Aspartame - Good, Bad or Indifferent?

[Mia62]

There have been so many cancer scares surrounding this protein-based food supplement that it makes me wonder how many people still use it on a daily basis.

I do...the main reason being that I am a diabetic...aspartame does less damage to my system than sugar does. Besides that, according to my specialist, I could never ingest the same amount over two lifetimes of daily use as the amount they feed those poor rats.

I live for Diet Coke. I drink sugarless ice tea and kool-aid (actually Crystal Light is better). I chew sugarless gum. I use two packages of Equal in every cup of coffee or tea.

What about you? What are your reasons for using/not using it?

 

[Hamletmaschine]

I get all the free, raw sugar (turbinado) I could ever need. Why use anything else?

 

[RegisteredTroll]

Do you ever post something that doesnt have a question in the title?

Or something thats interesting maybe?

 

[sunstruck]

I get all the free, raw sugar (turbinado) I could ever need. Why use anything else?

There ya go!

I try my best to limit the amount of chemicals I injest on a daily basis. If you're diabetic I can see why it would be difficult. But for regular dietary purposes I avoid all sweateners. Drinking diet soda to me feels like guzzling Drano. ESPECIALLY the no calorie ones. Ok, no calories, so it's all chemicals. Lovely. lol I'd rather just stick to water and natural juices if I need to avoid sugar.

Also, I'm not sure about aspertame, but nutra sweet triggers migraines in many people (myself included) so that kind of sours me on the whole artificial sweetener idea.

 

[plasticman33]

The ass part of me?? It's OK, but yours is nicer!

 

[RosevilleCAguy]

IMHO, aspartame if almost as bad as rat poison.

I hate the stuff. I have bad reactions to it.


If I have to get a sugar fix, I drink stuff with "Splenda" or something with sugar alcohols used for sweetness.

 

[bad kitty]

I eat it when I ain't pregnant, but I don't let my 2 year old eat it.

 

[Bidin~Time]

Until a friend gave me some information on it, no one could figure out why I had severe headaches 5 days a week. I quit using anything with aspertame and no more headaches.

 

[Lancecastor]

I try to avoid artificial sweeteners...I've read too much about their downsides and the lack of long term clinical data.

Lance

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has noted some possible, but uncommon, neurological side effects of aspartame in people, such as headaches, hallucinations, panic attacks, dizziness, and mood swings. However, their link to aspartame remains unclear. Aspartame has not been studied long-term to determine its effects on humans over time, since it is a relatively new product. In the 1950s, saccharin exploded onto the U.S. markets as a sugar substitute with few calories and great taste. In the 1980s, scientists realized that saccharin is a carcinogen.

The current recommendation for aspartame from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a non-profit education and advocacy organization, is, "If you consume more than a couple of servings per day, consider cutting back. And, to be on the safe side, don't give aspartame to infants." (From Safe Food, by Michael Jacobson, Ph.D.)"

See:http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0736.html

 

[ithaqua]

I remember Aspartame.

Some friends of mine realized a while ago that I couldn't remember shit after drinking diet coke. I quit, and noticed that my swiss cheese memory isn't quite so full of holes.

 

[plasticman33]

Here's an interesting link that documents the dangers of aspartame.

http://www.presidiotex.com/aspartame/Facts/facts.html

 

[Bidin~Time]

There ya go!

I try my best to limit the amount of chemicals I injest on a daily basis. If you're diabetic I can see why it would be difficult. But for regular dietary purposes I avoid all sweateners. Drinking diet soda to me feels like guzzling Drano. ESPECIALLY the no calorie ones. Ok, no calories, so it's all chemicals. Lovely. lol I'd rather just stick to water and natural juices if I need to avoid sugar.

Also, I'm not sure about aspertame, but nutra sweet triggers migraines in many people (myself included) so that kind of sours me on the whole artificial sweetener idea.

Aspertame is the main ingredient in nutra sweet.

