that it would have had in the 70’s?

The second level and this is where Aspartame come in, is where an ingredient clearly has proven (even the fraudulent world of FSA and Health Agencies) serious side-effects that could be potentially fatal over the long term. Yet, they are approved worldwide. Why? Because the effects are required to carry out another form of Health control and make a significant amount of sheeple more ill and dependant on these ‘cheap’ foods that, I believe, triggers cancers and suppressed sheeple!

If any of you have ANY doubts as to what aspartame is, I have this nice easy experiment for you to perform.

Find where there are some ants. Lay out some "Equal" (aspartame), where the ants are. Wet the aspartame down. Record how quickly the ants die. Then, try the same experiment with an insecticide. Record which one kills the ants quicker.

The fact that Aspartame has been on the market for so long is absolute mystery to me... Even after proving how dangerous this product is.. Its time to ban that #!!! And put those freaking moneymakers in jail!!!

skekke!

Originally posted by neformore

I'm convined I read a major study several years back that considered aspartame habit forming and also to be a carcinogen, although I've never been able to find the document since.

ya mean this one: Ramazzini Institute?

In Japan Diet Coke contains "Stevia", which is a natural alternative to aspartame. Stevia is 300x sweeter than sugar and 0 calories.

Read about it here:
www.stevia.net...

I gave up drinking coke 5 years ago when I read an article about aspartame in a magazine. I looked it up more and was shocked when I discovered the effects it could have on people. I decided to cut it out of my diet and never touched Coca-Cola again. It was tough, I loved it, I may have been addicted to the stuff but I feel so much better without it now. I took up drinking green tea instead. I have to keep watching for aspartame on labels. I noticed it was in chewing gum as well which I had been hitherto unaware of.

I avoid aspartame at all costs too.
Years ago (before I new better) I drank a can of diet pepsi, for a long time after my mouth felt dry with a metallic taste, it was then that I knew this was not right. The last artficial sweetened product I knowingly consumed.

Well now I know better.

What bugs me is that now I've become an ingredient reader, I read lots of ingredients to determine what I should not eat, it gets harder and harder to avoid artificial sweeteners, and to think that some of these products are touted as being good for your health! Cripes man! Even peanuts and nacho chips contain sucralose, is it really necessary?

Other things I try to avoid:

Soy protein - Avoid this stuff and be a better man for it. (contains estrogen mimickers)

Cottonseed oil - Can make you infertile, although the amount needed, I am not sure of, cottonseeds contain gossypol:
Gossypol

I tell ya, it's getting harder to find good food that is convenient, GASP, is like you got to make your own supper from stuff you know aren't going to cause problems.