I am scared now

India
April 23, 2010 2:16am CST
Hi everybody, for past several years, I have been taking the so called SUGAR FREE artificial sweeteners in my tea, milk and other homemade sweets and sweet dishes. I also carry a small bottle of this in my hand bag, in hotels when I order for tea without sugar I add 2 tablets. But after I get this email forwarded by a friend I am scared. It was very long, I have edited it. Just read and share your views. I am feeling numbness in my feet and undergoing treatment under an endocrinologist and neuro physician. The so called artificial sweeteners under brand name SUGAR FREE, EQUAL, NUTRA SWEET, and SPOONFUL all contain Aspartame, a slow poison. The label on SUGAR FREE bottle says it can be used to food while cooking, up to 14 tablets. Because ‘if it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; nobody can even think about this. Diet soda contains Aspartame, it can cause muscle spasm, avoid this. 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. 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 and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.' Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it in our body! If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!' that causes ramps, Vertigo, Dizziness, Headaches, Tinnitus, Joint pain, Please share your views, advise me please. Happy posting, cheers Prof
4 people like this
17 responses
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
23 Apr 10
do not pay any nevermind to all that crap stuff,this is proved untruth, they did those silly tests on rats, rats! you would have to eat a hundred pounds of this at one time to have any bad effects.this is a urban myth that keeps resurfacing. I have used aspartame for thirty odd years in diet sodas and to sweeten cereals and have never had any of those effects. snopes it for yourself under food myths, this is an old one that has been used to scare the heck out of people and is really untrue. us diabetics use it a lot and we have never had any of that scare crap happen to us. go snopes it if you do not believe me.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
9 May 10
hi professor glad I got you relaxed. and thanks so much for best response its also so great to get one.
• India
9 May 10
Lol Hatley I feel relaxed now, no more scared, right now i am back to sugarfree in my tea and indian dishes.. Thanks for sharing your views. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
1 person likes this
@Poison_Girl (4150)
• United States
25 Apr 10
I don't know. Looking it up on Snopes.com, it appears to be false. I believe it is, but I couldn't tell you for sure. It'd be best to try to do your own research on it. I wouldn't ask people here, though. I think a lot of people just respond to it to get their amount up. This is what I found on Snopes, but it'd be best to ask a doctor. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Thanks for pointing out.I will check dear Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@riyasam (16556)
• India
24 Apr 10
i cannot vouch for the authencity of this e-mail but it is always better to have homemade sugarless products.if you see even fruit juices available in market contain certain preservatives which are harmful to health.
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
lol i shared what i got.. Thanks for response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@dloveli (4366)
• United States
24 Apr 10
Listen friend. There have been issues with artificial sweeteners for years. At one point they were said to cause cancer. Anything in large amounts can cause health issues. The sugar verses substitutes has its pros and cons on both sides. If you are using sugar in your coffee and its only a few teaspoons, then so be it. Its when you use 7, 8 , 10 sugars that becomes an issue. If you are a coffee junkie that can add up. That's when the sweeteneers come into play. If the Aspartame was an issue than the health department or the FDA will yank it. If you use them in moderation then fine. If you use alot of it call your doctor. They usually have a nutritionist in the office or someone who offers nutrition education. You could also go to a nutrition website and find out there. I wouldnt lose sleep over it. Honestly I work with alot of diabetics and they are told to use sugar substitutes. Diabetics have to use the substitutes in everything. I wouldnt worry until the FDA says something. Anyways you dont need any sugar you are sweet enough. lol Happy MyLotting dl
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
LOL I am back to sugar free, feel relaxed now Thanks for sharing. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@mentalward (14691)
• United States
24 Apr 10
I just looked this up on Snopes.com and they say this email is a hoax that has been circulating since 1998. Here's the link to this: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp There is no truth or validity to the statements in that email. Whenever I get anything like this in an email, I always look it up on Snopes to see if it is true or not before I start panicking. I believe that natural is always better but when something like this email tells me that one thing can cause so many potentially deadly illnesses, I'm skeptical because the FDA has their ever-present eye on any ingestible substance that may be harmful and will pull it from the shelves faster than a speeding bullet if there is any indication that it could cause widespread harm. I wish everyone would look things like this up on Snopes before passing it along.
• India
9 May 10
You are right, thanks for telling me, i will be careful.. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
• Singapore
24 Apr 10
Luckily i don't use artificial sweeteners. Usually i like to drink tea plain, without adding anything else, because i really like the bitter-sour taste. Even if I need to sweeten my tea I would just add half a packet of cane sugar, and that's about it. And I prefer plain water to soft drinks, especially the diet ones, anytime.
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Thanks for sharing your views Welcome to mylot. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
24 Apr 10
I come from a family of diabetics and I also changed artificial sweeteners three years ago when I learned about the harmful effects of asparteme. Asparteme is present even in regular sodas, another reason why I don't drink sodas anymore. I read the label of foods that I buy now because not only do I come from a family of diabetics, my mother also has cancer so most of the time I buy fruits and vegetables. Her doctor also informed her that she can use regular sugar as long as its in moderation. By the way, we use Splenda and Estevia now.
