Artificial sweeteners, the TRUTH!

This article will touch on the controversial subject of artificial sweeteners which are currently added to many foods, including almost all protein powders. The article will "touch" on this subject, because this is such a vast topic that it cannot possibly be covered in one article.

It is hoped that you will have a better understanding of just how potentially lethal your consumption of these new-age ingredients can be. Hopefully you can then make better decisions on what you put into your body and their effects.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener which is 180-200 times sweeter than sugar. It's synthesized from aspartic acid and phenylalanine, the building blocks of protein, and contains about 4 calories per gram. Regular aspartame breaks down and loses its sweetness when heated.

Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965, when James Schlatter, a chemist of G.D. Searle Company was testing an anti-ulcer drug. Aspartame was approved for dry goods in 1981 and for carbonated beverages in 1983. It was originally approved for dry goods on July 26, 1974, but objections filed by neuroscience researcher Dr John W. Olney and Consumer attorney James Turner in August 1974 as well as investigations of G.D. Searle's research practices caused the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put approval of aspartame on hold.
In 1985, Monsanto (the big GM giant) purchased G.D. Searle and made Searle Pharmaceuticals and The NutraSweet Company separate subsidiaries.

Five deaths were reported to the FDA prior to 1987 as possibly attributed to aspartame. This is only a small fraction of the actual adverse reactions caused by aspartame. Most people would not associate the problem with it, and even if they did, only a small fraction of people or doctors would take the time to report it to the FDA.

As of February 1994, 6,888 cases of adverse reactions had been reported to the FDA. In fact, more than 75% of all non-drug complaints to the FDA are about aspartame (think about that for a minute!). These complaints include headaches, dizziness, mood changes, numbness, vomiting or nausea, muscle cramps and spasms, and abdominal pain and cramps. There are also sizeable numbers reporting vision changes, joint pains, skin lesions, memory loss, and seizures.

This was in 1994. Since then Aspartame has become even more recognised as a toxic substance.

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame: Brain tumours, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.
A very common complaint of persons suffering from the effect of aspartame is memory loss.

A double blind study of the effects of aspartame on persons with mood disorders was recently conducted by Dr Ralph G. Walton. Since the study wasn't funded/controlled by the makers of aspartame refused to sell him the aspartame. Walton was forced to obtain and certify it from an outside source (does that tell you something as well?).

The study showed a large increase in serious symptoms for persons taking aspartame. Since some of the symptoms were so serious, the Institutional Review Board had to stop the study. Three of the participants had said that they had been "poisoned" by aspartame. Walton concludes that "individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener; its use should be discouraged.

One of the original studies on aspartame was performed in 1969 by an independent scientist, Dr Harry Waisman. He studied the effects of aspartame on infant primates. Out of the seven infant monkeys, one died after 300 days and five others had grand mal seizures. Of course, these negative findings were not submitted to the FDA during the approval process!

There are many many studies similar to this and many reporting even more horrible results.

These days Aspartame seems to be everywhere. You find it in almost every diet drink/food, chewing gum, many supplements and almost all the protein powders you buy. When we started looking into Aspartame, there was so much information on it, that you would need months, if not years to research and understand it all.