Sweet Death: Aspartame Poisoning and You

Greetings, ATS!

I stumbled across this meme the other day and it shocked me.



Now, I knew aspartame wasn’t healthy for you…but I never realized it is a neurotoxin. I didn’t know one could suffer systemic poisoning from long term use. I’d always assumed, since the FDA approved its use, that aspartame must be safe. After all, the FDA has only our best interests at heart, right?

Well, this meme got me thinking. Since I’m a regular diet-cola drinker (I know, shame shame shame), I decided to look further into aspartame poisoning. I wanted to know…is aspartame a neurotoxin? Can one suffer systemic poisoning? What are the side effects of aspartame, and what are the long term repercussions of ingesting it?

So I started digging. In my research, I came across some startling information, and I wanted to share it with you.

There are at least 92 known health side effects from aspartame. 92! Here is a link that shows all 92 side effects, as reported by the FDA.
source

Now let’s take a closer look at the symptoms of aspartame poisoning.

“Aspartame is a sweetener that is much sweeter than sugar but has fewer calories. Aspartame can be found in diet sodas, coffee and yogurt. While aspartame products, such as NutraSweet and Equal, may appear to be a healthier alternative to sugar, there are a lot of side effects and the potential for poisoning. The symptoms of aspartame poisoning can impact your psychological and physiological functioning and may even lead to death.

Psychological

Aspartame poisoning can cause depression, aggression, anxiety, irritability, phobias, severe depression and personality changes. Other psychological symptoms may include memory loss and mood disturbances.

Neurological

With aspartame poisoning impacting your brain's normal functioning, you may experience symptoms that impair your motor skills and your most very basic level of functioning. Among these symptoms are dizziness, numbness in the limbs, severe tremors, facial pain, seizures, headaches or migraines, confusion, fatigue, slurred speech and hyperactivity.

Physical

Aspartame poisoning may cause nausea, vertigo, skin lesions, ringing in the ears, loss of taste, muscular and joint pain, irregular menstrual cycle, heart attack symptoms and menstrual cramps. Physically you may also experience diarrhea, abdominal pain, painful swallowing, asthma-like symptoms, thinning hair, hair loss, burning during urination, excessive thirst, fluid retention, high blood pressure, allergic reactions in the mouth, weight gain or loss, leg swelling and bloating.

Critical

Among the most critical of all the symptoms are peptic ulcers, brain damage, suicidal thoughts, aspartame addiction and birth defects, which can lead to mental retardation.”

source


Now, lets switch gears for a moment and look at the symptoms of depression, shall we?


According to the National Institute of Mental Health, symptoms of depression may include the following:

Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions

Fatigue and decreased energy

Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness

Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism

Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping

Irritability, restlessness

Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex

Overeating or appetite loss

Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment

Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings

Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts

Notice anything similar between the two lists? I do…and I wonder. Could depression actually be a misdiagnosis of aspartame poisoning?

This is of great interest to me, since I’ve battled with depression for almost twenty years now. However, I’m beginning to question that diagnosis. What if, all this time, my symptoms weren’t of depression, but aspartame poisoning? Why did my doctors NEVER ask if I ate products with aspartame? Was it ignorance, or deliberate?

So yesterday I visited my psychiatrist. I showed her the list of FDA recognized symptoms and asked if my depression and anxiety might be caused by aspartame poisoning. After much hemming and hawing, she agreed that there MIGHT be a connection.

ATS, I’m livid. I’ve lived the past twenty years on multiple medications, battled depression and anxiety that entire time…and just maybe the cause wasn’t psychological at all but due to what I eat and drink?

So, now that I know how dangerous aspartame can be, I’ve decided to cut it out of my life completely. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. It seems that I may be addicted to aspartame. Yes, addicted

There are two components to any addiction: psychological and physiological. According to Dr. Betty Martini, aspartame is an addictive, exitoneurotic, carcinogenic, genetically engineered drug and adjuvant that damages the mitochondria.

