The TRUTH About Artificial Sweeteners

Being a diabetic, I do not have much of a choice. I usually use Splenda or Equal

I originally stopped drinking soda when I was on Weight Watchers. I was required to drink so much water, I didn’t have room for it. Plus I didn’t want to waste my “points” on a liquid. I’m not a diet soda drinker because of the after taste. I stopped using splenda when I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a tendency to stop eating many things when I was diagnosed, I admit, I went a little over board. But, I’m actually liking my coffee with just organic 1/2 & 1/2 and no sugar. If I accidently grab my husbands coffee instead of mine (his is light and sweet) I almost gag – way too sweet form me. I’m sure it’s not hurting me to not have sweetener in my coffee.

I drink Coke Zero plenty of times during the week. I put Stevia in my morning coffee. I’ve heard all the bad news about drinking diet pop aka Aspartame is poison and will kill you.

I hear that in the the US only, Coke and Pepsi is coming out with a Diet Cola that uses only Stevia. Anyone from the US tried this drink and how does it taste?

I dont use them, i “heard” they were bad

Hi Joel:
I have and still continue to use artificial sweetners… Regular sugar makes me gain weight…

Joel, I drink at least 48 oz of diet Mtn dew every day I have seen some research but am curious to hear what you have to say.

I had switched to Splenda in my coffee a few years ago, and recently (5 months ago) started drinking gobs of herbal and green teas with honey. I have since stopped needing sweeteners in my tea. But I am very interested to read what you have found.

I don’t drink coffee…I’m a tea kind of gal. I drink mine unsweetened…all the time. I have found that artifical sweeteners (any kind) trigger a migraine headache so I avoid them at all costs. If I need something sweetened I use sugar or honey but do so in moderation.

Joel, Um, ARTIFICIAL alone turns me off from the git go. How can anything artificial be good for your very natural body. Even when articles I have read recommend Stevia or xylitol as natural and not an alcohol sugar, I still cringe!!
I am sweet freak unfortunately, constantly attempting to rid myself of this sugar scourge, but do not, absolutely will not use artificial sweeteners.

Have a sweet day, Louise

The one thing I have learned to be true in my opinion is that science is not better than nature. Our bodies are being over loaded with unhealthy foods filled with chemicals such as artificial sweeteners that causes in my opinion a host of health issues. Why the push on whole organic foods is they are not sprayed with pesticides and chemicals, are loaded with nutrients that keeps the body strong, keeps are small farmers in business, and gives the body energy to exercise like Joel would like us to do for that strong sexy body. Joel try a cold glass of water and a protein shake to get ya going in the morning. Anyway below is an article I copied from Mercola.com word for word. What more information go to his web site where you will find lots of great info.

NutraSweet is sold in over 100 countries, found in over 5000 products, and is consumed by over 250 million people. It’s found in most diet sodas and a good portion of chewing gum.

How safe is it?

Consider this: There have been more reports to the FDA for aspartame reactions than for all other food additives combined.

Aspartame is a Danger to Your Brain

Early safety studies of aspartame identified potential neurotoxic side effects. In one study, out of seven monkeys fed aspartame mixed with milk, one monkey died and five of the remaining had grand mal seizures. Other have shown that aspartic acid, one of the main ingredients in aspartame, causes damage to the brains of infant mice.

In an analysis of 166 articles about aspartame published in medical journals, 91 percent of the independent studies — 84 out of a total of 92 — found at least one adverse health effect in its outcome. In contrast, all 74 of the studies that were conducted by individuals with strong financial ties to the success of aspartame concluded that aspartame posed no health risks.

Those industry-funded studies were highly flawed; among many other problems, the subjects were given pure aspartame administered as capsules or in cold water. No consumer will ever ingest aspartame in this form.

Excitotoxicity

Aspartame has three components: phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol (wood alcohol). Those who defend the chemical argue that phenylalanine and aspartic acid are a harmless and natural part of your diet. Phenylalanine and aspartic acid are indeed amino acids that are normally supplied by the foods you eat. However, they can only be considered natural and harmless when they are consumed in combination with other amino acids, fats, and carbohydrates in the form of real food.

When phenylalanine and aspartic acid are consumed as free amino acids, they enter your central nervous system in abnormally high concentrations, causing excessive firing of brain neurons and potential cell death. This concept has been termed “excitotoxicity” by Dr. Russell Blaylock, a prominent neurosurgeon.

Blindness and Cancer

Potentially even more worrisome is the 10 percent of aspartame that is absorbed into your bloodstream as methanol. The Environmental Protection Agency defines safe consumption of this dangerous substance as no more than 7.8 milligrams per day, which is the amount found in half a can of diet soda. Methanol poisoning can result in fatal kidney damage, blindness, multiple organ system failure and death.

The manufacturers of aspartame again defend the methanol by claiming it is found naturally in many foods. But in nature, methanol is bound to pectin, a form of fiber. As a result of this bond, your body is not exposed to methanol, nor does it break it down. However, your body does absorb the pectin-free methanol in aspartame, and further breaks it down into formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde can accumulate within your cells, and react with other cellular proteins such as enzymes and DNA. Formaldehyde can cause cancer in laboratory animals and likely causes cancer in humans. There is no known threshold level below which there is no threat of cancer.

Over 10,000 Complaints

The FDA has received over 10,000 complaints regarding adverse reactions to aspartame. By the FDA’s own admission, less than 1 percent of those who experience a reaction to a product ever report it. This means that the 10,000 documented accounts probably mean that there are roughly a million people who have experienced reactions to aspartame.

