Aspartame

Guzzler said:

I took aspartame sweetener in my tea for twenty years before my daughter in law came across an article about the way aspartame affects the liver, kidneys and gut. It's a while back now so the details evade me but basically the liver cannot process aspartame but tries in vain to metabolise it, it changes from one chemical make up to another until it ends up being the same as a chemical that is commonly used in embalming fluid. Once in the human body it stays there.
I have forgotten its effects on the kidneys but aspartame can irritate the lining of the gut causing the death of good bacteria.

It is interesting to note that all sweeteners to some extent make one eat more. And lastly it seems very shady to me that Monsanto dropped the patent on aspartame within months of the first and only recorded 'Death by Aspartame poisoning' in New Zealand.

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zand said:

Thanks for the tag @Pipp

I first noticed that aspartame was affecting me around 15 (?) years ago. I got horrid shooting pains from my jaw up to the top of my head. When I next went to the dentist and she asked if I had headaches I told her about these pains. She checked my jaw and it was slightly off true alignment. She was the one who suggested that aspartame could be the cause. I had changed from regular fizzy drinks to diet ones many years before, drinking around 2 litres a day.

It took me a long time to give up diet colas - years. Sugar is known to be addictive and for me sugar substitutes are too. I eventually managed to cut out colas altogether, substituting them with sparking mineral water. Now I try to drink only teas and still water.

Before I was diagnosed with T2 I read up about insulin resistance and found that diet drinks could help to cause this and therefore make you fat if you drank enough of them for long enough. It certainly wasn't sugary drinks that made me obese, I never drank them. I am fearful that the obesity problem will get worse instead of better if everyone changes to diet drinks thinking they are more healthy. I used to very occasionally have a very weak drink of Tesco 50% squash. Now they have reduced the sugar content and put sweeteners in I no longer buy it. Aspartame affects the gut microbiome and therefore the metabolism. I occasionally weaken and have the odd diet cola. I always regret it, I wake up next day with liver and kidney pains and know I've been stupid.

I agree with the comments from @Resurgam and @Guzzler above.

I saw your thread earlier and started to reply. Then I deleted what I had prepared to write as I have said this on the forum before and have been slated for it. Before I drank diet drinks I was slim. I have tried to warn others not to do what I have done, but most don't want to hear it. I don't want anyone to mess up their body like I have, especially T1s who could be landed with 'double diabetes' and weight gain if they become very insulin resistant. I am grateful that Pipp tagged me for my input here and that you have asked for our opinions on the subject @Sallyspelling . I won't be arguing my case with any naysayers though. I know aspartame has damaged my health as I have seen the effects.

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zand said:

Thanks for the tag @Pipp

I first noticed that aspartame was affecting me around 15 (?) years ago. I got horrid shooting pains from my jaw up to the top of my head. When I next went to the dentist and she asked if I had headaches I told her about these pains. She checked my jaw and it was slightly off true alignment. She was the one who suggested that aspartame could be the cause. I had changed from regular fizzy drinks to diet ones many years before, drinking around 2 litres a day.

It took me a long time to give up diet colas - years. Sugar is known to be addictive and for me sugar substitutes are too. I eventually managed to cut out colas altogether, substituting them with sparking mineral water. Now I try to drink only teas and still water.

Before I was diagnosed with T2 I read up about insulin resistance and found that diet drinks could help to cause this and therefore make you fat if you drank enough of them for long enough. It certainly wasn't sugary drinks that made me obese, I never drank them. I am fearful that the obesity problem will get worse instead of better if everyone changes to diet drinks thinking they are more healthy. I used to very occasionally have a very weak drink of Tesco 50% squash. Now they have reduced the sugar content and put sweeteners in I no longer buy it. Aspartame affects the gut microbiome and therefore the metabolism. I occasionally weaken and have the odd diet cola. I always regret it, I wake up next day with liver and kidney pains and know I've been stupid.

I agree with the comments from @Resurgam and @Guzzler above.

I saw your thread earlier and started to reply. Then I deleted what I had prepared to write as I have said this on the forum before and have been slated for it. Before I drank diet drinks I was slim. I have tried to warn others not to do what I have done, but most don't want to hear it. I don't want anyone to mess up their body like I have, especially T1s who could be landed with 'double diabetes' and weight gain if they become very insulin resistant. I am grateful that Pipp tagged me for my input here and that you have asked for our opinions on the subject @Sallyspelling . I won't be arguing my case with any naysayers though. I know aspartame has damaged my health as I have seen the effects.

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Guzzler said:

While I am not proposing that everyone give up their sweeteners I would strongly advise that you do your research and make up your own minds. I have tried to research the new generation of sweeteners such as Stevia but I am no biochemist so a lot of the information I have found has left me none the wiser. My overriding feelings though are a mistrust of giant companies such as Monsanto who, by the way, are well known for dissembling their information and hiding behind daughter companies.
As has been said, I have come to the conclusion that although I may want to eat sweet things it is better that I do not. Does this mean an end to apple crumble? No, not at all, it means a small portion as a treat once or twice a year and it will be made with golden caster sugar.

The end make up of the aspartame that I couldn't recall in my earlier comment is Formaldehyde which is a constituent part of embalming fluid. I joked at the time of reading the article that I would need two funerals, one for me then one for my liver ten years later. But joking aside, please do your research. We have been steered into believing that carbohydrates are good and fat is bad for decades. Now the truth is coming out. I believe that the truth about sweeteners is coming out. Question everything, folks.

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