Moreover, Dr. Janet Hall, another famous advocate against aspartame, shares on her website that all artificial sweeteners create an artificial need for more sweetness. She goes on to add that forced sweetness, being a class of altered food, is a trap that cause people to become addicted to sweeter tasting food with no nutritional value.

Additionally, recent studies have shown that aspartame is addictive because it affects the absorption of dopamine in the brain.

“

So, if a person is addicted to aspartame, will that person suffer withdrawal symptoms? Sad to say….yes. These symptoms will differ from person to person and depend upon the severity of the addiction.

After wading through the research, I’ve decided to eliminate aspartame completely from my diet. I don’t plan to do this all at once, however. I believe a gradual elimination will be better for me than to quit cold turkey. But that’s me.

So, once you’ve eliminated aspartame from your diet, is there any way to detoxify your body? Apparently there is.

The Healthy Way Diet

“Step 1 Eliminate artificial sweeteners and other potential toxins from your diet. Don't drink soda, alcohol or coffee, and don't eat processed foods, refined sugar or saturated fats. Read the labels on everything you consume, and avoid a product if you can't pronounce the names of all of the ingredients.

Step 2 Omit potential allergens from your meals. Don't eat wheat or dairy during your detox. Choose foods that are gluten- and lactose-free.

Step 3 Reduce the amount of meat you eat to one serving per day of lean chicken, turkey or fish. Avoid red meats. Replace meat and dairy with tofu or beans for protein.

Step 4 Use fruits and vegetables as the bulk of your meals. Eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and kale, which are filling and satisfying.

Step 5 Replace processed grains with whole grains. Eat brown rice, whole oats, quinoa and spelt instead of white rice and wheat.

Step 6 Add healthy fats to your diet to replace the calories you are omitting. Include avocado, raw nuts and seeds, olive oil and flax oil in your meals and snacks.

Step 7 Drink at least 8 cups of water per day to flush toxins out of your system. Squeeze lemon juice into your water for flavor, or drink caffeine-free herbal tea.

Step 8 Continue this detox for three to 10 days. Add other foods back into your diet one at a time, and take note of how you feel after eating each one. Reincorporate the foods that don't have any negative effects on you into your daily diet.

detox link


Here’s a link to a quick quiz you can take to see if your body is toxic. I scored very, very high on the toxicity chart.

Well, ATS…there you have it. I’m actually very excited about eliminating aspartame from my diet and seeing if it helps with my depression and anxiety. I would love to be free from that hell. So we’ll see how it goes. I’ll update my progress on this thread just in case anyone wants to follow along.

there has been a few posts about this already, but nice work. I'm diabetic, so I drink 3 to 4 cans of diet 7-up a day. and in the morning I have splenda in my cups of coffee. talked to the doc about this, but, he said the use of regular sugar would be far worse than the artificial. it's called a "hobson's choice", but I do believe splenda is chemically different, so it's not guite in the same category as the aspartame sweetners.....hey...you pick your poisons, i'm 60, and also a smoker...look at this way....i'm not going to be using up too much social security or medicare.

Good for you!

I'm always surprised how many people dont make a connection between one's diet, one's mood and one's physical well-being. It is distressing to find that many doctors and other professionals in the medical industry are so easily inclined to dismiss such a connection that is readily agreed on by most dietitians. I suggest that your next move would be to eliminate High Fructose Corn Syrup, hydrogenated oils and MSG from your diet - you will be surprised how much better you feel!

xox and all the best!

I've also read that aspartame is an excitotoxin as well. It's too early and I'm not prepared with sources.
2nd

ANYTHING at high amount is poisonous to the body, including water.

Aspartame is one the highly tested, researched(pre and post consumption) chemical in the world for human use since its invention. But most of the conspiracy or the controversy is not backed up with proof.

Is Aspartame bad? maybe, we don't know yet. Just like how Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen might chop years off your life.

I stopped using it years ago, just to leave extra chemical out of my body. Not because of theories. I will still drink if i have no choice at a given situation.

Good Post, OP.

Though, I have been on this anti-aspartame band wagon for many, many years. The stuff is pure poison.

I am a diabetic. I avoid this poison as much as possible by looking for products with Splenda (sucralose), Acesulfame-K, and, Stevia.