• India
9 May 10
Thanks for detailed response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
23 Apr 10
I'm so lucky, I worked at General Foods Inc in the 80's when they were manufacturing sugar free powdered drinks sweetened with Aspartame. I saw the girls on the packing lines with swelled hands are blotchy arms, many getting sick, and missing work. I hated the stuff, as it filled in the air, and everyone's throat was sore. from that day forward I've never eaten anything sweetened with Aspartame or any other Saccharine derivatives. Now, all the chewing gum in the US and Canada is sweetened with This chemical. I buy Gum made in Mexico, still sweetened with sugar. Next time you buy gum, check the small print on the back of the pack!
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Thanks for telling me friend, I will check. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
23 Apr 10
You do have to eat an awful lot of that stuff to come anywhere near to suffering any of those side effects. However, I did find that when I stopped using artificial sweeteners, I stopped having so many cravings and it was easier to maintain my weight.
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Thanks for sharing your experience . Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@Opal26 (17679)
• United States
23 Apr 10
Hey Professor! This article was particularly disturbing to me because I drink an abnormal amount of Diet Coke everyday just about 24/7! I am absolutely addicted to it and I believe what this article says! I believe that it does put more weight on! I have gotten so used to drinking it that now regular soda tastes terrible to me and I honestly don't know if I should go back to drinking it and stop the drinking of the Diet Coke! I knew that the diet sugar substitutes weren't good for people and since they have the same substance Aspartame in them as does the coke I don't know why I continue to drink the stuff! It may be accountable for the numerous unexplainable symptomes I have for alot of things! I will have to think about switching my soda. I know that I should totally cut out the caffeine altogether for alot of reasons, but being addicted is not a pleasant thing and giving it up will be very difficult as with any addiction! Thanks for sharing the information!
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Very difficult to give up right, but not impossible I am sure.. Thanks for the detailed response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
• India
23 Apr 10
Its true aspertame is a slow poison. you find this in all colas in huge quantity. since these colas are packed in PET bottles and any exposure of these to sunlight ignites a chemical reaction with the chemiacals present in PET and aspertame which could be dangerous for human body. likewise, most of the ingredients that go into the medicines churned out by MNC pharma companies also have large quantities of harmful chemicals. more than 90% of the medicines today manufactured are of NO USE to humanity.
• India
9 May 10
Thanks for telling me about MNC products. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@cupkitties (7421)
• United States
23 Apr 10
Its best that you ask a doctor about that. This looks to me like another one of the billions of shock value hoax emails that are sent around every day. http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=Aspartame+Poisoning&x=31&y=8&sp-a=00062d45-sp00000000&sp-advanced=1&sp-p=all&sp-w-control=1&sp-w=alike&sp-date-range=-1&sp-x=any&sp-c=100&sp-m=1&sp-s=0
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
You are welcome, I will ask my friend Thanks . Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@tigeraunt (6326)
• Philippines
23 Apr 10
dear professor, your discussion have made me more curious about aspertame and here is what i have searched. i guess you will have more questions on your mind or it maybe an eye opener. see this site: http://www.aspartame.com/ have a good and pleasant day. ann
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Hi dear ann Thanks for the link and the nice response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@sophiaraine (1113)
• Philippines
23 Apr 10
I'm so shocked. Are you diabetic? Is that why you are using artificial sweeteners? Most of our family members have diabetes. It's in our blood (luckily, I don't have it yet). My grandfather, grandmother, mom, dad, aunts, have diabetes. They said that someday we'll have diabetes too (since it's hereditary). They use artificial sweeteners. They are using Equal to be exact. Like you, my dad's Equal is always on his pouch that he never leaves home without it. If he forgets it, he uses a very very small amount of sugar. In fact they are all using Equal. Sometimes my dad uses Splenda. I can see that you didn't mention Splenda. Does it contain Aspartame too? I'm very intrigued about this. They also like sodas. And since they are diabetics, they drink coke zero, coke light, sprite light...anything that is sugar free! One of my aunts, my dad's sister is a doctor. And she's not stopping them to take Equal and Diet cokes. So I'm a little curious if all of these are true, I'm going to print this out and show it to them. After all, we receive different kinds of forwarded emails that's claiming something true and it turns out to be a joke. Let's just do a thorough research. Nice post by the way. I'm going to rate you positively. Have a nice day! :)
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Hello welcome to mylot I shared what i got, did you show to them, what they said, please tell me.. Thanks for response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@BART78 (2927)
• Canada
23 Apr 10
when i first heard this health news i couldn't believe it, cause i got a sweet tooth but i came to realized it's better to stay away from this artificial sweeteners than be sorry later on...prolong use of this will hurt your neuron system, i guess?
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Yes it may effect.. Thanks for response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof
@BART78 (2927)
• Canada
23 Apr 10
when i first heard this health news i couldn't believe it, cause i got a sweet tooth but i came to realized it's better to stay away from this artificial sweeteners than be sorry later on...prolong use of this will hurt your neuron system, i guess?
@luofan (1)
• China
23 Apr 10
Take it easy, man We chinese people drink milk added with melamine, manufactured by some so-called domestic top-brands, and we are still alive. So, don't worry about that.
@agv0419 (3022)
• Philippines
23 Apr 10
I've read that too that artificial sweeteners is dangerous compare if you used the common sugar. So it is better to switch to healthy sugar like the unrefined sugar like brown sugar or molasses.
1 person likes this
• India
9 May 10
Welcome my friend Thanks for response. Happy posting. God bless you. Cheers. Prof