Sweet Poison

[Sterla]

***My parents forwarded this to me - worth a read***

SWEET POISON!
A MUST READ!


In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick.
She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around.
Walking was a major chore.
It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.

By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications.
The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her.
She was in so much pain, and so sick she just knew she was dying.

She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of.

She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.

On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS.
I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda?
She told me that she did.
As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment.

I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda!
I e-mailed her article my friend, a lawyer, had sent.
My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk!
The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better.

She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.

Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed!
He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind.
In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death.

When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning!
She is well on her way to a complete recovery.
And she is walking!
No wheelchair!

This article saved her life.
If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label;
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!
I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'Nutra Sweet,'
'Equal,' and
'Spoonful.'

In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.
It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant.
I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.
I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous:
When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis.. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants.
The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.

Many people were being diagnosed in error.
Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is!

Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.

The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit.
He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition.
We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas.

In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly.

This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia.
During a lecture, I said,
'If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs,
Cramps,
Vertigo,
Dizziness,
Headaches,
Tinnitus,
Joint pain,
Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!'
People were jumping up during the lecture saying,
'I have some of these symptoms..
Is it reversible?'

Yes!
Yes!
Yes!
STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels!
Many products are fortified with it!
This is a serious problem.
Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence!

Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates.

It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight!

These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs.
Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.'

Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!

Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics.
We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame.
The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control.
Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.

Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE.
Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage,
Seizures,
Depression,
Manic depression,
Panic attacks,
Uncontrollable anger and rage.

Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well.
Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet.

So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed.
Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place!

Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.'

It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets ofdiet Coke and diet Pepsiconsumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy.
Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners.

There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.'

Herein lies the problem:
There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done.
The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.

Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED!
There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced.
Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.'

I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.

And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians?

This has been recently exposed in the New York Times.
These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.

Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants.

The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms.

The bill was killed.

It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're informed now!

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!

[Shanti]

Yep, i stay away from diet drinks and only drink regular softdrinks !

[Heaven]

Ahh....lucky I don't drink any of that stuff.

[Sterla]

Yeah, I never touch the stuff. I figure the sugar in normal soft drink has to be better than the awful chemicals in the diet stuff.

[catherinemoses]

I think diet drinks are disgusting, but apparently this is not true.
Check it out on snopes keyword Aspartame

[Nai]

I try to avoid it where ever possible - I think it has to stuff up your blood sugar and insulin balance if nothing else.

[rhyb]

Eeeek Im a diet coke drinker! No more it seems

[CrystalBoo]

If this is true, what about children's medications? Specifically Panadol or Nurofen as they are used most often? I would hate to think I was causing damage to DD but what other options (that work) are available?

[Turkish Delight]

Thanks for the post.

Aspartame and other chemical sugars play havoc with my system too. I have IBS and chemical sugars are a definite no-no as the bowel has trouble dealing with it. I no longer take equal sugars or drink diet drinks and i feel so much better.

[{sarah}]

It's not true guys - snopes.com: Aspartame -- Sweet Poison?

[AnyDream]

Ok, forward me your peer-reviewed references, and I'll think about avoiding it.

[squidipa]

yep its true a family member of ours got VERY ill for a VERY VERY long time due to this. it effects some ppl differently and it builds up in ya system VERY BAD!!!!

[penguin]

Ok, forward me your peer-reviewed references, and I'll think about avoiding it.

This is the sensible approach. Before running off in hysterics about the effects of Nutrasweet and other artificial sweeteners, it is best to look at the evidence.

"My mum told me", "I heard", "Nine News told me", "I got an e-mail with unreferenced claims" are all red flags that should lead one to question the validity of what is claimed.

The original article appears to have been circulating since 1995 (refer: http://www.dorway.com/betty/environ.txt)

A quick Google search will bring up a number of sites proclaiming the evils of Aspartame. It should be pointed out that just because something is written on a website, it does not make it true. I'm sure that you could do a Google search and come up with a number of site expounding the virtues of paedophillia as well...

One site lists (with formatting ability of a 4 year old) a number of journal article referring to adverse effects of aspartame. The first article listed is a 2007 article from the European Journal of Clincal Nutrition, whose abstract states:

The aim of this study was to discuss the direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, and we propose that excessive aspartame ingestion might be involved in the pathogenesis of certain mental disorders (DSM-IV-TR 2000) and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning.