Aspartame is everywhere. Anything that says "lite" on the label, usually contains nutra-kill, as I call it.

Yogert, Chewing gum, popsicles, etc...all poising us and our children.

The science is clear... regardless of anything else, aspartame does break down into formaldehyde in the body -- wood alcohol. Even if you ignore all of the other effects listed, this very thing is poisoning us.

What you will notice, however, is that many food companies are now switching to Splenda. Finally.

I would recommend looking into a brown-rice fast and/or a juice fast. As you fast your body will heal and detox.

Good luck!

reply to post by phantomjack


Sucralose for Aspartame?

You are subbing in Chlorine for Methyl Ester.

I don't doubt Sucralose will get some bad rep in the future, its petty new compared to aspartame.

It seems safe now because it has not been attacked yet or rather been in the consumer list to long.

Both are in the grey zone as a "safe" alternative to sugar.

reply to post by BlueMule


The thirty day juicing will cure a lot of problems. The best detox ever, and reboots the natural chemical balances in your body. I felt like a new person.

Ok 1st off lets look at the facts

High level consumers, both adults and children, are unlikely to exceed the ADI of 40 mg/kg bw for aspartame. Special groups such as diabetics that are likely to be high consumers of foods containing aspartame are also well below the ADI. Therefore, from the available data it appears that no group is likely to exceed the ADI for aspartame on a regular basis.
In other words for any adverse reaction to aspartame would involve an intake greatly exceeding the recommended allowance. Aspartame consumption ranges from 0 to 3400 mg per day (about 19 cans of soda at the high end). Since the ADI is 40mg/kg an average man weighing 80kgs can consume 40mg * 80kgs which is 3200mg of aspartame. So in order to have any adverse affects from aspartame you would have to consume a lot more than 3200mg which most people do not. To put this into perspective you would have to drink way more than 20 diet cans of soda everyday to have any affect from aspartame.

However I will concede that Aspartame can be dangerous for the simple reason of its breakdown into phenylalanine. As I understand it the lack of other amino acids means that a lot more phenylalanine can enter the brain and excessive phenylalanine in the brain can lead to complications but you do need to drink a lot of diet sodas everyday for that to happen. They are people out there who do consume a large amount of diet sodas and they are the ones at risk. However for most people as long as you limit the intake of Aspartame the risks are low though never zero.

Originally posted by luciddream
reply to post by phantomjack

 

Sucralose for Aspartame?

You are subbing in Chlorine for Methyl Ester.

I don't doubt Sucralose will get some bad rep in the future, its petty new compared to aspartame.

It seems safe now because it has not been attacked yet or rather been in the consumer list to long.

Both are in the grey zone as a "safe" alternative to sugar.

Yup. I will take the chlorine over the alcohol any day. And while Splenda is in fact newer, it is not "that new" -- its been around for a while, and there is relatively less risk associated with it.

Believe me, this is for me is a choice between the lesser of two evils.

My mom drank diet coke by the case back in the 80's. She died from multiple myeloma which is a bone cancer. I've always been convinced that it was the diet coke, but no proof, just a suspicion. A few months ago, I read on an official health site (can't remember which one, but it was a legitimate site, not some exaggerated fear mongering site such as Mercola) that the aspartame in diet coke was connected with multiple myeloma. I went back to the website a few days later so I could send it to my brother, and the article had been removed. I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten foot pole.

People shouldn't confuse aspartame with asparagaines. Asparagaines are natural in foods and have a calming effect if eaten in moderation. They are bound to starches. Aspartame is syntheticly made and is spun differently, I think this means it reflects light differently. It can be used to settle a person but is very neuroactive. It is also in many things under many different names. It breaks down to artificial free glutamates in the liver

Good that you are trying to teach others what you have found out OP. People should be aware of this. This chemical can cause migraines in many people also, a warning sign that it is not right for us. A little will not hurt us, our body can take care of detoxing small amounts but over a little is not good.

