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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sarah T. on May 21, 2005, at 23:16:20
I stopped eating/drinking artificially sweetened foods and beverages about six or seven years ago. I decided that sugar isn't so bad after all, especially when compared with the dangers of artificial sweeteners. Several days ago, I accidentally ingested a large amount of aspartame, on and off throughout the day. For two days after that, I felt absolutely horrid. I had severe joint pains, mental fog and confusion and irritabiity. I had forgotten how terrible that stuff is. Frankly, I think it's worse than monosodium glutamate. That stuff should be banned. I'll take sugar any day.
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 22, 2005, at 8:59:00
In reply to Aspartame is HORRIBLE!, posted by Sarah T. on May 21, 2005, at 23:16:20
> I stopped eating/drinking artificially sweetened foods and beverages about six or seven years ago. I decided that sugar isn't so bad after all, especially when compared with the dangers of artificial sweeteners. Several days ago, I accidentally ingested a large amount of aspartame, on and off throughout the day. For two days after that, I felt absolutely horrid. I had severe joint pains, mental fog and confusion and irritabiity. I had forgotten how terrible that stuff is. Frankly, I think it's worse than monosodium glutamate. That stuff should be banned. I'll take sugar any day.
It should at least come with a warning label.
The following study was prematurely terminated because of the severity of adverse reactions in one of the study groups, the unipolar depressives. Although this study was done over a decade ago, I have seen no follow-ups. You can bet that there was massive behind the scenes suppressive activity, from the food companies (Searle, and users of this sweetener, e.g. Coca-Cola). Instead of scientific review, you get advertising masquerading as science (second abstract, all authors from 'The NutraSweet Company'). Why couldn't they publish in a journal with internet access to full-text?Biol Psychiatry. 1993 Jul 1-15;34(1-2):13-7.
Adverse reactions to aspartame: double-blind challenge in patients from a vulnerable population.
Walton RG, Hudak R, Green-Waite RJ.
Department of Psychiatry, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Youngstown.
This study was designed to ascertain whether individuals with mood disorders are particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of aspartame. Although the protocol required the recruitment of 40 patients with unipolar depression and a similar number of individuals without a psychiatric history, the project was halted by the Institutional Review Board after a total of 13 individuals had completed the study because of the severity of reactions within the group of patients with a history of depression. In a crossover design, subjects received aspartame 30 mg/kg/day or placebo for 7 days. Despite the small n, there was a significant difference between aspartame and placebo in number and severity of symptoms for patients with a history of depression, whereas for individuals without such a history there was not. We conclude that individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener and its use in this population should be discouraged.
Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002 Apr;35(2 Pt 2):S1-93.Aspartame: review of safety.
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.
Medical and Scientific Affairs, The NutraSweet Company, Mt Prospect, Illinois 60056, USA. harriett.h.butchko@nutrasweet.com
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.
They claim no unresolved questions?
How about a study showing that unipolar depressives can safely use aspartame? I have presented a study that was terminated because they couldn't.
How about what a doctor is calling Aspartame Disease?
http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=387446
I don't know if adverse reactions are widespread, or not. But that's the whole point. We don't know.
I just emailed the lead author of the Nutrasweet report, to see if I could get a copy. I'm darned curious what it says. And I contacted Dr. Walton, the psychiatrist who did that damning report. I'd like to understand this more clearly.
Lar
Posted by Racer on May 22, 2005, at 13:56:47
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Sarah T., posted by Larry Hoover on May 22, 2005, at 8:59:00
I used to drink way too much diet soda, and didn't realize how much it affected me until I cut waaaayyy back on it, in favor of water. Now, I can tell the difference in my mood when I have one more soda in a day than I usually do.
I've read the same study that Larry referred to, and that told me all I needed to know - although I read that after cutting back, which i did because of caffeine.
{sigh} Someday, something safe and good for you will come along, huh? {sigh}
Posted by Sarah T. on May 23, 2005, at 23:16:19
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Sarah T., posted by Larry Hoover on May 22, 2005, at 8:59:00
Hi Larry,
Thank you so much for posting those articles and links. After re-reading my post, I realize that I did not adequately convey how impaired I was after ingesting aspartame, especially the first day. I was almost completely incapacitated and in severe pain, especially joint pain in my fingers. My joints were actually visibly swollen. My brain must have been swollen (or shrunken), too. I have never felt so confused and "wired." It's so important to examine everything in our diets and environment to see what might be causing our symptoms.