I haven't read the full article, so I don't know what the researchers defined as excessive, nor do I know what their research methodolgy was. However excessive amounts of most things aren't good for you. Too much aspirin is certainly bad for one's health.

My quick search yeilded two articles that appear to have some evidence behind them. They are (including the abstracts):

Magnuson BA; Burdock GA; Doull J; Kroes RM; Marsh GM; Pariza MW; Spencer PS; Waddell WJ; Walker R; Williams GM. (2007) 'Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies', Critical reviews in toxicology, 37(8): 629-727.

Abstract:

Aspartame is a methyl ester of a dipeptide used as a synthetic nonnutritive sweetener in over 90 countries worldwide in over 6000 products. The purpose of this investigation was to review the scientific literature on the absorption and metabolism, the current consumption levels worldwide, the toxicology, and recent epidemiological studies on aspartame. Current use levels of aspartame, even by high users in special subgroups, remains well below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Food Safety Authority established acceptable daily intake levels of 50 and 40 mg/kg bw/day, respectively. Consumption of large doses of aspartame in a single bolus dose will have an effect on some biochemical parameters, including plasma amino acid levels and brain neurotransmitter levels. The rise in plasma levels of phenylalanine and aspartic acid following administration of aspartame at doses less than or equal to 50 mg/kg bw do not exceed those observed postprandially. Acute, subacute and chronic toxicity studies with aspartame, and its decomposition products, conducted in mice, rats, hamsters and dogs have consistently found no adverse effect of aspartame with doses up to at least 4000 mg/kg bw/day. 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.

Butchko HH, Stargel WW, Comer CP, Mayhew DA, Benninger C, Blackburn GL, de Sonneville LM, Geha RS, Hertelendy Z, Koestner A, Leon AS, Liepa GU, McMartin KE, Mendenhall CL, Munro IC, Novotny EJ, Renwick AG, Schiffman SS, Schomer DL, Shaywitz BA, Spiers PA, Tephly TR, Thomas JA, Trefz FK. (2002) 'Aspartame: review of safety', Regulatory Toxicolgy & Pharmacology, 35(2 Pt 2):S1-93.

Over 20 years have elapsed since aspartame was approved by regulatory agencies as a sweetener and flavor enhancer. The safety of aspartame and its metabolic constituents was established through extensive toxicology studies in laboratory animals, using much greater doses than people could possibly consume. Its safety was further confirmed through studies in several human subpopulations, including healthy infants, children, adolescents, and adults; obese individuals; diabetics; lactating women; and individuals heterozygous (PKUH) for the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU) who have a decreased ability to metabolize the essential amino acid, phenylalanine. Several scientific issues continued to be raised after approval, largely as a concern for theoretical toxicity from its metabolic components--the amino acids, aspartate and phenylalanine, and methanol--even though dietary exposure to these components is much greater than from aspartame. Nonetheless, additional research, including evaluations of possible associations between aspartame and headaches, seizures, behavior, cognition, and mood as well as allergic-type reactions and use by potentially sensitive subpopulations, has continued after approval. These findings are reviewed here. The safety testing of aspartame has gone well beyond that required to evaluate the safety of a food additive. When all the research on aspartame, including evaluations in both the premarketing and postmarketing periods, is examined as a whole, it is clear that aspartame is safe, and there are no unresolved questions regarding its safety under conditions of intended use.

As with the first article mentioned, I haven't accessed the full text of the articles, so can't comment on their methodology. It should be noted that the authors of the third article appear to have been employed by Medical and Scientific Affairs at The NutraSweet Company at the time of publication - this does raise the question of conflict of interest.

I should point out that I personally find that I get headaches when I drink too much soft drink containing artificail sweetener, and that my mate's wife was sick with a differential diagnosis of MS that turned out to be a reaction to too much Aspartame, but my personal experience and that of of my friend's wife does not make it true for everyone.

The bottom line? For me, I try to avoid too much artifical sweetener, but that is my choice. If you are worried, ask your GP when you next have a check up, or look for the evidence yourself.

[Bathsheba]

Fake foods: yergh!!!! I've always felt highly suspicious of fake and modified foods. You can't cheat nature and get away with it... have the real thing: cane sugar etc but in moderation... simple.