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About aspartame..there are definitely two schools of thought about this problematic chemical...and I honestly don't know where the truth lies. Possibly somewhere between the two camps?
However, I've read a lot--a whole lot--of anecdotal evidence from those whose health was harmed by consuming aspartame--including a pilot who went blind--to think this: where there's smoke, there's bound to be fire.
Me, I'm in the "better safe than sorry" camp and avoid aspartame. Some folks are probably more sensitive than others. While some can consume many diet sodas a day with aspartame and have okay health; others will have poor health and bad side effects.
It's that way with me. I'm very sensitive to other chemicals such as MSG (pounding heart, sweating, elevated BP), and diet sodas with aspartame give me a bad headache...
Why consume debatable products and chemicals when we don't have to? Seems wise to safeguard our health.
Aspartame is the methyl ester of two amino acids. There is nothing in aspartame that is not contained in a normal diet. It is one of the most benign ingredients in diet soda. If a person is sensitive to aspartame, they will probably be sensitive to a lot of other foods, especially fruits. Metabolism (which I teach in biochemistry to premed students and is related to my PhD work)is a complex series of reactions. Saying that aspartame is metabolized to formaldehyde is just about as intellectually honest as saying chocolate (or any fat) is metabolized into acetone (nail polish remover). While the substances can be linked by a series of metabolic pathways, a serious metabolic disorder would be required for aspartame to be harmful.
I do not know if the individuals that perpetuate aspartame myths are just bad biochemistry students and really believe their statements, or if they are shrewd businesspeople that recognize that they can realize a profit tricking gullible people. Either way, it is junk science and needs to be debunked.
If you are really concerned about health, you won't be drinking soda to begin with. Diet soda is generally a healthier alternative than sugary soda, but it can still be harmful in excess. The preservatives and salts in soda are by far more harful to your health than the small amount of sweetener.
Aspartame is the methyl ester of two amino acids. There is nothing in aspartame that is not contained in a normal diet. It is one of the most benign ingredients in diet soda. If a person is sensitive to aspartame, they will probably be sensitive to a lot of other foods, especially fruits. Metabolism (which I teach in biochemistry to premed students and is related to my PhD work)is a complex series of reactions. Saying that aspartame is metabolized to formaldehyde is just about as intellectually honest as saying chocolate (or any fat) is metabolized into acetone (nail polish remover). While the substances can be linked by a series of metabolic pathways, a serious metabolic disorder would be required for aspartame to be harmful.
I do not know if the individuals that perpetuate aspartame myths are just bad biochemistry students and really believe their statements, or if they are shrewd businesspeople that recognize that they can realize a profit tricking gullible people. Either way, it is junk science and needs to be debunked.
If you are really concerned about health, you won't be drinking soda to begin with. Diet soda is generally a healthier alternative than sugary soda, but it can still be harmful in excess. The preservatives and salts in soda are by far more harful to your health than the small amount of sweetener.
Having read your assault upon "individuals that perpetuate aspartame myths ...."
How do you reconcile your assertions with the Canadian studies that support an impaired vision result from consuming aspartame?
They were serious enough about their conclusions to ban it's consumption by pilots.
Anecdotally, I know a lot of pilots who have been advised to not consume aspartame in beverages and to minimize it from other sources. They report an improvement in their individual vision issues as a result.
It's not just formaldahyde, it was actually design to work on the neruotransmitters of fireants.
For women it gathers up in our fat cells making it harder for us to lose weight/fat in the hips,stomache, and thighs. Opinion, from experience and trial and error. ...I forbid my mother when she came to live with me from bring it into the house. NO reason a women, 61 at the time, should be experiencing such a memory loss, stomache problems, gerd...need I say more...after about 3 1/2 weeks of mom not having it she was no longer embarrassing herself by asking where certain people where when they were standing right their in her face.
I worked for a chiropractor for five years, I did nearly all of his patient interviews. I asked very detailed questions concerning there diet, everyone reacted to it a little differently, some people having it in the foods they ate or in drinks for 20 years when I convinced them to help me do a study.....My opinion....long term affects ...it makes you old way before your time.
If only we knew dietary habits of the top brass involved in Aspartame research and distribution (or dietary habit of FDA experts and political appointees who plan careers around a revolving door between government and big food business). If they consume what they preach, I could give it benefit of a doubt, but somehow I really doubt that their diets include Aspartame. Equally I doubt that Tyson's and Smithfield' brass is gorging on their chicken and pork.
There has never been a credible study that has held up to peer review showing any harmful effects when aspartame is used appropriately. Some guy on the internet is not a reliable source. Anecdotal experience is not reliable. You can dig into the literature (or just go to snopes.com) and easily find evidence debunking the ant poison hoax as well as all the rest. Aspartame accumulating in fat cells? Pfffft. That is not going to happen. Aspartame is polar and water soluble, while adipocytes are essentially bags of grease. Aspartame would be extracted by the aqueous blood very quickly.
You don't have to take my word for it. Here are some other organizations that echo my thoughts.
