This is topic Dangers of aspertame? in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Blayne Bradley (Member # 8565) on :
 
I drink alot of diet drinks, parents dont buy any drinks that either have phosphoric acid or colories.

So what are the dangers of aspertame, TheOtherWiki gives me the impression that there arent any, but a friend of mine says its very bad for you.

Your move Hatrack.
 
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
 
It can make others less likely to do your research for you.
 
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
Aspartame gives me horrendous headaches. And it smells bad. A friend once didn't believe that I could smell it, so I had him pour a glass of Coke and a glass of Diet Coke. And then pour them out and bring me the glasses. I told him which was which without any hesitation, because, like I said, the stuff stinks.
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I do not like the way that stuff tastes. I can't imagine it's very healthy. It's a good thing I hate all soda (it's like drinking sugared glass) for the most part except for Virgil's root beer because it's annoying to choose between HFCS and aspartame.
 
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Blayne Bradley:
I drink alot of diet drinks, parents dont buy any drinks that either have phosphoric acid or colories.

So what are the dangers of aspertame, TheOtherWiki gives me the impression that there arent any, but a friend of mine says its very bad for you.

Your move Hatrack.

Okay.
 
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
 
It's supposed to contribute to panic attacks. Having had some really unpleasant panic attacks in the past, I avoid the heck out of it.

(But, I've always thought diet soda tasted horrible, so, no hard thing for me to give up.)
 
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa:
Aspartame gives me horrendous headaches. And it smells bad. A friend once didn't believe that I could smell it, so I had him pour a glass of Coke and a glass of Diet Coke. And then pour them out and bring me the glasses. I told him which was which without any hesitation, because, like I said, the stuff stinks.

I had a friend who was diabetic and since he's a guy and I'm a woman, whenever we'd go to lunch, they'd occasionally try to give me the diet drink.

Fortunately I could always smell the aspartame before I put that nastiness in my mouth. It's a migraine trigger for me.

...course.. I'm on a diet right now.. so no coke of any kind....
 
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
 
Aspartame is satan in sweetener form.
 
Posted by EmpSquared (Member # 10890) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Blayne Bradley:
I drink alot of diet drinks, parents dont buy any drinks that either have phosphoric acid or colories.

Do you mean calories... or colorings?
 
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
 
You're all crazy. Diet Coke is delicious.
 
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Elmer's Glue:
You're all crazy. Diet Coke is delicious.

Like an abused groupie believing their codependent relationship entails 'love,' your tongue has become so maligned that it has deluded itself into believing this.

Help exists. You can break the cycle. Friends don't let friends drink aspartame.
 
Posted by AvidReader (Member # 6007) on :
 
My husband gets a fitness newsletter that hates soda. They'll tell you it's the worst thing you can put in your body. I think the problem with the diet stuff is that something in it supposedly lowers your metabolism.

As for the fake sugar bit, it can do bad things to you if you're drinking it in lab rat quantities. My grandfather used to put a generous handful of the packs in each cup of coffee and then drink several pots of coffee a day. When he got pancreatic cancer, his oncologist was surprised. He'd never seen it in a non-diabetic before.

So if you're drinking soda in moderation and not trying to lose weight, you're probably fine. But really, water is just tastier. [Smile]
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Elmer's Glue:
You're all crazy. Diet Coke is delicious.

No, you're wrong.
 
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
 
I'm more concerned about my dependence on caffeine. I don't drink diet Dr Pepper for the aspartame, but for the taste and caffeine.
 
Posted by Christine (Member # 8594) on :
 
My biggest concern with fake ingredients of any kind is the lack of general research that gets done before they put that crap in our food and call it "safe." I won't say I don't touch the stuff, because it is in so many products that it's hard to avoid without being a food nazi, but I tend toward the all-natural diet whenever I can.

As for those who claim to be able to smell aspartame and get a headache from it: Well, I can smell the difference between most types of sodas and I'm not convinced you're managing to isolate the smell of aspartame. I can smell the difference between Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Coke, Root Beer, all their diet forms, etc. They each have a distinctive smell and I imagine the reason a soda you don't like smells bad to you is that you associate that smell with the taste you don't prefer. I've never known anyone who tried to say diet drinks weren't an acquired taste. Mostly, they do it to cut calories.

I get headaches from drinking sodas now, too, but I'm pretty sure it's because of the caffeine rather than the aspartame. 99% of the time I choose water or caffeine-free teas. I won't rule out the aspartame, but like I said, the thing that bothers me about artificial products is the lack of research and evidence. I won't try to do a case study in my kitchen. [Smile]

So as far as specific negatives of any particular additive go, I can't help you. I'll just say that when I choose foods that are as close as possible to the way they appear in nature, I feel more satisfied when I eat and I feel healthier. I admit it could be a psychological thing, but I spent YEARS and YEARS going after the diet versions of things -- diet sodas, fat free whatchamacallits, no sugar added yuckamawhatsits...it neither helped me lose weight nor feel good.

Gradually, over the last few years, I've replaced all of those things with the real versions....I now use real butter, real sugar, real yogurt. I was into baking my own breads for a while to avoid high fructose corn syrup but that was getting to be a bit too much to do all the time.
 
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
 
I like diet coke much better than regular.
 
Posted by MightyCow (Member # 9253) on :
 
Diet Coke is tasty and good. Anecdotal evidence is meaningful and important. I love lamp.
 
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
 
I've been told that consumption of soda makes one more likely to be overweight in general, and that surprisingly, whether it's diet or regular makes less of a difference than one would expect.

As for me, I've concluded that aspartame makes me drowsy. I avoid it.
 
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
Aspertame is much, much more dangerous than aspartame.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ketchupqueen:
Aspertame is much, much more dangerous than aspartame.

[Laugh]
 
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by ketchupqueen:
Aspertame is much, much more dangerous than aspartame.

good to know. [Wink]
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
My endocrinologist, after getting me hooked on the stuff 15 years ago when he told me diet drinks were fine, now recommends not to use aspartame. He says the other artificial sweetener, Splenda, is fine. Of course, that's what they said about Nutrisweet 15 years ago too, so I'm mostly avoiding the stuff entirely.

Lately I'm eating only plant-based whole foods and I'm feeling so much better from my inflammation and fatigue, it's crazy. It's too good to be true. I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall. I've got a chronic degenerative inflammatory disease, something like lupus or MS. Lately I've been barely able to move around. I just want to curl up and go comatose. But since I started this diet I feel miraculously better. My diabetes, which had also gotten much worse the last year or so is also improving dramatically. And my chronic sinus infection, which was terrible lately, is also almost gone. My C-reactive protein was 20. I wonder what it is now.

And I'm eating more carbs than I was before. It goes against everything I thought I knew about food.

So, yeah, I won't be using any processed foods at all anymore. No sugar, no white flour, no white rice, no boxed breakfast cereals, no animal products in any form, no artificial sweeteners.

Yes to all fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and nuts. I do supplement protein with soy protein isolate. The doctor doesn't say I need to, but I feel I do based on my experience when I was an ovo-lacto vegetarian earlier. It's actually much freer than my previous diet when I had to keep carbs so low that I couldn't have fruit or root vegetables or legumes. I LOVE fruit.

But, yeah, my endocrinologist said aspartame is bad for you.
 
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
 
I don't drink any sodas any more though I do treat myself to the occasional green tea but I just use real sugar. Its not enough to make me worry about calories and I feel more comfortable than if I were putting chemical substitutes in my drink.

In college, my roommate went off Diet Coke for lent. She had withdrawal symptoms. Anxious, sweating, chills, irritability, couldn't sleep, etc. It got alittle scary. And she's wasn't the only person I know who seemed unnaturally dependent on Diet Coke in particular. I mean, I knew alot of people who preferred Pepsi or Dr. Pepper, but only my Diet Cokes friends would roll out of bed and grab a can before doing anything else in the morning.

It was disturbing. You'd have to pay me ALOT of money to get me to touch the stuff.
 
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by AvidReader:
But really, water is just tastier. [Smile]

Eww. Just eww.
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
The water here in Rockland is pretty disgusting. But there's noooo way I'd drink diet Coke or any other Diet soda because they are yeeky.

Except for blowing up soda with mints. Sounds sticky.
 
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
 
I actually boil my tap water before I drink it, and it tastes much better that way and doesn't make me nauseated like raw tap water does. To give it a little bit of a taste, I mix one packet of something that's meant for a single 20 oz. drink into a gallon container of boiled water. This way it's barely pink and has a faint flavor, but essentially doesn't have any calories or sweeteners in it. I keep it cold in the fridge. It's delicious.
 
Posted by Christine (Member # 8594) on :
 
Water filter seems easier.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
I read somewhere that Chicago has some of the best tap water in the country. I have a cup on my desk that I fill during the day from the tap in the bathroom, and it's clear and good.
 
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
 
Christine: I drink caffeine in other forms all through the day. (Though I drink a lot less than I used to.) It's not the migraine trigger. It's definitely the aspartame. Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Gum with aspartame in it... doesn't matter. I immediately feel icky and if I continue to consume a migraine will erupt.

Shanna: That sounds like Caffeine withdraw. I went through it when I was breaking myself of the addiction. 'Cept I knew better than to go cold turkey. I went to half caff for a week... then quarter caff... then eighth caff... then full decaff. Now I drink it again but not enough to get re-addicted.