While a variety of symptoms have been reported, almost two-thirds of them fall into the neurological and behavioral category consisting mostly of headaches, mood alterations, and hallucinations. The remaining third is mostly gastrointestinal symptoms.

Are You Having a Reaction?

If you think you may be having a reaction to aspartame, you might want to consider doing an elimination/challenge with it. First eliminate it (and all other artificial sweeteners) from your diet completely for a period of one to two weeks. After this period, reintroduce it in a significant quantity. For example, use it in your beverage in the morning, and eat at least two aspartame containing products the remainder of the day. Avoid other artificial sweeteners on this day.

Do this for a period of one to three days. Notice how your body is feeling, particularly if it feels different than when you were artificial sweetener free. Nearly two-thirds of aspartame reactors experienced symptomatic improvement within two days after avoiding aspartame. With continued abstinence, their complaints generally disappeared.

I used to use sweeteners, but stopped after reading all sorts of stories about how terrible they’re supposed to be. To be honest, I’m now sort of hoping it’s okay to use them, as I have a very sweet tooth and stevia isn’t sold in the EU.

Watch the movie / dvd “Sweet Misery – A Poisoned World” and not only will you never touch an artificial sweetener again but you’ll never have anything with corn syrup in it either. You can google it and find it all over the place. Scary stuff.

5 days after my 37th birthday I started urinating blood. About 5 days after that I was diagnosed with renal cancer and I had to have my left Kidney removed. I live in NY and I was lucky enough to have the top renal cancer specialist working not more then 45 minutes from my house, so I went to see her for a follow up. One of the first things that she asked me was if I drank a lot of diet soda and I was shocked because I practically lived on the stuff. After having a long chat with her about my cancer one of the things that she told me was to avoid artificial sweeteners at all costs. You can give me all the information that you want Joel but I’ll never touch the stuff again because of my situation. I respect your opinion and Ive been in this game long enough to know that you will be able to find enough information to state your case but research is a very tricky subject and it doesn’t take a genius to know that anyone can find information to back up there claims. I’ll humbly have to agree to disagree with you on this.
All the best
~R~

Dear Joel,
I wanted to know for myself 6 years ago and so I did the study and wrote a research paper on the affects of aspartame for a Composition class in college. It was startling to say the least. If you do a search on The Bressler Report, you will read the official report that the original researcher of aspartame was asked to write a report on his findings. Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s aspartame was taken off the shelves, and a few years later it was returned to the shelves and many of the FDA employees were now S.D. Searle employees. It is reported that they were given substantial salaries to switch companies. I have much more information and would be happy to offer if you are interested. Also you can contact the FDA regarding Aspartame and you will find that it has the highest number of reported claims of side effects of any other food product.

Another thing to consider is that Aspartame was ‘accidentally’ invented. The man who invented it was working for Searle, a chemical company, and was inventing a medical drug, accidentally licked his fingers, and found it was sweet. Aspartame is a derivative of two aminos. The body tries to use the two aminos which have been already chemically altered, ineffectively.

There is information in the Bressler Report regarding brain cancer and the discrepancies in the study.
http://www.presidiotex.com/bressler/

Here is a copy of the actual report
http://www.dorway.com/bressler.txt

I’d like to know more about this subject. I use artificial sweeteners at restaurants with my iced tea; however, I’ve received emails regarding the subject at least once a month (I may be exaggerating, but it’s out there). I would like to read up on some truths behind this “conspiracy”.

Me too Joel. Have to disagree. I am a former diet Pepsi addict. After reading your colleagues books (The Diet Solution Program and The Truth about Six Pack Abs) I am no longer ingesting the stuff – any of it – with the exception of stevia because it is a natural sweetener, not chemical. I’ve also started eating organic, with the concern that I want to minimize the number of chemicals going into my body – they add extra work for the liver and kidneys to detoxify, so all other “real” substances have to take a back seat and may not get absorbed the way they should. I don’t know – true, there is no evidence from the FDA stating that artificial sweeteners are harmful, but do you really want to be ingesting that chemical crap? Artificial sweeteners can throw off hormone levels, and people who drink more soda (whether it be diet or regular) are found to have a higher risk for developing metabolic syndrome. Get off the crack, man.

Never seem to find any conculsive research on what’s bad with aspartane. Just because it’s not natural is not a reason to avoid it ,anti- biotics are not natural but we all use them when sick. Long ago seems there was a study about feeding tons of it to rats and they developed some kind of brain tumors.

I am shocked that you are a friend of Mike Geary and are an artificial sweetner user! I believe that artificial sweetners and other processed foods make us crave more of those foods leading to weight gain and other health issues. Aggressive tastes lead to cravings. I have learned to like my coffee and tea unsweetened in their original state. I had to acquire the taste of unsweetened hot tea but I eventually got there and now really enjoy it.

See Purdue’s study of this topic at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183902.htm

Joel,
Stay away from that stuff! Here’s why:

I went to the doc cause my lips, mouth, fingers and toes were getting numb and I was getting ‘mentally’ slowed down. I thought I had a B12 deficiency. But they checked my levels and they were fine. My doc then asked about my lifestyle. He stopped me mid way and asked me “do you use artificial sweeteners”? I was like ‘yeah I use Equal”. He was like “That’s it!. No wonder. If I had my way ALL those things would be off the market. They say they are safe. But I have a bunch of patients with the same symptoms and the only thing you guys have in common is that you all use artificial sweeteners”. When I went home, I tossed mine right away.
I