I have never let my children ingest aspartame, commonly known as Nutrasweet, since I came across a study I read while working at the State House Library in Massachusetts. I try and spread the word to stay away from this stuff to everyone who will listen. Here is some published info that you might find interesting.....

http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html#symptoms

-- Sandie in Maine (peqbear@maine.rr.com), January 17, 2002

Answers

Aspartame has been proven by all the different Labrotories to be SAFE. It was a common myth that it cause problems. There are many different articles through the USDA and Health websites to support this. The only reason why I might chose sugar over Nutrasweet is because of the TASTE.

-- Chandler (Providencefarms2001@yahoo.com), January 17, 2002.

Chandler I absolutely disagree with you. It is a dangerous substance and should be banned. I am appalled that it has been allowed to be put into puddings and snacks for children. However, we are all free to choose for ourselves.

-- Sandie in Maine (peqbear@maine.rr.com), January 17, 2002.

Oh and might I add, The FDA published similiar article about how eggs are bad for your health and last summer they took regulations off eggs and admitted they were wrong; the egg is one of the best soures protein. The Aspartame article was written in 1994!!! Since then they once again admitted they were wrong.

-- Chandler Joseph Wible (Providencefarms2001@yahoo.com), January 17, 2002.

There is a huge difference between brain damage in children, and cholesterol counts. I have seen this documentation myself before Nutrasweet was ever on the market, 1978.

-- Sandie in Maine (peqbear@maine.rr.com), January 17, 2002.

It's nasty stuff, and Chandler, it gives me migraine headaaches, so it can't be good for people!

Brain cancer, which USED to be very rare, is now very common, and the rates went up proportionate with aspartame use, go figure!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), January 17, 2002.

I read somewhere that people were coming down with MS symptoms and an epidemic rate. Till someone figureed out it was aspertaine in the joints causeing all the pain. From expereince, since I stopped drinking/eating it,, my arthritis has subsided dramastically.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), January 17, 2002.

It is some nasty stuff. That's why I started growing stevia for a natural sweetener. Chandler, do you own stock in Nutrasweet? I know several people who's symptoms of MS disappeared when they stopped using it. Daryll

-- Daryll in NW FLA (twincrk@hotmail.com), January 17, 2002.

Oddly enough, I threw my box of it away last week. I figured that, unless DH and I are diabetic, we'll just use sugar. We rarely have desserts anyway.

-- Ardie /WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), January 17, 2002.

Bad stuff. My son's neurologist warned us about aspartame many years ago, it causes seziures and all sorts of horrible neurological symptoms as mentioned; MS, Parkinsons, headaches, memory loss. Aspartame was not directly approved for use as a "liquid suspention". It was only approved as a "dry application sweet additive". The fine print of the FDA approval was twisted to allow it to be used in so many products, the scope of which was never anticipated. I would bet that if the product were put before the FDA today, it would not be approved. Same goes for aspirin. Many feel it should be a prescription drug. Read the fine print. You may be injesting aspartame and not know it, since the patent ran out the red swirl logo is no longer required on the packaging.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), January 17, 2002.

Chandler

Many people suffer terrible headaches and even depression until they go off of this poison. I didn't know about the brain damage per se, but it figures.

What do you have to say about saccharin? Does it no longer cause bladder damage?

-- Rick (Rick_122@hotmail.com), January 17, 2002.

I read about Stevia on this forum a couple of weeks ago and decided to give it a try. Cool stuff! I have 1/2 teaspoon on my grape nuts in the morning, and it's more than plenty. Used to dump 4 teaspoons of sugar to do the same thing.

Nutrasweet makes my head explode. Yech.

-- Chuck (woah@mission4me.com), January 17, 2002.

I have to agree that Aspartam is a dangerous additive to foods, drinks, etc. It also causes heart problems. I started having arrhythmia, bad cases,,sent me to emergency room each time. Didn't know why,, I was drinking instant ice tea, Slim Fast,,diet foods..all with Aspartam. Also used it to sweeten drinks and foods. Than one day I was listening to radio,and a doctor was on talking about the dangers of Aspartam. I was completely flabbergasted!!!Stopped eating and drinking anything with Aspartam in it. Started doing research on it,,looking in health books, etc.. everything I read was "bad" for health of people. Since I stopped using it,, My heart condition changed dramatically for the better. Just one more example that shows greed wins, over concern for the health of populace. Sad isn't it. Wonder if the FDA will ever do anything about it?

-- Patsy, MT (cozyhollow-gal@care2.com), January 17, 2002.

I avoid Nutrasweet/aspartame and all of those fake fats as well. I would like to know what is wrong with plain old sugar???

-- Joyce (duckthis1@maqs.net), January 17, 2002.

TWO sticks of gum with aspartame with give me the runs.

One of our high school cheerleaders has epilepsy, and her seizures decreased when she stopped drinking diet Coke.

God made REAL food. Let's just stick with what we know grew, walked, swam, chirped, or flowered.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), January 17, 2002.

Sandie or anyone: What about Equal? Is that the same stuff? We care for an elderly man in our home that has Parkinsen's and so does his sister. In the course of our converstations he has mentioned that he and his sister (each single and lived together) always used artificial sugar. I wonder if there is a connection? An elderly couple that we know swear by Equal. We grow Stevia in our herb garden from a 4 inch pot that we buy at the garden center. We were able to keep one inside for awhile, but finally died. They have never survived our cold winters. Thanks!!

-- (Mamafila@aol.com), January 17, 2002.

aspartame gives me terrible headaches as well......I should say it USED to give me headaches....now I pay attention to what I ingest!!! ;+(

-- hmm (h.m.metheny@att.net), January 17, 2002.

I've always been a bit suspicious of Aspartame/Nutrasweet. Remember when it first hit the market, we'd been eating saccharine for years..then all of a sudden we got a bombardment in the media of how bad saccharine was for you? And at the same time...ads for this "new and improved stuff".

Anyhow, on a more humourous note, I have at least one person convinced never to touch the stuff again. I was in a photography chat one night, and reminiscing with a fellow from Louisiana who I had got to know in the chat and visited on our way down to Texas on a car trip. He and his wife took us took us to a bayou where we photographed birds, alligators...and nutria. Those of you in the south are probably familiar with this critter which looks like a cross between a groundhog and a muskrat, and whose population is exploding in the bayous. Well, in the chat this fellow told me that in the bayou/lake where we'd been, 8,000 of these things had been "culled" (shot) in one week. This one guy then asked us, what they do with them? I told him they took them to the factory. He asked, what factory? I told him think about it...nutria, nutrasweet...I have a feeling that the poor guy didn't touch nutrasweet for awhile.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), January 17, 2002.

Well now, some folks seem to think that there is some kinda veracity connected to different Labrotories" (sic) or "USDA and Health websites." Then again, some of us think maybe those kinda particular connections would lead us directly to immediate suspicion of an, um, ulterior motive, perhaps? In other words, who the heck cares what some gov't agency says? I KNOW when I've eaten the stuff by accident; it matters not a whit what the label might say. I get sick. Period.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), January 17, 2002.

It gives me problems too. Just a mouth full of diet soda and I get a headach and stomach burning.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.

In our paper a few years ago there was a write up on a women here in town that had been in a wheel chair for years MS symtoms. Anyway she read about aspartame and told her doc she used alot of it. In her coffee, tea, and drank alot of diet soda. Well she went off it and within about 3 or 4 months she was out of the wheel chair. It was amazing. I don't know how bad this stuff is for you in the long run but if it can cause a person to have MS symtoms bad enough to be in a wheel chair the risks of useing it are to much! I was a big fan of the stuff to. My aunt was treated for fibormialga (?) and it came down to her ditching her sweetner and yes she got better. This stuff is hard on your systom! I tossed mine out.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), January 18, 2002.

I had heard of these things about Nutrasweet. My father-in-law has MS and he always told me about my drinking diet sodas. I went to the MS website, and there is an article by the Chief of Med. for the MS Society.

He completly denies any connection with Nutrasweet and MS symptoms. He goes on to discredit the research done by the lady in question. Sites examples of early fraudulent research by the person. Complete fabrication of the statistical analysis behind her research. She is a fraud.

Nutrasweet was/is the most tested product before it went on the market. There are some people who are alergic to water. Some will have reactions Nutrasweet, but as a whole, it is a safe additive who s benifits far outweight the negatives.

-- Rickstir (rpowell@email.ccis.edu), January 18, 2002.

Does anybody know if Stevia has been studied as thoroughly as has been Nutrasweet?

Just wondered. Just because it is a natural product does not necessarily mean is is safe for use on an extended basis by humans. I don't want the answer "it has been used for hundreds of years." I want to know if it has been tested in a lab somewhere with good impirical results over a long period of time. Just because something has been used for a long time does not mean it is beneficial or even safe for humans.

Talk to you later.

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.

I guess this gives me a good reason to stop buying the Walmart diet soda for 58 cents per liter bottle.

