Warning About Aspartame (nutrasweet 951)

[Carbonator]

Hi guys, I just wanted to let you heavy drinkers that switch between beer and mixed spirits about my BAD experience. This may sound like an advert or a commercial testimonial, but it's a strong warning.

I've been a heavy daily drinker since 1994, 10 - 20 Standard Units a day with not many days off. I hit the beers/spirits after work and at the end of my days-off, drinking mega-swill and home brew for a few months, then go to home mixed spirts with diet (because I want to stay medium build), mixers for a change for a few months. I'm lucky on one hand, because I have a good income and active job and it hasn't effected my work, social or family life and my Liver and Weight have not really let me down. Last blood test 4 weeks ago and an ultra sound 1 year ago (clear as).

The big problem lurking in my head - chronic fatigue, jittery in the heads/eyes, vision blurring, double vision, chest cramps, insomnia, head aches, mad food cravings when very intoxicated and all getting more severe as time went on. I was attributing it to the excessive alcohol I was consuming.

WRONG!

One day I had the shits with these symptoms and went to the doctor and told him straight about my alcohol consumption. He stated the obvious after my brain scan and blood test results demonstrated nothing remarkable, (normal). So as a result of my commitment to fix my head, I dropped the alcohol completely for 2 weeks and since I still had 10 cases of Coke Zero, I decide to buy essences of Rum and Bourbon to continue my daily consumption of at least 2 x 1.25L bottles of the stuff every day. My problems were still there and getting worse.

I tried one more thing, gave up the Zero and started drinking the spirits again, with plain water only.

Problems all gone after two weeks. I'm sleeping better, vision has returned to normal, no food cravings, no more head aches. I now know my problems were a result of an overdose of Aspartame/Nutrasweet/Phenylalanine/preservative 951. Nothing else can explain it. I did a bit of Google'ing today and my suspicions have been confirmed. That shit is a proven neuro-toxin, (lab tests on animals have proven results). This Aspartame shit is another poison, like tobaco, that has been driven by political motivation for profifts! I'm convinced.

Now I have to find out if mega-swill contains that Aspartame shit before I drink it again because it makes me jittery too.

 

[therook]

Hi guys, I just wanted to let you heavy drinkers that switch between beer and mixed spirits about my BAD experience. This may sound like an advert or a commercial testimonial, but it's a strong warning.

I've been a heavy daily drinker since 1994, 10 - 20 Standard Units a day with not many days off. I hit the beers/spirits after work and at the end of my days-off, drinking mega-swill and home brew for a few months, then go to home mixed spirts with diet (because I want to stay medium build), mixers for a change for a few months. I'm lucky on one hand, because I have a good income and active job and it hasn't effected my work, social or family life and my Liver and Weight have not really let me down. Last blood test 4 weeks ago and an ultra sound 1 year ago (clear as).

The big problem lurking in my head - chronic fatigue, jittery in the heads/eyes, vision blurring, double vision, chest cramps, insomnia, head aches, mad food cravings when very intoxicated and all getting more severe as time went on. I was attributing it to the excessive alcohol I was consuming.

WRONG!

One day I had the shits with these symptoms and went to the doctor and told him straight about my alcohol consumption. He stated the obvious after my brain scan and blood test results demonstrated nothing remarkable, (normal). So as a result of my commitment to fix my head, I dropped the alcohol completely for 2 weeks and since I still had 10 cases of Coke Zero, I decide to buy essences of Rum and Bourbon to continue my daily consumption of at least 2 x 1.25L bottles of the stuff every day. My problems were still there and getting worse.

I tried one more thing, gave up the Zero and started drinking the spirits again, with plain water only.

Problems all gone after two weeks. I'm sleeping better, vision has returned to normal, no food cravings, no more head aches. I now know my problems were a result of an overdose of Aspartame/Nutrasweet/Phenylalanine/preservative 951. Nothing else can explain it. I did a bit of Google'ing today and my suspicions have been confirmed. That shit is a proven neuro-toxin, (lab tests on animals have proven results). This Aspartame shit is another poison, like tobaco, that has been driven by political motivation for profifts! I'm convinced.

Now I have to find out if mega-swill contains that Aspartame shit before I drink it again because it makes me jittery too.

Bloody hell...glad you worked it out

As a matter of interest what was your Cholesterol reading?

Just curious as being over 40 i get a full blood test every year and everything is great except my cholesterol has gone from 5.4 last year to 5.9 and the Doc said that we had better start keeping an eye on it.

Rook

 

[Ol'Wobbly]

Excellent post. I knew it was bad but not THAT bad. :angry: Have a look at http://www.dorway.com/

 

[bum]

Caffeine intoxication will give you many of those symptoms too. Another good reason to give that stuff the arse.

