Truth about aspartame?
102749
Many studies have been done linking aspertame (an excitotoxin - so names because it excites cells to death) to cancer, nerve damage, headaches and many other health problems.MSG and Hydrolyzed products are excitotoxins as well. It is a controversial subject since the billion dollar industries that market these products have so much riding on them being deemed safe. The FDA says they are fine but I suggest you take your health into your own hands and do some research of your own before deciding. Money can buy anything, even at the cost of public health.\n\n\nhttp://www.dorway.com/blayenn.html...\nhttp://www.msgmyth.com/\nhttp://members.aol.com/budzowski/budzows...\n\n\nA list of problems attributed to excitotoxins: (diet coke/msg etc...)\n1. Severe headache 12. Shortness of breath, chest pains, asthma 23. Slowed speech \n2. Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting 13. Swelling, pain, or numbness of hands, feet, jaw 24. Chronic bronchitis-like symptoms, allergy reactions, dry cough, hoarseness or sore throat \n3. Irregular heart beat or blood pressure, racing heart 14. Pain in joints or bones 25. Heavy, weak feeling in arms and legs \n4. Depression or mood change, bipolar, SAD 15. Flushing or tingling in face, chest, pressure behind eyes 26. Irritable bowel or colitis \n5. Abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, colitis, IBS 16. Gagging reflex or difficulty swallowing 27. Attention deficit disorder, anxiety attacks, rage, panic attacks \n6. Balance problems, dizziness, or seizures, mini-strokes 17. Hyperactivity, behavioral problems 28. Neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, fibromyalgia, MS, Parkinson's \n7. Tenderness in localized areas, neck, back, etc. 18. Chronic post nasal drip 29. Pressure behind eyes or on head, neck, shoulders \n8. Sleep disorders 19. Skin rash, itching, hives 30. ADD, ADHD, Rage Disorder \n9. Blurred vision or difficulty breathing 20. Bloated face, dark circles under strained eyes 31. Asthma \n10. Chronic fatigue or sleepiness 21. Extreme thirst or dry mouth 32. Weight problems, obesity, hypoglycemia \n11. Excessive perspiring or shuddering and chills 22. Difficulty concentrating and poor memory. \n\n\nAlso:\nA book by Robert Blaylock called: Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills.\n\nhttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0929173...
139319
I've been drinking Diet Sodas for the past few years -- started the same time as I started Weight Watchers. Ironically enough, I now drink more diet drinks than I ever drank regular drinks. The caffeine has me in it's claws! :) I think there are studies that prove aspartame (an ingredient in most diet drinks and flavored drinks) can be harmful. I still drink them. I found the weeks I drank them less and focused on water, I felt much better. So, the best bet is probably just to stay away from them as much as possible.\n\nI always used the dieting mantra "Everything in moderation" and I think that definitely applies to diet drinks as well. Good luck with your dieting.
718178
One of the most dangerous chemicals in diet foods is Aspartame (Nutrasweet).  A lot of people are affected by Nutrasweet, yet the manufacturers keep pumping that stuff into everything -- it's almost impossible to find a low-cal yogurt without it!  Sucralose is supposedly safer, but I avoid the stuff anyway.  It's best to just eat natural, healthy foods in reasonable quantities -- fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats.
475206
As  a matter of fact, a woman I recently dated insists that Aspartame was the root of her seizures. Apparently it is in tons and tons of products. She switched to a completely organic diet, and the seizures stopped after time. She is in the process now of getting extensive testing done to find out if the Aspartame was really the underlying CAUSE.\n\nShe did have a history of epilepsy in the family and did have a touch of it herself when she was a teenager and she had soem sort of brain operation which totally stopped them.\n\nIt was only many years later when all of these aspartame products started soming onto the market that she started having seizures again.
1156214
When a client tells me they were doing fine on a low carb diet and suddenly stopped losing weight, the first thing I ask them is 'how much aspertame do use eat?'. Diet sodas, Crystal light, sugar free jello, can all effect weight lose if you use too much.\n\nMy favorite sweetener is Stevia. I make great tasting sweet drinks with it. I like lemon conc., stevia, ice and water mixed to taste or apple cider vinegar instead of lemon for a no carb apple drink. I use unpasteurized apple cider vinegar and Stevia Glycerite (a liquid). Again, the amount of any ingredient used will be by your preference but tablespoon levels of lemon or ACV is a place to start. Stevia is available online or health stores. Cheap for the amount you use per serving which may be a few drops. All natural made from the herb Stevia.