Return to wine and beer consumption makes sense as they are made from more natural substances,

-- Gary from Mn (hpysheep@midwestinfo.com), January 18, 2002.

Course its your business who you want to believe, but to my mind, the MS Society is nothing more than another front for the pharmaceutical industry. Who do you all suppose finances these 'empirical studies'? Generally the companies that would benefit from outcomes positive to their products.

And NO ONE is allergic to water.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.

Eat sugar - be happy!

-- Kathy (homefarmbc@pacificcoast.net), January 18, 2002.

Stevia has not been tested (in the sense of FDA approved, which I assume is what you are asking), but it has been in use for years in places like South America, I think. A lot of Asian herbal remedies fall into the same category.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), January 18, 2002.

Stevia has been used in Japan for decades as a sweetener. I remember reading the studies before I started growing it,but I can't find the web site now. I'll put the web address up when I find it. Daryll

-- Daryll in NW FLA (twincrk@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.

Thanks Daryll

-- Bob in WI (bjwick@hotmail.com), January 18, 2002.

Here is my 2 cents worth. My sister and I lived together back in the early 80's while I was in college and she in Med School. She came home one day and told me of a lecture they had that day about aspartame in class. She said that at 96 deg F. the chemical mix changes and it turns into formaldehyde. The normal human body being 98.6 deg. F, causes the liver to have to process the formaldehyde. We determined to never knowingly ingest the stuff. I think someone got bought off big time to make it one of the post popular products in food items! Who knows what all it causes! I don't believe a pickled liver is the way to go! For what it is worth! Darlene

-- Darlene in W WA (tomdarsavy@cs.com), January 19, 2002.

Rickstir wrote: "Nutrasweet was/is the most tested product before it went on the market. There are some people who are alergic to water. Some will have reactions Nutrasweet, but as a whole, it is a safe additive who s benifits far outweight the negatives."

What exactly ARE those benefits? Are there any studies proving that using these sugar substitutes prevents weight gain or confers any other health benefit? My informal studies show that people who use these products still consume enough calories to maintain their excess weight.

-- Joy F {So.Central Wisconsin} (CatFlunky@excite.com), January 19, 2002.

The saddest thing of all I think is that aspartame is marketed as a weight loss tool, and it does just the opposite! Pretty smart idea, dont ya think: tell the people it makes you lose weight, while actually it makes you gain weight, so you buy more of it cuz you think it'll help you lose weight. All with full approval of our protectors at the FDA. God bless em one and all.

ASPARTAME AND WEIGHT LOSS

ASPARTAME

W HAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT YOU

ASPARTAME MAKES YOU FATTER

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), January 19, 2002.

I think it was about 12 years ago when they were connecting ADD to Nutrasweet. My son had all the symtoms, never had him tested, just took him off everything with Nutrasweet, period. I really watched what I bought, artificial colors and flavors and preservitives are bad news for kids. Nothing with Nutrasweet was allowed in the house, just plain sugar. Some people it affects real bad.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 20, 2002.

Truck stops and grocery stores which frequently have stacks of diet drinks outside in the hot sun, all have a major problem. All those stacks of drinks, sitting out in the hot Texas or Arizona sun, baking away. When heated (as someone explained before) the aspartane breaks down. The drinks taste funky after being exposed to those high temps. At 130F it becomes wood alcohol!

I took my 12-pk back to the truck stop and got my money back. They examined the cans, pulled all the soft-drinks and then called up the distributor to have it replaced. Cost the stop about $3K in lost sales, but better to have lost sales than lost a drivers' life on account of alcohol.

This is not a remote instance, it's happening all over the country. I questioned a lab tech to length about this and he told me that Diet-Rite is the only soft drink mfr that pulled aspartane and replaced it with splenda.

Why don't others change? It's all about $$$$. Big billions of dollars.

-- matt johnson (wyo_cowboy_us@yahoo.com), January 20, 2002.

http://www.dietrite.com/choose.html

-- matt johnson (wyo_cowboy_us@yahoo.com), January 20, 2002.

Question I HAVE BEEN DRINKING A LOT DIET DRINKS(PEPSI ONE)AND FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS I HAVE BEEN HAVING A LOT OF SINUS PROBLEM AND MY EARS ARE STOPED UP,THE DOCTORS TRY EVERYTHING EVEN PUT TUBES IN MY EARS NOTHING AS HELP FOR LONG,COULD THE NUTRASWEET BE PART OF MY PROBLEM. FOREST JN NORTH CARLONIA

-- Forest Hockenberry (forestnfay@aol.com), February 02, 2002.

YES.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002.