Long But Interesting Read

Canada
November 1, 2008 7:44pm CST
This was sent to me by my daughter. It is long but interesting. I'd like to hear from a doctor on this one. SWEET POISON A MUST READ In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain. By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick.she just knew she was dying. She put her house, bank accounts, lifeinsurance, etc., in her oldest daughter’s name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of. She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd . On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn’t find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment. I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her the article my friend, a lawyer, had sent. My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn’t feel 100% but she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home. Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death. When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life. If it says ‘SUGAR FREE’ on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on “ASPARTAME,” marketed as ‘NutraSweet,’ ‘Equal,’ and ‘Spoonful.’ In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject. I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers. The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas. In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We’ve seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, “If you are using ASPARTAME (NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!” People were jumping up during the lecture saying, “I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?” Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice, a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates. It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin andis used primarily to preserve “tissue specimens.” Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body! Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the “diet products” and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period. Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the bloodsugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance. Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrierand it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, uncontrollable anger and rage. Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with ADD and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet. So called “behavior modification prescription drugs” (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being “poisoned” on a daily basis with the very foods that were “better for them than sugar.” It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome. Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners. There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.” Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Sadly, MONSANTO’S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a “piece of the Aspartame pie.” I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is. And isn’t it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians? This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants. The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms. The bill was killed. It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you’re Informed now! YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW! Please print this out and/or e-mail to your family and friends. They have a right to know too --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 people like this
14 responses
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
2 Nov 08
I have read this before. Its scary too, my mom drinks lot of diet coke and she is a diabetic. She also has lots of other health problems. I went and checked on snopes.com about this, they said it was an email hoax. The link for that is: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp Have you ever heard about the snopes site, another member here told me about them. You can check out all kinds of stuff. some things do turn out to be the truth. it is better to be safe then sorry. I do sometimes wonder though about some of the chemicals in our foods and drinks. MSG is one of them, its dangerous and the food manufacturers know it and they keep using it. A friend just told me yesturday about a doctor telling his son to quit drinking diet pop, that it will cause you to gain weight rather then lose weight. I have also heard another time about diet pop being bad for you. I am not much a pop drinker, I did have some diet coke today though. I mostly drink green tea or water.
3 people like this
• Canada
2 Nov 08
No I have never heard about Snopes but I appreciate the link. One never knows, but there sure has been a lot of crap happening in what we eat and drink. If drinking pop was the only way a person could get fat, you'd be able to see right through my ribs. I only drink Canada Dry Ginger Ale when I've got the stomach flue. Stops me from vomiting but just use the regular kind. As I'm typing this I'm thinking now maybe I did hear about this before...Oh well the mind goes first right? Thanks.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
2 Nov 08
I have heard things like this many times. They are not backed up by the medical profession. At least not completely. It is true that artificially sweetened things do make you crave more carbs, more sweets. It is true that they aggravate some other health problems. I sure do not drink them. I also try very hard to avoid high fructose corn syrup.If I use an alternative sweetener to cane sugar, it is honey or maple syrup or stevia. We just do not know for sure what artificial sweeteners do. I agree they are not good for you, but this other stuff has not been proven.
• Canada
2 Nov 08
I don't like sweets of any kind so I'm OK there but there's so much junk in all our food it's scary.
2 people like this
• United States
2 Nov 08
I have been drinking diet soda for many, many years but as I do not drink more than one or two cans a the most a day perhaps that is why I have not had any problems. However I never use any kind of artificial sweeteners. I only use STEVIA which is a natural herb supplement.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Nov 08
When I have sweetened tea it is with granulated sugar and not a substitute. I believe that if you are going to have something sweet, just have the real thing.
• Canada
2 Nov 08
I'm not a pop drinker at all I just don't like it, but I see where this crap is in other beverages as well. I do like ice tea but I don't even drink much of that just a bit in the summer.
1 person likes this
@leenie50 (3992)
• United States
2 Nov 08
Grandma, Tea is actually very good for you, green or black. It is very high in antioxidants. leenie
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
2 Nov 08
I was looking for recipes since I might be diabetic, and a lot of them contain Equal. I do not like diet soda, I do not like the taste of them in food, not even Splendea and I now know why I do not like them. I used to have petit mal when I was a youngster -blacking out, and I did not have anything with artificial sweeteners then. So what would have happened if I decided to drink a lot of diet sodas? I never knew the dangers but if one is like me and has low grade depression, then something like this should be taken off the shelves.
@busyB4 (874)
• United States
2 Nov 08
I do drink the diet sodas. I started several years ago and when I lost almost 10 pounds by going to the diet ones, I was hooked. Now the regular taste far too sweet to me. I guess because diabetes is in my family, I am more leary to go back to the regular. I have not seen any effects from the diet for me. I do know of others though that cannot tolerate them due to something physical ot does to them. I think it is alot like everything else, each person is affected differently.