884098
Yes. Anything which contains aspartame is likely to cause cancer.\nIf you need to sweeten something without using sugar, then use stevis, a herb which is far sweeter than sugar.\nYou can boil it in a little water, and then use the sweetened water.\n\nIf you want to eat heaslthily, then eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Any processed foods should be avoided, because they contain artifcial preservatives, flavourings and colourings which are toxic. Anything which comes in a packet or tin is likely to be unhealthy.
1010653
I have a copy of the book mentioned by Jenny K. Although most of th e book reads like an informercial ("if you want to hear more about this, please visit my website...") it does raise some interesting questions on food additives&#92;food addictions.\n\nTo answer your question: IN my personal experience, diet colas, caffeineated or not, will likely lead to a poor food choice. Whether it is the sweetner, insulin reaction theory, or just the simple fact that I am habituated to eat these things in tandem with diet colas, it really doesn;t matter to me, I screw up, that's what counts.
263862
Splenda is an artificial sweetner made from sucralose.\nIt was discovered about 20 years ago and as a product has had about 100 different Pk or safety studies conducted on it.\n\nThe process to manufacture Sucralose does take sucrose, the normal sugar we consume and bind it with a chlorine atom. This makes a chemically stable bond that is only broken apart under some very specific parameters, none of which are normally encountered in everyday use.\n\nTo make it appear as a replacement for sugar, Sucralose is bulked up with Maltodextrin a carbohydrate derived from corn, giving it some calories but making it measure and act more like sugar. This combination is called Splenda Granular.\n\nUsing lab animals, many studies concerning cancer, toxicity, kidney and liver damage have been done. Surprisingly, rats do make excellent models for humans for this type of research, and opinions about lab animal research aside, the chemicals involved in this product have been well researched.\n\nSucrose is treated in a specialized process and some molecules are moved as a chlorine is substituted. In gheneral, we consume a lot of chlorise., Sodium Chloride is one atom of sodium and one atom of chloride bound to make table salt. All srts of presevatives and processes utilize chloride in this fashion.  A small percentage of os sucralose does  break down into small amounts of 1,6-dichlorofructose, a chemical that has not been adequately tested in humans.\n\nIn general, the product should be deemed safe in most people. There are some documented, and MANY UNDOCUMENTED reports of health issues among people. The documented are from peopel with current throid or kidney problems having those problems get worse. The undocumented problems blame anything from eyesight loss, to arthtitis on artificial sweetners. As a scientist, I have to question any report that is not duplicated or one that you cannot rule out other unrelated problems. \n\nI think common sense should apply here. In normal consumption doses this product will behave as expected in nearly all people. Meaning, don't consume 40 cans of Diet cola and eat 20 diet twinkies, etc. Normal consumption will be fine over a lifetime.\n\ni could do a study over 25 yeras that shows the adverse effects of sugar, versus aspartame and sucralose. Bottom line is that all will have some impact. One can cause diabetes and obesity. The others may cause enlarged kidneys or livers (whch goes away if you stop use). In terms of public health and lifestyle, which threats are worse? Eating poorly, consuming fast food and not exercising are far worse than sonsuming diet drinks and foods. \n\nThese products can help eliminate the guilt of empty calories, but you should not reley on them for weightloss without proper diet and exercise.\n\nAs for safety, they are as safe as any processed food product is.  Look at a label of cereal, or cheese slices, or a frozen meal. They all contain some complex molecules that in some are probably very reactive, but in most are just fine.
300966
No, that's not true at all. However, the diet sodas that use the artificial sweetener Aspartame in place of sugar have been accused in regards to various health complications, but most are groundless.\n\nAspartame is marketed under several trademark names including NutraSweet, Equal, and CANDEREL.\n\nIt is well-known that aspartame contains the naturally-occurring amino acid phenylalanine, which is a health hazard to the few people born with phenylketonuria, a genetic inability to process phenylalanine.\n\nOther than that, there have been a couple of studies that have reccomended further investigation to the ties between Aspartame and diseases such as brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma, but all claims are still to be confirmed.\n\nThe tests performed to question these said claims involve much higher doses of Aspartame than what one would consume in an ordinary soft drink, however, and therefore people who drink diet pop are at a slim to none risk of any cancerous diseases.