Posted by Sarah T. on May 23, 2005, at 23:27:29
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE!, posted by Racer on May 22, 2005, at 13:56:47
Hi Racer. About fifteen years ago, I used to drink a lot of diet soda. A co-worker once told me that she thought that a can of Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke was the normal extension of my arm. I always felt awful back then, although I didn't feel as horrid as I felt this past week. You mentioned that someday, something safe and good will come along. That reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live skit, starring Gilda Radner, Larraine Newman, Jane Curtin and Linda Ronstadt. The four women perform as "Rhonda Weiss and the Rhondettes," singing "Goodbye, Saccharin." I believe this was originally broadcast in 1977 or 1978, shortly after the FDA banned saccharin. Anyway, if you ever get to see this on one of those old "Classic SNL" tapes, you'll have a good laugh. I think the FDA had more sense back then.
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 24, 2005, at 8:09:03
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Larry Hoover, posted by Sarah T. on May 23, 2005, at 23:16:19
> Hi Larry,
> Thank you so much for posting those articles and links. After re-reading my post, I realize that I did not adequately convey how impaired I was after ingesting aspartame, especially the first day. I was almost completely incapacitated and in severe pain, especially joint pain in my fingers. My joints were actually visibly swollen. My brain must have been swollen (or shrunken), too. I have never felt so confused and "wired." It's so important to examine everything in our diets and environment to see what might be causing our symptoms.Dr. Walton says no more research has been done, that he knows of. He couldn't do more because he couldn't get funding. He *used* to work for Monsanto, but he became concerned enough to run his own pilot study.
Here's a link to the full-text:
http://www.mindfully.org/Health/Aspartame-Adverse-Reactions-1993.htm
There's a table of symptoms. I think you might not be the only one.
My email to the Nutrasweet company bounced. Apparently, the corresponding author of a 2-year-old paper doesn't receive correspondence. I resent it via a complaint email address. We'll see.
More:
Debunking the Myth
http://www.dorway.com/offasprt.htmlThe History of Aspartame:
http://www.dorway.com/enclosur.htmlScary stuff, all around.
Lar
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 24, 2005, at 11:14:34
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Sarah T., posted by Larry Hoover on May 24, 2005, at 8:09:03
I mentioned that I sent two requests to the Nutrasweet head office, looking for their massive publication declaring aspartame to be safe. I just got an email from the "Senior Director, Regulatory", and they're mailing me a copy of the full report.
Lar
Posted by AMD on May 24, 2005, at 20:04:29
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Sarah T., posted by Larry Hoover on May 24, 2005, at 8:09:03
I think aspertame has different effects on different people.
For years I drank a dozen or so Diet Cokes per day, and toward the end of this period I'd "shrunken" to 98 pounds (I'm an in-shape 165 pounds now) and was experiencing the occasional migraine headache.
One day I decided to quit cold turkey. I eliminated anything with any sort of aspertame or other artifical sweetener from my diet.
Within a couple of months, I'd gained back some of the weight I'd lost; the migraines had resolved; and I was feeling better than I'd felt in years.
I had, though, not eliminated /caffeine/ from my diet. In fact, I'd likely increased the amount of caffeine by switching from diet soda to coffee. (And that itself may have caused the reversal in effects noted above.)
Nonetheless, I've never had a migraine, nor trouble with my weight, since, and I've sworn off aspertame for good.
This is completely anecdotal, of course. I know brilliant people who thrive even while consuming copious amount of the stuff. But the removal of aspertame from my diet greatly improved my overall health.
amd
Posted by wildflower on May 26, 2005, at 23:17:08
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE!, posted by AMD on May 24, 2005, at 20:04:29
Interesting...very interesting. Which sweeteners is aspartame in? I want to test how I would feel if this chemical were eliminated totally from my diet.
I've heard the aspartame connection with depression before but it never really hit me that my symptoms may have been magnified by aspartame. It was back in '95 when I first started drinking diet colas. Wouldn't you know it, 1995 is the exact year that I have told my doctors that I can trace my depression back to.
Diet Coke has been my favorite for quite some time and I've been trying to wean myself off of it slowly. The carbonation was killing me...besides, with my meds, caffiene needed to be lessened anyway.
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 27, 2005, at 6:39:06
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE!, posted by wildflower on May 26, 2005, at 23:17:08
> Interesting...very interesting. Which sweeteners is aspartame in? I want to test how I would feel if this chemical were eliminated totally from my diet.
Nutrasweet is aspartame. I think it also carries a phenylalanine warning, to protect those with the genetic disorder PKU from exposure.
> I've heard the aspartame connection with depression before but it never really hit me that my symptoms may have been magnified by aspartame. It was back in '95 when I first started drinking diet colas. Wouldn't you know it, 1995 is the exact year that I have told my doctors that I can trace my depression back to.