• United States
2 Nov 08
even though Snopes has sited many a source on this showing that it is False..i still dont drink DIET soda..or use any artificial sweetener for that matter. they say things like "tastes like sugar cause its made from sugar" so then just eat a little bit of the damn sugar lol! not to mention that i cannot stand the taste of diet sodas..many ppl have told me you get used to the taste..barf..i will never get used to it. though for all the chemicals and crap we put into our food and therefore our bodies, it wouldnt surprise me if 20years down the line things like this turn out able to be proven as true!
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Nov 08
I remember when TAB was all the rage many years ago. The sweetener they used in this product was taken off the market. My mother drank it as her beverage of choice. I know many people did. Scary!
• Canada
2 Nov 08
True enough we just don't know.
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
2 Nov 08
Another one is called Neotame and it is a stronger and even more dangerous form of Aspertame. I do not understand how people can consume this poison. About a year ago I bought some iced tea in a bottle after reading the label with care, but I was then unfamiliar with the term Neotame and as it was listed last, in grey lettering on a dark brown label, I didn't make the connection. One sip and I, who never gets headaches, felt a headache coming on, but worse, it clawed at my throat. I spat it out and researched that word neotame. I was shocked and now I tell anyone who will listen to avoid this stuff. You do a great service by warning other people about these substances as many people are innocent and do no know. It is all about GREED.
1 person likes this
• Canada
2 Nov 08
I've never heard about neotame but I don't drink pop at all.
2 people like this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
3 Nov 08
I don't drink pop either, grandma, but they put it not only in other beverages but also in yogurt and other foods most people think of as healthy. We just have to watch them every minute.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
2 Nov 08
I will never accept the news of aspartame safety. First, I don’t trust “Snopes” They just consult with FDA, not with doctors. Aspartame is a huge business and nobody wants to loose. FDA was alarmed for years by medical profession about aspartame poisoning. There were some study performed back in 1972 for 52 weeks on monkey reveled that aspartame was not safe for humans. In fact ,Journal of Advancement in Medicine(Volume 4, Number 4, Winter 1991) Reported significiant increase of brain tumor associated with Aspartame intake. European Food Safety Authority EFSA wants aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid) safety data by 2008.10.31 for 'Meeting of National Experts on Aspartame' in December 2008. Most doctors agree that aspartame is not safe for humans, but FDA denied, because for them, not enough data was documented. Read this: http://www.mpwhi.com/continued_aspartame_use_a_scandal.htm
1 person likes this
@moondancer (7433)
• United States
3 Nov 08
I trully appreciate this warning and I'm sending it to everyone I know. This is an important issue, as we are told so much that this is better for us than sugar. I use sweet'n low in my coffee everyday. I have many of the problems you talked about. So needless to say I will not be using this any longer. Thank you so very much for bringing this to our attention!
• Canada
3 Nov 08
You are so welcome and I'm glad you will make the change.
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
2 Nov 08
This my friend is an urban legend, I was told that my trigeminal neuralgia was caused by artificial sweeteners, my neurologist laughed. He said that the number of people who get TN has remained the same over the years that some people - a few have some side effects from the artificial sweeteners but the number is very low and no illness or disease has ever been directtly attributed to them - except for saccharin...and one had to ingest it in extremely large amounts. Polly1 (go Maxine) was right...this is false.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
2 Nov 08
Thanks for sharing with us. I will try to send this out to others.
1 person likes this
• Canada
2 Nov 08
Thank You very much
@ellie26 (4139)
• Malaysia
2 Nov 08
Yes, this is very informative article. Luckily, I don't and never drink diet pepsi. I think we should be very careful about what we eat or drink these days. One minute, it was ok and the next it is dangerous. I think we should for more natural food. If we keep on eating or drinking food that supposed to be safe and actually is not, then we are poisoning ourselves slowly without our realizing it. So, we should be extremely careful.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
3 Nov 08
I seldom buy anything with that in it because when I drank a diet soda with it in, it gave me a headache and a sore throat. A nutritionist at the hospital told me it was all in my head because tests proved it had no side effects. I told her anyone can be allergic to anything. None of this surprises me, I've lived in NY State all my life and if ever a state could be bought. . ..
@celticeagle (159008)
• Boise, Idaho
2 Nov 08
This is scarey stuff. I am glad you let us know about it and I hope others like yourself will let things like this be known. We need to know about these type of things.
@leenie50 (3992)
• United States
2 Nov 08
Hi Grandma, How wonderful of you to take the time to send this to all of us. I greatly appreciate it. I have known for some time how bad this Aspartame was but no clue how really bad it is. This post of yours I hope should change a lot of lives for the good. I sent it to everyone in my address book and made a copy for myself as you suggested. I really hope more people take this seriously for their sake as well as their family and friends. I have always refused drink that says diet because the taste alone says bad to me. I'm going to have to do a little research to find out what other foods contain this poison. Thank you so much!! leenie
1 person likes this
• Canada
2 Nov 08
Thank You so much for your response.