292245
What kind of bottled water tastes best?\n\nCan you tell the difference between Pepsi, Coke, caffeine-free Coke, Diet Coke, caffeine-free Diet Coke, caffeine-free Diet Pepsi, and Diet Pepsi? (maybe not all of these!)\n\nOr maybe can you tell the difference between name brand cookies and store brand?
1184517
There is no proven studies with this regard.. it is harmful though if you drink them all the time (2-4 meals a day!) because it's your kidneys that do most of the filtering of the protein shake products. You are better off eating high protein food than getting shakes... but I do believe having one shake after your workout is beneficial.\nMike
1079051
Krista is full of crap:\n"Some juice but make sure its all natural, because the ones that aren't are loaded with sugar and a leading cause in diabetes in children and adults. "\nBS. Natural juices have sugar also. And there's no proven link between juice and diabetes.\n"Lots of water, 3-4 liters a day, not all at once, but spread it out. Its really easy to down a liter or two while your watching tv or on the computer."\nMore BS. No proof that drinking water is helpful. All this is good for is making you pee a lot.\n"Also drink some after you eat the bigger meals of the day, it helps your body pick out the nutrients in food when your food is more spread apart."\nWHAT?? This is total crap. There is NO evidence to support this BS. (where does she get this?) Your body does NOT need extra water to "pick out" nutrients. What an absurd concept.\n"You also need to stay away from any sports drinks unless you’ve just had a long workout and then you need to limit yourself. Most atheletes mix Gatorade with water because its two complex for your body to get all the nutrients out of. It needs to be diluted. "\nMore crap and BS. The science behind Gatorade has been going on for 30 years and there's NO evidence of any "need" to dilute it. It works just fine as-is. Again, your body does NOT need extra water to "pick out" nutrients. \n\nDon't take diet advice from uneducated 19 year olds. It's full of myth and folklore, sadly lacking in truth and science.
559621
Consume protein supplements, preferrably those that do not contain aspartame, work out effectively by consulting a coach or a fitness trainer at the local gym.  Be prepared to shell out some dough, change your eating habits, and your day to day routine.
78199
I am a full-time teacher and full-time graduate student, so I understand!!  I recommend protein like peanuts or peanut butter, lunch meat, etc. Not too many carbs and very little sugar.  If you prefer caffeine, try the new Diet MDX (I think that's what it's called.) It a new highly caffeinated soda drink from Mountain Dew, or if you don't mind the sugar, Mountain Dew also makes an energy drink called AMP, it tastes much better than Red Bull or Monster (at least I think so.)  Hope that helps!!
533097
Aspartame is by far the most toxic substance in any food product.\n\nDo a Yahoo search for 'Aspartame' and birth defect', brain tumours', 'lupus', 'Formaldehyde'.\n\nThere is a Yahoo group for Aspartame victims support.\n\nRead what Dr. Janet Hull found out, she recovered from an 'Incurable Desease' by quitting aspartshite.\nIt is an addictive depressent, the more you have, the worse you feel, the more you take . . . downward spiral.
683048
One of the most common side effects would be increased peristalsis or frequent diarrhea. This wouldn't be too much of a problem except in any group with a chronic health problem, such as: Diabetes, liver disease, infection with HIV/AIDS, or malnutrition. I recommend SPLENDA as the only healthy choice, because it is sugar with the caloric-end cleaved (cut) off. It doesn't seem to cause any problems in any group, and it tastes exactly like sugar. Most side effects of Aspartame are not observed and are listed in order to warn individuals of the very low possibility of problems associated, but the chances of having other side effects except diarrhea are almost negligible in healthy individuals. So GOOD LUCK!
1145775
Splenda.  All the other sugar substitutes were considered a healthy, low-fat alternative to the real thing at first...then eventually the truth comes out.  I have a feeling Splenda will be no different.