Warning About Aspartame (nutrasweet 951)

[flattop]

All the more reason to home brew.... you can see the crap that you are putting in your beer.

Seriously though, it's possible you have an intolerance to something in diet drinks.
Aspartame had a bad name from launch, 20 odd years on it's still around, but then so are booze, smokes and hookers....
I agree a basic cause and effect proves nothing, but anything in excess can be harmful h34r:

I would add i used to drink about 2 liters of coke a day for a couple of years, i went to the dentist and she said stop drinking coke...
I asked how do you know i drink coke, she said that i had a ring of deterioration around the teeth at the gums stained brown.
I stopped drinking coke right away. 20 years later i had another dentist ask if i used to drink coke as i have a brown ring around.....
The good news is apparently it has calcified over time or sort of enameled over, so where it was eaten away has kind of healed.

We all have to die sometime, but i hope for a number 95 bus rather than liver damage, brain tumor or cancer....

 

[Cube]

Just a quickie on those drinking green tea. I grow my own tea herbs including olive leaves and soon to be olives. On my 'dry days' off a week I brew my own home grown teas and I really look forward to them now that I have expanded my tastes and knowledge in teas. Try some garden dried mint, olive leaf and orange rind for a starter. Very nice. Lime and lemon rind with mint is also a nice brew. Don't just grate the rind in. Remove the white flesh and dry it then bash it up in a mortar etc....

Some may wish to get into blended chill tea etc. I'm running out of chilli's at this stage so am looking for another fix of 'heat' in my teas.......

 

[Sammus]

I agree, artificial sweeteners are poison. I never touch them personally.

Also I could help but point out that Aspartame and Phenylalanine are different, though similar. Aspartame is banned in the USA but phenylalanine is not.

Also be wary that all the metamucil's except the coarse original one contain aspertame, as does berocca. I think one of the berocca flavours might not have it, but most of em do.

 

[mwd]

Just a quickie on those drinking green tea. I grow my own tea herbs including olive leaves and soon to be olives. On my 'dry days' off a week I brew my own home grown teas and I really look forward to them now that I have expanded my tastes and knowledge in teas. Try some garden dried mint, olive leaf and orange rind for a starter. Very nice. Lime and lemon rind with mint is also a nice brew. Don't just grate the rind in. Remove the white flesh and dry it then bash it up in a mortar etc....

Some may wish to get into blended chill tea etc. I'm running out of chilli's at this stage so am looking for another fix of 'heat' in my teas.......

Root Ginger in tea is very good too.
Used to drink it all the time when I lived in Indonesia.
Cut a few fine slices and add to the teapot.

Excellent when making ice teas with mint.

 

[Henno]

Now I know 60 Minutes isn't a good example of fair and honest journalism but when they did a bit on aspartame it got my attention. A lot of the medical stuff was that the original testing on lab rats that developed cancers were hushed up to get the product on the market. The main thing I remember was when they asked one of the head honchos for PepsiMax international to drink a can of it on camera and he refused.

Never really touched the stuff since. When you think about sugar it is one of the most natural forms of energy out there but gets bastardised in labs in so many foods we consume. To invent something in a lab that is vaguely sweet to the taste and say 'There ya go, you'll be right' kind of gets me suspicious as well. At least adults have the choice, when they bombard baby food with it though and you really have to read to notice it on the label that's gotta be wrong. I think we'll here more about artificial sweeteners in general in years to come. To say 'I've been drinking it for years and I'm ok' is along the lines of 'I've been smoking for years and I'm ok.'

My personal opinion anyhoo. Now, where's that flame suit.....

 

[bum]

Aspartame is not banned in the US. In fact, 'FDA officials described the safety of aspartame as "clear cut" and stated that the product is "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved."' - Wikipedia (if someone else can use 60 Minutes as a source then I can use Wikipedia).

Not suggesting an individual cannot be adversely effected, of course.

[EDIT: typo]

 

[jonocarroll]

Also I could help but point out that Aspartame and Phenylalanine are different, though similar. Aspartame is banned in the USA but phenylalanine is not.

Aspartame is the methyl ester of a phenylalanine/aspartic acid dipeptide. Upon ingestion, aspartame breaks down into natural residual components, including aspartic acid, phenylalanine, methanol, and further breakdown products including formaldehyde, formic acid, and a diketopiperazine.

Sure, there's some pretty nasty stuff in there, but do you have any idea how many poisons you ingest/digest each and every day, and yet somehow live?

From the horse's mouth, http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/Pre...6/ucm108650.htm

European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) review of European Ramazzini Foundation (ERF)'s study concluded, among other things, that on the basis of all evidence currently available to EFSA:

• ERF's conclusion that aspartame is a carcinogen is not supported by the data; and
• EFSA sees no need to further review its earlier scientific opinion on the safety of aspartame or to revise the Acceptable Daily Intake.

Since it was first approved for use in the United States, the safety of aspartame has been questioned by some. To date, however, the agency has not been presented with scientific information that would support a change in our conclusions about the safety of aspartame. Those conclusions are based on a detailed review of a large body of information, including more than 100 toxicological and clinical studies regarding the sweetener's safety

Say what you will though, I've no doubt that personal experience and rumours hold more ground than "100 toxicological and clinical studies regarding the sweetener's safety". Go on, you know you want to say "the great sweetener conspiracy..." <_<

 

[Sammus]

I stand corrected...I have an old book on food additives here that says it's banned in the USA... <_< not that I ever trusted it anyway I guess, now even more reasons not to.