Lisa: It's a neurosis I know... but I won't even bring a drink into a public restroom, much less drink something that came out of it. Even if it's just out of the sink. But yeah, depending on where you are, tap water is just fine. I loved the water where I grew up. It tastes like water is supposed to taste. Much less Superfundy than the tap water here in San Jose.
 
Posted by Christine (Member # 8594) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by The Pixiest:
Christine: I drink caffeine in other forms all through the day. (Though I drink a lot less than I used to.) It's not the migraine trigger. It's definitely the aspartame. Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Gum with aspartame in it... doesn't matter. I immediately feel icky and if I continue to consume a migraine will erupt.

I do notice my headaches get worse when the form of caffeine I use is diet sodas, but I do get a headache if I drink caffeinated tea, so maybe it's both for me.

I didn't have a problem with either one back in college when I was addicted to soda, though. I gave it up for lent one year (didn't someone else mention doing that?) and I went through withdrawal. At the end of my 40 days, I didn't want to go back and have been happier for it ever since.
 
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
 
I get migraines from aspartame. it's vile. So is HFCS, for that matter. I don't drink soda often but when I do I only drink the cane sugar stuff.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
The first time I ever had Nutrasweet, I was in college. I think it was my senior year, and they'd come out with Crystal Light. And I figured, you know, I drink gallons of Coke. But I do like lemonade. So maybe some of this Crystal Light lemonade will made an adequate replacement.

So I made myself a big pitcher of the stuff, poured myself a nice tall glass, and drank it down. It seemed tasty enough, so I poured myself some more. I was halfway through with that glass when a giant anvil fell from roughly low earth orbit onto my head. Or anyway that's how it felt. And ever since then, I've been able to smell the stuff from across the table. Ick, and double ick.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by romanylass:
I get migraines from aspartame. it's vile. So is HFCS, for that matter. I don't drink soda often but when I do I only drink the cane sugar stuff.

The nice thing is around Passover, when the stores around here stock up on a special run of Coke made with sugar instead of HFCS. It usually gets snapped up before Passover even starts, but this year, the Jewel near me has a bunch of them left over. You can tell them mostly by the yellow caps, but if you look closely, it'll say something about Passover on it.
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
I'd like to try that, but I'm not allowed to drink soda.
But I want to try the natural sugar stuff anyway. *sulk*
Even though I hate soda for the most part. Odd

It's all about real lemonade with limes in it and sometimes pineapple juice.
And that fake lemonade they sell at that Annie's Pretzel place. I like it.
 
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa:
....And ever since then, I've been able to smell the stuff from across the table.

That's acutally not surprising to me; a few months ago I was reading an article (which I'm having no luck tracking down now, unfortunately) about the way that a traumatic event increases our ability to distinguish the scent of something associated with that event. The experiment that the article dealt with, if I recall correctly, involved having people smell two different substances that were chemically different from each other, but which the subjects couldn't distinguish from one another based on scent. While smelling one of them, members of the experiemntal group were exposed to something mildly traumatizing (I don't remember if it was a shock, a loud noise, or what). Afterward, a statistically significant number of people from the experimental group were able to distinguish between the two chemicals by scent.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
It could be that, but it could also be that when people are sensitive to a chemical, increased exposure to the chemical can make them more sensitive to it.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
But more sensitive in that case would mean a worse (or faster) headache, no increased ability to detect it.
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
The water in Hong Kong tasted like nectar compared to the coppery rusty filth that flows around Utah. I'm infinitely grateful that Tiffany owns a Britta filter as I had no idea the water here could be just barely drinkable.
 
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
 
Different municipalities in Utah have totally different tasting water (and I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that's true in Korea too). Highland, UT: fantastic. Mineral but in a crisp, mountain living good way. Eagle Mountain, UT: I Can't Believe It's Not Mildew!
 
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
 
Can't say anything about Korea as I've yet to go there, but Provo UT water is disgusting.
 
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
But more sensitive in that case would mean a worse (or faster) headache, no increased ability to detect it.

Are you sure?
 
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
 
The water here tastes moldy. It seems to be getting worse with the spring so I am using an old filter.

I should get a new one. That's probably not very sanitary, but it still works.
 
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Lisa:
quote:
Originally posted by rivka:
But more sensitive in that case would mean a worse (or faster) headache, no increased ability to detect it.

Are you sure?
From everything I've read about allergies and food sensitivities, yes.
 
Posted by Xann. (Member # 11482) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Belle:

URL=http://tinyurl.com/qhueer]Okay.[/URL]

[ROFL] [Hat]

That is brilliant.
 


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