 

[Carbonator]

As a matter of interest what was your Cholesterol reading?

Mine is similar, yes the same was said to me about it being a bit high. I do need to reduce my consumption and exercise more!

 

[Carbonator]

Caffeine intoxication will give you many of those symptoms too.

Yes I forgot to mention I tried eliminating the Caffeine too. I went through 16 cases of Caffeine free Diet Coke and was into my second case of Caffeine free Pepsi lite just before I went to the doctor. Same things happening with that shit too!

 

[peas_and_corn]

If you're drinking that much caffeine free diet colas you need your head checked, not your health.

 

[Cube]

If you're drinking that much caffeine free diet colas you need your head checked, not your health.

Agreed. You need AA, not the doc's. Lighten up on the piss for christs sake. How old are you, 18?

 

[Fents]

i knew a guy who used to be a courier. would drive around all day delivering things....whilst driving would comsume 2 x 1.25L bottles of soft drink everyday. man had the biggest gut i have ever seen and he did not even touch alcohol.

seen the size of a upsized large coke at macdonalds over in the US?

do enough of anything and it will proper mess you up. all bout balance and moderation in the end really.

 

[Bribie G]

Bloody hell...glad you worked it out

As a matter of interest what was your Cholesterol reading?

Just curious as being over 40 i get a full blood test every year and everything is great except my cholesterol has gone from 5.4 last year to 5.9 and the Doc said that we had better start keeping an eye on it.

Rook

First, I have been drinking the daily equivalent of six or seven pints of UK Bitter (extrapolate appropriate quantities for fruity lexia, Fosters Lager etc) since I was 23 ish and I'm now 60, get the blood work every year and my liver is fine nowadays. I have two days off a week because I work part time, two evenings. Most people don't take me for my age and I'm definitely not an alcoholic physical wreck. The Mrs is a bit older than me but even so when she was in hospital a couple of nurses said "your son is here to see you". Jeez they know how to talk to a man . However when I was on the cask wine a few years ago my liver enzymes were up the creek. So there is obviously a difference in WHAT you drink rather than the quantity. Since HBing I'm fine although I have high uric acid, a definite by product of yeast so I'm keeping an eye on that but I'll never suffer from Pellagra B) .

Second, no affiliation but there is an excellent cholesterol lowering diet called 'the portfolio diet' developed in Canada. You don't hear much about it because the inventor isn't interested in making money out of it so it doesn't get promoted. It's been created by the Scientist who invented the Glycemic Index that I'm sure you have all heard of and uses just normally available foods plus that special margarine (ALDI do a good version nowadays). I do it a couple of times a year and it can lower your bad cholesterol and raise the good stuff in just a couple of weeks. You gotta love porridge and almonds however Also eggplants are in the diet and I have my own eggplant bush out back.

Linky

 

[pdilley]

I love porridge, snack like mad on almonds and like eggplant although maybe mildly allergic to it.

Artificial sweeteners and heat are a big no no, many a truck of diet soda that had refrigeration troubles needed to be dumped as the sweetener turned toxic from the heat exposure. Seeing Michaels soda mountain I wonder how many Aussies have tons of the stuff horded away in the shed or parts of the house that roast in the heat and then get ill from drinking the stuff. I gave up diet drinks and then soda all together about 6 years back. I was shocked to see how aspartame mad Aussies are on their products as thats the one I avoid the most

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[captaincleanoff]

my father had this exact problem. Massive mood swings, always grumpy.. We thought it was alchohol.. but he eventually stopped drinking and the problems were still there.

He started drinking alot of diet coke after giving up the booze, and it got worse. My mum realised after a while that it could be the Aspartame in the shitload of diet coke he was drinking. It sure was..

He stopped drinking diet coke, and I could honestly see the change in him. It was quite obvious. No more mood swings and grumpyness. And they havent come back since.

I am also affected by this. If I drink something with these chemicals in it, I end up feeling really frustrated and pissed off about nothing..

 

[jonocarroll]

Problems all gone after two weeks. I'm sleeping better, vision has returned to normal, no food cravings, no more head aches. I now know my problems were a result of an overdose of Aspartame/Nutrasweet/Phenylalanine/preservative 951. Nothing else can explain it. I did a bit of Google'ing today and my suspicions have been confirmed. That shit is a proven neuro-toxin, (lab tests on animals have proven results). This Aspartame shit is another poison, like tobaco, that has been driven by political motivation for profifts! I'm convinced.