Well.. just so I'm not wrong on all counts, just as you said (or wiki did anyway) "Aspartame is the methyl ester of a phenylalanine/aspartic acid dipeptide." - so theyre different, just like I said. I never said anything about what happens to them post ingestion

Oh, and what the hell man "Say what you will though, I've no doubt that personal experience and rumours hold more ground than "100 toxicological and clinical studies regarding the sweetener's safety"" - I was just quoting something I'd read cuz I thought it might be useful, I wasn't making shit up to try and be cool, theres no reason to be such a right smart ass about it.

 

[Fents]

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.

Next time you grab a kilo of apples from safeway or coles, run the kitchen sink with cold water and let the apples sit in it for a bit. you will see this white waxy film show up on every apple no doubt. My missus is great, she now goes to Preston market every weekend and only buys fruit and veg from the organic shop there. Same with meat now too. Expensive, Yes...but well worth it i say.

 

[brettprevans]

im pissed off. my tonic water contains this stuff. here i was thkning im doing the right thing by switching to tonic (then diet tonic so no sugar) and i still get the bum steer. oh well will have to keep experimenting with home made mineral water until I get that right. at least i know exactly what goes into that.

 

[tcraig20]

Next time you grab a kilo of apples from safeway or coles, run the kitchen sink with cold water and let the apples sit in it for a bit. you will see this white waxy film show up on every apple no doubt. My missus is great, she now goes to Preston market every weekend and only buys fruit and veg from the organic shop there. Same with meat now too. Expensive, Yes...but well worth it i say.

That white waxy film is wax isnt it?

 

[Adamt]

im pissed off. my tonic water contains this stuff. here i was thkning im doing the right thing by switching to tonic (then diet tonic so no sugar) and i still get the bum steer. oh well will have to keep experimenting with home made mineral water until I get that right. at least i know exactly what goes into that.

Huh?

This sickens me, really. This is exactly how all this conspiracy theory, hippie, sensationalistic bullshit pseudo-science is spread and it's bringing our race down.

 

[Leigh]

Don't get me started on the organic foods myth Fents LOL

Whether a food input is dangerous or not, everything is dangerous in large quantities...heck there are several people who die every year from drinking too much water!

Your body can't process copious amounts of anything...defining "copious" is the question...to further complicate "copious" is different for everybody is different for the same person on different days...

As Fents said, 'tis all about moderation.

 

[brettprevans]

what didnt you understand Adam?

I went home last night and looked only to find that tonic water has preservitive 951. I switched to tonic water from softdrink etc as I thought iwas going to be a lot better for me. only to find out it still has crap in it.

thus i will continue to experiment with mineral water recipes at home and drink that instead.

like all AHB threads. .If the thread sickens you.....dont read it.

 

[Adamt]

What sickens me is the fact that you are no longer drinking it because it's got aspartame in it. There is nothing wrong with aspartame consumed in normal quantities (as far as can be proven through extensive scientific analysis).

EDIT: I like to read and contribute to these topics (and so should everyone to any thread with opposing opinions with a solid basis) because without critical analysis of theories like the first post of this topic, absolute crap like this will get taken on by many as fact.

 

[brettprevans]

ahh ok get you now. I'll still drink tonic water just not in the quantities i used to. i'll switcxh to minieral water as 1st prefernce. or beer!

 

[jonocarroll]

Oh, and what the hell man "Say what you will though, I've no doubt that personal experience and rumours hold more ground than "100 toxicological and clinical studies regarding the sweetener's safety"" - I was just quoting something I'd read cuz I thought it might be useful, I wasn't making shit up to try and be cool, theres no reason to be such a right smart ass about it.

That wasn't directed at you; more the general consensus amongst the population that if result A happens to my uncle's neighbour's mate from school then that's better proof than a rigorous, scientific study, and anything suggesting otherwise is a conspiracy.

That, and I hate 'sample pool of one' studies the people seem to think are conclusive: I once got a cold, and decided to treat it by eating a different coloured skittle each day. I found that on day 4 (upon eating the orange skittle) I started feeling better, so I figured that particular skittle flavour/colour was responsible, so I started eating only orange skittles and I got completely better - proof positive that orange skittles cure the cold, they must contain some vitamin C or something. Oh, and also, I felt a bit worse after the blue one - don't eat those!

I'm with Adamt here; I'm glad the OP feels better, but a flimsy connection between cause and effect is not a great health regime.

 

[bum]

Next time you grab a kilo of apples from safeway or coles, run the kitchen sink with cold water and let the apples sit in it for a bit. you will see this white waxy film show up on every apple no doubt. My missus is great, she now goes to Preston market every weekend and only buys fruit and veg from the organic shop there. Same with meat now too. Expensive, Yes...but well worth it i say.

I'm not saying it is the best possible produce available - I'm just saying that there's no excuse for resorting to pre-packaged/prepared stuff when you don't want to.

But the wax isn't even the worst part of supermarket apples. Current conspiracy theory suggests you can't buy an apple in a supermarket in this country that is under a year old. Scary stuff if even remotely plausible.

 

[bit]

Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, without the high energy value of sugar.

from Wikipedia..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame

Diet/zero coke and heaps of other "no sugar" products contain aspartame. So if you like to drink coke safer option is normal coke, but I wouldn't touch that stuff at all.

 

[Adamt]

Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, without the high energy value of sugar.

from Wikipedia..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame

Diet/zero coke and heaps of other "no sugar" products contain aspartame. So if you like to drink coke safer option is normal coke, but I wouldn't touch that stuff at all.

Hmm... yeahhhhh... no.