>
> Diet Coke has been my favorite for quite some time and I've been trying to wean myself off of it slowly. The carbonation was killing me...besides, with my meds, caffiene needed to be lessened anyway.Even if it's no more than "the straw that broke the camel's back", it's a factor you can control.
Regular soda is not necessarily safe, either, though. Regular is sweetened with a fructose/glucose syrup, and fructose intake is very strongly correlated to obesity.
Lar
Posted by wildflower on June 12, 2005, at 11:51:26
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » wildflower, posted by Larry Hoover on May 27, 2005, at 6:39:06
Hi Larry.
I've been doing a bit of research on this and I can't find a site that lists out all of the artifical sweetners that contain aspartame. Any idea where I can find one?
Also, are there any sweetners that don't contain this chemical?
Posted by cockeyed on June 22, 2005, at 23:01:43
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Larry Hoover, posted by wildflower on June 12, 2005, at 11:51:26
Oh dear lord forgive me but I LUV! LUV! aspartame. I'm not 'sposed to booze, get high, get low, smoke cigars or a pipe. But I want my diet Pepsi and a coupla teaspoons of nescafe mixed in. I was depressed when I was a kid and there was no aspartame, just rotten processed food like twinkies and ring-dings. Damn the torpedos and full speed ahead, I'm going to down a mug of cheap diet rootbeer. What really bugs me is splenda. But that's another rant. cockeyed
Posted by Cass on September 7, 2005, at 23:35:12
In reply to Aspartame is HORRIBLE!, posted by Sarah T. on May 21, 2005, at 23:16:20
Do you know about this case? I just recently heard about it. This man's wife was convicted of his murder, and he apparently died of Aspartame poisoning.
Charles Fleming Died From Aspartame Poisoning, Not Murder - MD7-8-3
Affidavit From H. J. Roberts, M.D.
Regarding Charles And Diane Fleming, And Death From AspartameH. J. Roberts, M.D., F.A.C.P.
West Palm Beach, Florida 33405
July 7, 2003AFFIDAVIT OF JULY 7, 2003:
Re: Charles & Diane FlemingMrs. Betty Martini
Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097Dear Mrs. Martini,
I have read both the details you have supplied about the death of Charles Fleming and the imprisonment of his wife Diane for alleged methyl alcohol (methanol) poisoning, and the autopsy report signed by the pathologist and toxicologist involved in the case.
On the basis of the prodigious amounts of aspartame products he consumed and the finding of a severe fatal metabolic acidosis, coupled with a high concentration of methanol in the blood and no other reasonable explanation, I concur with the cause of death as methanol poisoning - in this case due to considerable methanol consumption in the form of aspartame products. I have devoted more than two decades to the study of aspartame disease, which I so named, and have published extensively thereon in the form of more than two dozen published articles and letters, and five books. I detailed the free methanol content of such products and the considerable pharmacologic and clinical consequences thereof - including addiction and probable death. An extensive chapter is devoted to this subject in my recent 1000 page text, ASPARTAME DISEASE: AN IGNORED EPIDEMIC. (A brochure is enclosed; bibliography furnished on request.) If the facts about this case that have been reviewed are correct, it is my firm opinion that Diane Fleming should be immediately freed from wrongful imprisonment to rejoin her family. Furthermore, the FDA should be so advised by the court, and recommend that aspartame products be labeled as an imminent health threat, and either so labeled or removed from the market.
Yours truly,
Hyman J. Roberts, M.D., FACP,FCCP
NOTARIZED
State of Florida
County of Palm Beach
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 7th day of July, 2003 by Hyman J. Roberts, M.D., FACP, FCCP who is personally known to me.
Cari L. Presnal
Posted by Joslynn on September 20, 2005, at 13:06:18
In reply to Re: Aspartame is HORRIBLE! » Sarah T., posted by Cass on September 7, 2005, at 23:35:12
Thanks for this thread. I used to have a diet soda several times a week but I have cut down. Then today, I got a diet iced tea, and here I see this thread. I am dumping the rest of the tea. I knew there were different things about it out there, but had never heard of linking it to depression. Why even bother with something that may make depression worse, is my thinking. It won't kill me to just drink water.
So what is the deal with Splenda? Is that something to avoid as well?
Posted by Lonely on September 24, 2005, at 1:06:23
In reply to Aspartame is HORRIBLE!, posted by Sarah T. on May 21, 2005, at 23:16:20
I've known for at least 18 years that artificial sweetners cause transient but significant cramping and diarrhea in me. Unfortunately, a lot of over-the-counter meds contain phenylalamine in one form or another. This includes a lot of antacid type meds. I'm wondering if I have some sort of genetic problem.
This is the end of the thread.
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