ACHS
ACSH Debunks Internet Health Hoax > Health Issues > ACSH (http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.265/healthissue_detail.asp - broken link)
I have much more confidence in these sources than a guy wearing a tinfoil hat who used to work at a hospital, or whatever rock the aspartame hoaxers live under.
There are all kinds of health issues associated with many products sweetened by aspartame. As I said earlier, health experts that care about what they eat and drink will not touch diet soda.
There has never been a credible study that has held up to peer review showing any harmful effects when aspartame is used appropriately. Some guy on the internet is not a reliable source. Anecdotal experience is not reliable. You can dig into the literature (or just go to snopes.com) and easily find evidence debunking the ant poison hoax as well as all the rest. Aspartame accumulating in fat cells? Pfffft. That is not going to happen. Aspartame is polar and water soluble, while adipocytes are essentially bags of grease. Aspartame would be extracted by the aqueous blood very quickly.
You don't have to take my word for it. Here are some other organizations that echo my thoughts.
ACHS
ACSH Debunks Internet Health Hoax > Health Issues > ACSH (http://www.acsh.org/healthissues/newsID.265/healthissue_detail.asp - broken link)
I have much more confidence in these sources than a guy wearing a tinfoil hat who used to work at a hospital, or whatever rock the aspartame hoaxers live under.
There are all kinds of health issues associated with many products sweetened by aspartame. As I said earlier, health experts that care about what they eat and drink will not touch diet soda.
So, if I get it correctly, you're saying if we consume aspartame "appropriately," no harm done...but if we consume it the way it's served to us--i.e. in diet foods and diet sodas, we are harmed? Isn't that the way it's normally consumed--in food, diet sodas--and isn't that why we're being harmed?
How do we consume aspartame "appropriately"--when it's not usually served to us except in diet foods and drinks?
So, if I get it correctly, you're saying if we consume aspartame "appropriately," no harm done...but if we consume it the way it's served to us--i.e. in diet foods and diet sodas, we are harmed? Isn't that the way it's normally consumed--in food, diet sodas--and isn't that why we're being harmed?
How do we consume aspartame "appropriately"--when it's not usually served to us except in diet foods and drinks?
Frankly, I'm not following your argument at all.
If you eat too much of anything it can be bad for you. A few milligrams of aspartame per day is not dangerous. If you feed rats (or people, but that wouldn't fly for a scientific study) teaspoons of it, it is no surprise when there are health effects. For most people, if the choice is between a few grams of sugar and a few milligrams of aspartame (because it is much sweeter so less is required), aspartame is the healthier choice.
Soda in general is bad for you. For the most part, any liquid that can be stored at room temperature without spoiling is going to contain something that you don't want in your body. Most sodas contain a preservative such as sodium benzoate, which is a lot more dangerous to your body than aspartame. The bacteria that could grow in the absence of preservatives are potentially more toxic still, so preservatives are allowed. Soda is also very acidic to retard bacterial growth, which has a host of health effects as well.
ANY substance when consumed beyond a certain threshold is dangerous, even water. For aspartame, a few servings a day has been determined to be as safe as any other food ingredient. People like to separate foods into "good foods" and "bad foods" while in fact everything has a range where it is good and a range where it is bad. The typical american diet contains an unhealthy amount of sugar. For most people, the health benefits of reducing sugar intake far outweigh the risks associated with artificial sweeteners.
Personally, I drink water and tea, and occasionally coffee. There are risks associated with those as well, but for me I would rather enjoy other types of sugar or sweetener containing foods to obtain my allotment of sugars.
As far as aspartame, I really don't eat it because I don't really like the taste.
If I wanted to I could write a paper about the health consequences of eating oranges, all backed by scientific evidence. If you eat enough of them, there will be adverse health effects. The FDA would reject my conclusions and state that the health benefits of eating oranges in moderation far outweigh the adverse health effects when done in excess, exactly like they did for aspartame in the second reference of my last post.
My 'argument' is that the FDA and other health agencies have a commitment to making scientific judgments on nuanced issues, as there is no such thing as "safe" for any food item. Everything has an unsafe range. The anti aspartame gong show is based on ignorance and the inability to do the mental gymnastics required to understand this.
It's not just formaldahyde, it was actually design to work on the neruotransmitters of fireants.
For women it gathers up in our fat cells making it harder for us to lose weight/fat in the hips,stomache, and thighs. Opinion, from experience and trial and error. ...I forbid my mother when she came to live with me from bring it into the house. NO reason a women, 61 at the time, should be experiencing such a memory loss, stomache problems, gerd...need I say more...after about 3 1/2 weeks of mom not having it she was no longer embarrassing herself by asking where certain people where when they were standing right their in her face.
I worked for a chiropractor for five years, I did nearly all of his patient interviews. I asked very detailed questions concerning there diet, everyone reacted to it a little differently, some people having it in the foods they ate or in drinks for 20 years when I convinced them to help me do a study.....My opinion....long term affects ...it makes you old way before your time.
Since you're the voice of experience and trial and error, and enjoy pointing the blame for mental illnesses (memory loss) on aspartame:
What ingredient have you been consuming that you can blame on your inability to write a cohesive sentence?
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