Good info Smyleegrl

Aspartame is EVIL.
Just like its owner and main benefactor DONALD RUMSFELD.
He tried for YEARS to get it approved by the FDA for consumption until he finally
strong armed them and won.

Talk about a multilevel conspiracy.

Think about it, xylitol is natural has a very low glycemic index
and just as low on calories, except.... Stevia and Xylitol don't kill you
or rot your guts and teeth.

Just the dental conspiracy alone!
Xylitol actually rebuilds enamel. Imagine drinking a Dr.Pepper
and your teeth getting stronger?

They don't want you healthy, just enough to get yr ass to work and home.
Aspartame keeps you numb in the brain and rotting on the inside .
Why because they want you to live to about 67 years old.
Just enough to work and pay in like a good consumer but then
die before you retire and start "consuming".

I hate those F'ers.

God they are evil !

personally i avoid the "D word" products like the plague. if it says something like "diet" or "light" it stays on the shelf. for one thing they tend to taste horrible with a bad aftertaste. i always figured if it tastes that bad it has to be bad for you. but sadly people are conned into eating it due to things like being overweight and/or diabetic. "stop eating something natural like sugar, it's bad for you. here have this wonderful chemical concoction it will help". i honestly have to wonder just how much of our health issues are caused by "chemicals" and messing around (things like pasteurization) manipulating natural things, both within our food supply and within the pharmaceuticals we consume.

Originally posted by BlueMule
I would recommend looking into a brown-rice fast and/or a juice fast. As you fast your body will heal and detox.

what is with this push for "brown rice"? in North America it's something that i always hear the "health nuts" going on about. yet when i go to a country that both grows and eats large amounts of rice, you see mostly "white rice". when asking the people about why they don't eat "brown rice" they give you a funny look as if to say are you crazy or something, and try to explain (english not being the main language) that you have to be careful with the "brown rice" because it can make you sick. something about it going bad or salmonella poisoning type things or something. then to see rice in stores "white rice" comes in many varieties and sizes up to a 50 kilo bag and bulk. yet "brown rice" comes only in small vacumepac bags.

What ever happened to just eating fruit for something sweet. I am stunned that people, particularly women, need to over indulge in sweeteners... Get rid of that sweet tooth and your health will improve dramatically.

articles.mercola.com...

ALL ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS are BAD!!! Try and convince yourself otherwise and watch your health fail.

I don't eat that crap. I rarely get sick. I take no meds. I have pre-diabetes from all the garbage I ingested as my parents did not supervise nor care what I ate. Now I pay the price, at least regarding diabetes.

Stevia is natural. May be safe... better than all the other toxic sweeteners.

Eat a diet of fruits, veggies, nuts, leans, meats, light dairy. You really can't go wrong. You have the power to control your taste buds so don't let them get the best of you.

Ever wonder why so many people are having Thyroid problems?

Why do people microwave food?

What happened to just eating fresh, healthy and natural? and we wonder why cancers are rising even with all this "technology" we have.

Care for yourself. These mega corporations care about profit only.

Golden

I'll just leave this here...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

reply to post by conz1992


I'll post the points from the article.

Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies.

Critical review of all carcinogenicity studies conducted on aspartame found no credible evidence that aspartame is carcinogenic

The data from the extensive investigations into the possibility of neurotoxic effects of aspartame, in general, do not support the hypothesis that aspartame in the human diet will affect nervous system function, learning or behavior. Epidemiological studies on aspartame include several case-control studies and one well-conducted prospective epidemiological study with a large cohort, in which the consumption of aspartame was measured.

The studies provide no evidence to support an association between aspartame and cancer in any tissue. The weight of existing evidence is that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a nonnutritive sweetener.

Thanks for caring enough to post this legal-poison thread. These companies make so much money, laugh all the way to the bank, and dollars to no-donuts they don't let their own poisons pass their lips.

I've got a relative who drinks diet soda all day long, and he's one of the angriest, depressed, lost individuals I've ever met. He won't take one word of advice from me. His last outing: prostrate cancer (the entire prostrate was taken out, and he's still in his mid-50s). He's a red meat addict too, so that accounts for lots of it as well.