And for all you weight watchers it has also been shown to lower metabolism in some people. Not exactly the reaction you want when dieting.

 

[RastaPope]

I drink about 4 litres of diet coke a day.


I loves me my aspartame.

 

[Calamity Jane]

I don't like the taste of Nutrasweet/Aspartame. I loooove saccharine.

Did you know that the rats commonly used in labratory testing have the highest cancer rate of any other animal... even without tests being conducted on them?

 

[Thrillhouse]

Aspartame doesn't cause cancer.

But it tastes like shit.

 

[Eve32]

For me, there's no reason not to eat regular sugar. Why mess around with processed when natural is available?

 

[The Heretic]

What about you? What are your reasons for using/not using it?

There are a few people out there for whom this is a religious issue; it is their mission in life to rid the world of the scourge that is Aspartame. They put up all kinds of hype about its dangers; it causes cancer, it causes MS, it causes this and that - anything from medical problems to social problems.

I have yet to see any kind of objective, impartial and scientific evidence to indicate that there are widespread problems with Aspartame. Of course some people are going to have problems with just about any substance - for example I am allergic to gluten and dairy products, but this doesn't mean that these substances are evil for most people.

Sure some people will have problems, and some people will see those problems go away when they quit ingesting products with aspartame in them. This either means that they had a problem with aspartame OR some other substance in those products (you often find the same substances mixed together in different products). Always, every time I hear about people who have these kinds of problems, it is anecdotal evidence; someone quit ingesting this and some malady stopped.

Do I like or dislike aspartame? Does it cause me problems?

I don't like or dislike it - I rarely drink or eat "diet" foods as I don't need to, and as far as I know artificial food supplements don't cause me problems. For some groups of people, such as diabetics, these supplements/replacements are a god-send. If I were such a person, and I didn't have problems with the products, I wouldn't worry about them.

 

[The Heretic]

Re: Re: Aspartame - Good, Bad or Indifferent?

For me, there's no reason not to eat regular sugar. Why mess around with processed when natural is available?

Cost? Usually "natural" sugar seems to have a premium price placed on it. Sugar has little or no nutritional value any way, regardless of form, so I just go with the cheapest and most readily available form.

As for Aspartame or other substitutes vs. sugar, diabetics and other people with dietary needs find them useful.

 

[RudeNastyAssBitch]

LOVE Diet Coke!

But The Studies Show That Aspertame Actually Makes You Hungery. Drink A Diet Coke Eat A Whole Chocolate Cake! LOL

 

[Rubyfruit]

I just think it tastes nasty.

About the only thing I have with aspartame in it is low-cal yogurt and I'm about ready to give that up because all I can taste is that super-sweet, icky aspartame taste.

I'm not a soda drinker, so on the very rare occassion that I want a soda, I'll usually have a regular one. I don't sweeten my coffee or tea.

I just don't have much of a taste for sweets, especially artificial ones.

 

[KookyDooky]

Try stervia leaf extract...it's VERY sweet (a couple few drops in your coffe will do it). Although it's sweet as hell, it does taste a little different...it's an aquired taste, but healthy as fuck.

Too many people consume chemicals in food products. Why? Even if the shit doesn't give you cancer, it still puts a heavy burden on your liver to detoxify it. The heavier the liver's burden, the more toxins build up in your system (even endogenously produced toxins). For those that don't know, there are 2 basic phases in liver detoxification. Phase 1 actually increases a chemicals toxicity so that it can be water-soluble and neutralised by Phase 2. Unfortunately, if Phase 2 is too slow (over burdened) or Phase 1 is too fast (too many toxins in your body), you can drastically increase your body's toxic load. All sorts of health problems can arise out of this...EVERY system (nervous system, GI system, sight, cardiovascular, respiratory system, etc.) can and will eventually be affected.

Stay away from chemicals. I can't believe that people still consume them, and companies still produce them.

And don't believe all that you hear. Studies are many times funded by companies that produce them...of course they're going to say that it's not harmful, or that the amounts you would consume are less than that in the study. USE YOUR COMMON SENSE! And don't believe everything that your MD says either...doctors don't know everything, and shouldn't be expected to. Doctors are just as susceptible to propaganda from companies as you are.

Elroy

 

[JazzManJim]

I can't do Aspartame at all. Roughly two diet cokes over three hours is enough to give me a very large and snarling headache that lasts most of the day.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Re: Re: Aspartame - Good, Bad or Indifferent?

For me, there's no reason not to eat regular sugar. Why mess around with processed when natural is available?

So you use only raw, pure sugar?

If you're using the white stuff that comes in a bag for like a buck at the grocery store, you're eating processed stuff.

 

[RastaPope]

COCA-COLA COMPANY TO RE-INTRODUCE "NEW COKE"

On April 23 1985, Coca-Cola introduced, "New Coke," a sweeter, more Pepsi-like version of the original. People were outraged. Although marketing research had indicated that the new formula was preferred in taste-tests by a striking margin, they had killed an American Icon. To many, it was as if someone had killed off baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, or Chevrolet. People were outraged, and avoided the new product in droves. Coca-Cola classic was rushed back into the market as a result of the backlash. "New Coke" is about to be re-introduced, replacing classic, whether people like it or not. This time, they have no choice.

If you read the ingredients of Coca-Cola, you will see "natural flavors." What they are is Coke's trade secret. One of those natural flavors is called Saskra root. It is an herb that has gone extinct. All supplies of it will be exhausted by December.

A Coca-Cola representative spoke to THE UNCOVEROR on the condition of anonymity. "Saskra root," he told us, "is irreplaceable. We have tried creating the formula without the Saskra, and it just breaks down. The natural flavors separate like oil and water, and the resulting concoction tastes nasty. We have tried to substitute different herbs and ingredients to no avail. The results taste awful. We have hired top scientists to try to synthesize Saskra root, and have even tried to clone the plant, to no avail. It can not be synthesized or cloned."

How did this happen? Did the herbal medicine people over-harvest this plant until none remained? No. Saskra Fortissima was a weed that once grew alongside Coca plants in the wild. Without some of the substances Coca plants leave in soil after several growing seasons, Saskra can not grow. It has always been rare, and since the late 1970s, has been found only in Columbia. Thanks to the U.S. Government's spraying of Columbian farms to kill Coca plantations, Saskra is now extinct. No Saskra plants, no Saskra root.

"We originally made New Coke," said our source, "for two reasons. Diet Coke, which had an entirely new formula, and did not use Saskra, was gaining popularity for its taste alone, not because it was a diet drink. Saskra was becoming so scarce, that it was cost-prohibitive. We decided to try making Diet Coke with real sugar instead of artificial sweeteners, and New Coke was born. In taste tests, everybody loved it. We could cut costs, by dropping Saskra root, and increase sales by introducing a better tasting product. We just did not anticipate that people were so sentimentally attached to the original formula. We had to reluctantly introduce Coca-Cola Classic. People were so glad to have it, that they didn't mind the price increase we had to make, factoring in the cost of obtaining Saskra Root."

"Now," said the Coca-Cola spokesman, "the war on drugs has caused the extinction of Saskra Fortissima. We have searched the world over. There are just no more living specimens. The DEA's goons did not care when they began spraying in Columbia, that they were causing starvation by destroying whole farms, and all Columbia's poorest citizens had to eat. They did not care that many of the farms they were crop-dusting with herbicides had never grown Coca at all. They probably did not even know that Saskra existed. We now have to decide if we should roll out new coke again with a big ad campaign, or just not tell people, and hope the ones who taste the difference, and raise a stink can be effectively accused of spreading false rumors."

No matter how the Coca-Cola Company decides to do it, New Coke will be back to stay by December, and Coke Classic will be gone forever, a casualty of the war on drugs.

 

[Calamity Jane]

stervia

spelling buddy says stevia