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Thursday, May 15, 2008

A scary thought

I have recently been hearing by word of mouth that artificial sweeteners are bad for us. I have read recently that they can cause cancer and obesity and a slew of other horrible things. Initially I was interested in it, as I have struggled to lose weight since I have gotten married and had children. I recently asked my doctor what I could do about decreasing my hunger. I honestly feel like I am always hungry even when I am miserably full, (which I shouldn't be anyways, this I realize) I have full on hunger pains and am miserable. His response was for me to drink more water. This is not going to work for me, I consume tons of water a day. Then one of my best friends Heather mentioned to me that she heard diet soda actually increased you hunger. So I did a little research on it. Now soda in general is not good for us, as I think we all know, however aspartame which is widely used in diet sodas of all types is horrible for us. It has been linked to everything you can think of, multiple types of cancers, depression, anxiety disorders, obesity, problems with diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, attention deficit disorders and multiple other problems. On the internet just today here are a list of things I found to be associated with Aspartame


the initiation or aggravation of diabetes mellitus, hypoglycemia, convulsions, headache, depression, other psychiatric states, hyperthyroidism, hypertension and arthritis; the simulation of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and lupus erythematosus; increasing aspartame addiction (12); an apparent causative role in brain tumors (10); a neurologic condition in overweight young women known as pseudotumor cerebri; and even the carpal tunnel syndrome (11).

Damage to the retina or optic nerves is largely due to methyl alcohol exposure. Unlike most animals, humans cannot efficiently metabolize it.
High concentrations of phenylalanine and aspartic acid occur in the brain after aspartame intake, unlike the modest levels of amino acids following conventional protein consumption.

Aspartame alters the function of major amino acid-derived neurotransmitters, especially in obese persons and after carbohydrate intake.
Phenylalanine stimulates the release of insulin and growth hormone.
The ambiguous signals to the satiety center following aspartame intake may result either in increased food consumption or severe anorexia.

Large amounts of the radioactive-carbon label from oral aspartame intake have been detected in DNA.

It causes headaches, dizziness, confusion, memory loss, severe drowsiness and slepiness, severe depression, extreme irratability, severe anxiety attacks, marked personality changes, severe insomnia, severe aggravation of phobias, shortness of breath, hypertension...high blood pressure which i have, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, pain on swallowing, severe itching without a rash, severe lip and mouth reactions, hives, severe genital itching, rash or both, lubus erythematosus-type eruption, other rashes, marked thinning or loss of hair, aggravation of respiratory allergies, dual sensitivity to msg, paradoxic marked weight gain, marked weight loss, sever joint pains, fibromyalgia, leg and hand cramps, problems with diabetes, loss of control of bladder function, precipitation of clinical diabetes, aggravation or simulation of diabetic complications, hypoglycemia, menstrual changes, severe reduction or cessastion of periods, hyperthyroidism, frequent urination, intense thirst, bload, fluid retention and swelling, kidney stones
the age of onset of reactions ranged from infancy to 92 years most were in their 20s to 50s. Many reactors consumed prodigious amounts of aspartame, especially during hot weather. Conversely, some experienced convulsions, headache, or other severe symptoms after exposure to small amounts (e.g., chewing aspartame gum; placing an aspartame strip on the tongue; babies while breast-feeding as the mother drank an aspartame beverage). Nearly two-thirds of aspartame reactors experienced symptomatic improvement within two days after avoiding aspartame. With continued abstinence, their complaints generally disappeared.

Aspartame is likely to be found in any sweetener you put in your drink. Anything labeled 'diet' or 'sugar free', any gum or breath freshener, all will have aspartame as a sweetener. When the temperature of aspartame exceeds 30 degrees centigrade (86 F), which the body acomplishes quite quickly once it is ingested, the wood alcohol in it converts to formaldahyde (a poison used to preserve body parts) and then to formic acid which is even more toxic. Aspartame may cause miscarriage because it makes the body have an immune reaction to it, which can destroy the fetus.

Let me tell you the last part of this brought immediate tears to my eyes, as I have suffered from 5 miscarriages trying to conceive my two children. To think that something as simple as avoiding aspartame could have prevented that loss is in my book unacceptable.

Here are some of the websites I have gotten information from:

http://www.mercola.com/
http://www.medicinenet.com/

These are just my finds and results for Aspartame(Nutra Sweet & Equal) by the way, I have found harmful effects of saccharin(Sweet n low) as well as sucralose(Splenda). Some of which are similar to the effects of Aspartame.

All of this was enough for me to completely empty my kitchen and bathroom(some cold medicines and vitamins(even Flinstones) contain aspartame) of any and everything that contained aspartame or any artificial sweeteners.