Death by
Diet Drinks
I bet you
wouldn’t drink formaldehyde. So why do
over 200 million people still use
Aspartame?
Aspartame, also called Equal and
NutraSweet, has been around since it was
discovered in 1965 by chemist James M.
Schlatter, an employee of G.D Searle &
Company. (which is now owned by
Monsanto, the company that brought you
Agent Orange) Schlatter was actually
working on an anti-ulcer drug when he
accidentally created Aspartame.
Aspartame is currently found in over
6,000 products worldwide including soft
drinks, instant breakfasts, breath
mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum,
frozen desserts, gelatin desserts,
juices, laxatives, chewable vitamins
supplements, milk drinks, pharmaceutical
drugs, shake mixes, tabletop sweeteners,
teas, instant coffees, topping mixes,
wine coolers and yogurt. (Wikipedia.
August 4, 2010<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame>)
Aspartame has had a less than stellar
lifespan. In 1981, just one day after
Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, Searle,
led by then CEO Donald Rumsfeld, applied
to the FDA for approval to use aspartame
as a food sweetener…this is where it
becomes interesting. Reagan's new FDA
commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr.,
appointed a 5-person Scientific
Commission to review the board of
inquiry's decision. When the board
reached a 3-2 decision to ban aspartame,
FDA director Hayes then added a sixth
member to the committee. This resulted
in a deadlock, so Hayes himself stepped
in and personally broke the tie in
aspartame's favor; soon after Hayes left
the FDA under allegations of
impropriety. The issue at hand is: can we eat
something and not absorb its energy? Can
we outsmart our bodies and get all the
taste without any of the side effects…of
course not. “Negative side effects of aspartame
include: increased craving for sweets,
blindness, decreased vision, pain in one
or both eyes, bulging eyes, ringing and
buzzing of the ears, epileptic seizures,
migraines, dizziness, atypical facial
pain, severe depression, irritability,
aggression, anxiety, personality
changes, insomnia, phobias, high blood
pressure, thinning or loss of hair,
gradual weight gain, extreme PMS,
frequency of voiding and burning during
urination, excessive thirst, fluid
retention, leg swelling, and bloating,
increased susceptibility to infection,
irreversible brain damage, birth
defects, (including mental retardation),
peptic ulcers, hyperactivity in
children, severe depression, aggressive
behavior, suicidal tendencies and even
death.” (Sweet poison.com August 4,
2010<http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html>) “Aspartame may also trigger, mimic, or
even cause the following illnesses:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Epstein-Barr,
Post-Polio Syndrome, Lyme Disease,
Grave’s Disease, Meniere’s Disease,
Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS, Epilepsy,
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), EMS,
Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia, Lupus,
non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and Attention
Deficit Disorder” (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services) How could that be? It’s just a sweetener
isn’t it? I thought it might be that innocent as
well, boy was I wrong…Aspartame changes
the ratio of amino acids in the blood,
blocking or lowering the levels of
serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine,
norepinephrine, and adrenaline. That’s right… lowered levels of
serotonin and even adrenaline. Anyone
whom has ever taken anti-depressants
knows that low levels of serotonin will
cause depression and even suicidal
tendencies. So, how has Aspartame been able to prove
its efficacy in tests? It all depends on
who you know… “Dr. Robert Walton surveyed the studies
of aspartame in the peer-reviewed
medical literature. He states that "of
the 166 studies felt to have relevance
for questions of human safety, 74 had
Nutrasweet industry related funding and
92 were independently funded. One
hundred percent of the industry-funded
research attested to aspartame's safety,
whereas 92% of the independently funded
research identified a problem." Other reports of federal employees
working for the companies responsible
for the testing and distribution of
aspartame are cited on all of the sites
and books opposing the use of aspartame. “The animals treated with aspartame
showed extensive evidence of malignant
cancers including lymphomas, leukemias,
and tumors at multiple organ sites in
both males and females. The authors
speculate the increase in lymphomas and
leukemias may be related to one of the
metabolites in aspartame, namely
methanol, which is metabolized in both
rats and humans to formaldehyde. Both
methanol and formaldehyde have shown
links to lymphomas and leukemias in
other long-term experiments by the same
authors.” (U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services) Yes, Aspartame turns into Formaldehyde
once inside your body. The bottom line
is that given the right endorsements and
PR campaign, anything can be made to
look healthy. But Aspartame is not
healthy, it is poisoning you. I
recommend ceasing all use immediately
and replacing diet sodas, and even
regular sodas, with a good old piece of
fruit. Try giving your body what it what
it wants and was designed to use as
energy- fruits. I promise you will see,
feel and act differently.
Written by
DanielCrouch, True Balance Health
and Wellness
Personal Trainer & Wellness
Guide. |