I know I'm branded as a bit of a non-believer of most things on this forum, but I just want to put my $0.02 in on this - aspartame's had it's fair share of troubles, and I think you'll start seeing a lot of 'Made with Splenda' written on packages in the near future, but I would caution this self-diagnosis based on trial-and-error. Careful also about the word 'proven' - it's bandied about a little much, especially with nutrition folk who seem to have no idea about statistics.

A 12 ounce can of diet soda contains 180 mg of aspartame,^[43] and one liter of aspartame-sweetened soda contains 600 mg aspartame.^[44] U.S. diet beverage consumers average approximately 200 mg of daily aspartame consumption.^[43] For a 75 kilograms (165 lb) adult, it takes approximately 21 cans of diet soda to consume the 3,750 mg of aspartame that would surpass the the FDA's 50 mg/kg ADI of aspartame.^[43] Surveys of aspartame intake, particularly via diet soda, indicate that even consumers with high aspartame intake are typically "well below" the EFSA's 40 mg/kg ADI.^[45][46][47] The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food concluded in 2002 that, while some minor effects on health may occur at very high doses, no effects are expected at normal levels of consumption.^[48][49] Most scientific studies have found no adverse effects of aspartame ingestion,^{[50][51][52][53]} but several scientists have recommended further research into postulated connections between aspartame and an increase in malignant brain tumors from 1982 to 1992.^[54] or lymphoma.^[55] One small study associated headaches with doses lower than the acceptable daily intake,^[56] but a complete review of clinical trials concluded that consumption of aspartame is unrelated to headaches.^[57]

Hypotheses of adverse health effects have focused on three metabolites of aspartame. A review of the effects of those metabolites has established that aspartame and its metabolites are safe and that there are no adverse reactions.^[58]

Now sure, you've managed to clear up, and hopefully things stay that way, but it's not necessarily this chemical. If it is, then it's possible that you have Phenylketonuria (PKU) in which case a doctor should be able to confirm this with a few tests. If it's not, it could be just about anything - a small change in daily routine (such as not drinking a couple large bottles of something... anything) can dramatically alter your health, even if it has nothing to do with the chemicals.


Once again - I'm not saying that you haven't found the cause, I'm just pointing out that cause and effect are two different things, and that you shouldn't take risks with your health by thinking they are the same. What does your doctor think of your improvement?

 

[brando]

I used to drink HEAPS of diet coke and Pepsi max, and these days still drink two or three cans every day. Have been drinking the stuff for 17 years and no noticable side-effects on general health.

I compare the risks to that of using mobile phone - i.e. not proven to be dangerous, but common sense says it can't be good for you.

 

[manticle]

I'm the last person to judge any person's alcoholic consumption but it's good you've quit artificially sweetened drinks because they just taste plain horrible.

Use the money you save and buy some good single malt whisky and some tasty beers.

 

[Adamt]

2.5L of cola every day... I guess you wouldn't have drunk else than that (and alcohol)?

Quite a few of those symptoms sound like those of dehydration... have you investigated that?

From another point of view, stopping your ridiculous intake of soft drink is what has cured you.

 

[b_thomas]

I recently gave up the black poison (ie. Cola and Coffee) and after a week of feeling like I was suffering from the flu I switched to green tea (to keep my caffeine levels in check in case I ever have a double espresso).

I guess as always it's always a case of living in moderation. However there are FAR too many additives in Australian food. I'd prefer to eat what I like so long as it is something "natural" - kind of like the French, everything is fresh and unpackaged there and they're all built like twigs. It's so hard to do here though, even our fruit is coated in crap to make it shiney.

In regards to the OP's drinking, I think there's probably a correlation, but probably more to do with the amount being drunk rather than the chemical itself.

 

[bum]

It's so hard to do here though, even our fruit is coated in crap to make it shiney.

Sorry, but I've got to call "rubbish" on this one. Just about the only thing that passes through our kitchen that comes in packaging is Tim Tams. The supermarkets here (one chain moreso than others, of course) have a pretty amazing array of fresh and seasonal ingredients. Go to somewhere like the US and you'll see how good we have it here.

 

[tcraig20]

i knew a guy who used to be a courier. would drive around all day delivering things....whilst driving would comsume 2 x 1.25L bottles of soft drink everyday. man had the biggest gut i have ever seen and he did not even touch alcohol.

seen the size of a upsized large coke at macdonalds over in the US?

do enough of anything and it will proper mess you up. all bout balance and moderation in the end really.

I knew a bloke who was a coke-guzzling tea-tottler too. The size of a small house, I guess its the sugar.

 

[Mantis]

I knew a bloke who was a coke-guzzling tea-tottler too. The size of a small house, I guess its the sugar.

I know a butcher who is a coke addict and he too has many health problems.
Good that you are feeling better and well done for narrowing done the cause. :beer: