Sweet Misery

[gettinserious]

Originally Posted by Tuscanytrace

That's what my migraine auras that I ONLY would get with Nutrasweet looked like! I don't get auras from Splenda, or on the ones I get when I'm not doing LC from a combination of heat, light, and stress triggers. Just Nutrasweet gives me tadpole auras.

If you haven't actually had a migraine to follow the auras yet, trust me, you DON'T want one.

I actually do get migraines. Severe ones especially after drinking diet soda. That is largely why I have given up all pop. I might allow myself a regular one on occasion, but that is so rare. I drink water and sometimes mint tea with no sweeteners.

Originally Posted by deb3

I love tea, but with NO SWEETNER? I think I'm just going to have to ween myself off and drink nothing but water!

I agree with those saying to sweeten with other stuff. I know for me, Bigelow's tea is best, all natural and their Plantation Mint needs NO sweetening. It gets some sweet from the mint leaves.

Some new words for me, so I googled to see what I can learn today about Rapadura - essentially pure dried sugarcane juice, in the form of a brick, said to be rich in dietary iron.

Zer- I was just discussing this with dbf last night. He said when they were younger and went to Hawaii, he got to have some pure sugar cane juice and I told him I would love to find some of it somewhere. However, I get a red flag about it being a brick. I suppose its possible for it to have been squeezed off into square molds and left to dry. Dunno....

I personally am going to be trying for stuff I know is natural and has health benefits. Like honey. Yes it is carby, but I don't have to have sweet all the time, so I believe the health benefits will be a good trade off. Also, I won't be buying honey in a store. Pure raw stuff from local farms...

[Melle]

Does anyone know what Arizona Teas use, as a sweetener? I am in love with their SF Pomegranate Green Tea. It comes in little tubs, that make
2-quarts. DH and I both looked on the label, and it does not list aspartame, equal, or nutrasweet. I went to their website and saw that their teas
do not contain benzine...but, that's all I could find.

Also, "No Sugar Added Nestle's Quik"...has none of the above ingredients listed, either.

[Zer]

Originally Posted by Melle

Does anyone know what Arizona Teas use, as a sweetener? I am in love with their SF Pomegranate Green Tea. It comes in little tubs, that make 2-quarts. DH and I both looked on the label, and it does not list aspartame, equal, or nutrasweet. I went to their website and saw that their teas do not contain benzine...but, that's all I could find.

Found this:

GREEN TEA INGREDIENTS: Premium brewed green tea using filtered water, high fructose corn syrup, honey, citric acid, natural flavors, ginseng extract, ascorbic acid. 100% All Natural. No Preservatives.

Pomgranate Tea Ingredients: premium brewed Green Tea using filtered water, high fructose corn syrup, pomegranate juice from concentrate, honey, apple juice from concentrate, citric acid, natural flavors, vegetable juice, ascorbic acid, panax ginseng, vitamin e acetate, vitamin a palmitate, sodium selenite.

[fawn]

I believe their diet products have acesulfame and maltodextrin.
AceK is also questionalbe and its safety is questioned.

[Melle]

Originally Posted by fawn

I believe their diet products have acesulfame and maltodextrin.
AceK is also questionalbe and its safety is questioned.

Yes, I believe I saw those two ingredients, on the label. I don't know anything about them. Right now, I'm just going to worry about aspartame...
one step at a time. As far as the others, like Scarlett O'Hara...I'll think about that, tomorrow.

[cleochatra]

{{{{Fawn}}}} Thank you so much for the movie recommendation. After all of those months of research, the film was the final nail in that coffin.

I'm just thankful to be able to feel my face again.

[DolphinsOnMyMind777]

Originally Posted by tita2005

Is there a symptom list for Splenda?

Thanks,

Theresa

Mods: just trying to paste in the list of symptoms but it pastes them in as links. not done intentionally. I'll delete if a problem. thanks.
The long list of symptoms


Consumers of Splenda and sucralose have reported the following symptoms, individually and in combinations. Scroll down or click on a symptom to read the related stories.

Abdominal pain, cramping
Acne
Anger
Bleeding readily without clotting
Blistered, swollen lips; burning tongue, inflamed mouth
Bloating
Blood in urine
Chest pains
Constipation
Constricted airway
Depression, anxiety, panic, thoughts of suicide or death, agoraphobia, feelings of hopelessness, feeling alone
Diarrhea
Dizziness
Dry mouth and sinuses
Elevated liver enzyme levels
Eyes crossed or unfocused
Fatigue, lethargy, weakness, loss of fine motor control
Gas
Headache
Heartburn, indigestion
Heart palpitations, accelerated heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, atrial fibrillation
Hot and cold flashes
Irritability or nervousness
Joint pain or swelling
Leg, foot pain
Memory loss (short-term)
Menstrual spotting, menstrual delay, missed period
Metallic taste
Migraines (severe headaches), stabbing head pain
Mood swings
Nausea, vomiting
Night sweats
Numbness of the limbs
Numbness of the tongue or gums
PMS
Rash, itchiness
Seizures
Sensitivity to light
Sensitivity to sound
Shaking
Shortness of breath
Sleeplessness, restlessness
Spaced-out, unfocused, light-headed, or drugged sensation; difficulty verbalizing ideas, confusion
Sugar craving
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Upset stomach
Weight gain

[Tuscanytrace]

Originally Posted by tita2005

What kind of yoghurt can I give my kids?

They've been eating the Lite kind with Aspartame. Any substitutes?

Thanks,

Theresa

What I do is put liquid flavored stevia in plain, full-fat yogurt. Once my Capella Flavor Drops come, I'm going to experiment with putting them in and adding a little plain liquid or maybe SteviaPlus with it.

Full-fat is much better for kids (and anyone) than low-fat.

[gettinserious]

sounds like there is absolutely no difference between splenda and aspartame.

[Tuscanytrace]

Originally Posted by gettinserious

sounds like there is absolutely no difference between splenda and aspartame.

Chemically there is. The migraines I get from each are totally different. With the Nutrasweet, I get an aura, and I get horribly nauseated (and waaaay beyond), but my head doesn't hurt a lot (but sound and light hurt). With Splenda, I get horrible, stabbing, shooting, squeezing pains--no aura and not much nausea, but horrible pain. Light and sound still hurt. And the "brain-dead" sensation is much worse. You know, where you can't concentrate well; can't think well; can't remember things; then afterwards you feel like your brain is just running out a hole in your skull and you still can't think or concentrate or remember. I don't have nearly the same degree of problem with that with Nutrasweet.

[jenna...]

Originally Posted by cleochatra

I've been researching aspartame for months now, but when I watched the film and correlated my evidence it proved to be overwhelming.

So, for the first time since 1984, as of 10:25 this morning, I'm aspartame free. I'm going to keep track of symptoms, as I am still experiencing everything listed above. Since the level of damage I've down to my body (in my opinion) over 25 years is so great, it could take weeks or months to recover fully. And, even then, there are long-term ramifications of continued use of that manufactured substance. I might still develop multiple sclerosis.

Research has shown that many neurological issues are due to environmental stimuli.

But, again, people need to do their own research. I've done mine.

The Junk we eat, chemicals we take by food or medically will store in the Fat Cells of the body (remember the flashbacks drug users used to have?). When your Fat Cells empty you'll lose the accumulated aspartame. Don't be surprised if you get weird emotions, sensations and feelings that quickly come and go as the aspartame leave the fat cell and exits the body.

[hummingbird11]

Chemical Cuisine / Nutrition Action Health Letter
A guide to food additives & artificial sweeteners

For complete listing:
Food Additives ~ CSPI’s Food Safety

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is the nonprofit health-advocacy group that publishes the Nutrition Action Health Letter. CSPI mounts educational programs and presses for changes in government and corporate policies.

Everyone should AVOID Aspartame & Acesulfame K
(unsafe or very poorly tested and not worth any risk)

Aspartame
(NutraSweet; Equal; SF Jell-O; diet soda; frozen desserts; etc)

Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), a chemical combination of two amino acids and methanol, was initially thought to be the perfect artificial sweetener, but it might cause cancer or neurological problems such as dizziness or hallucinations. The bottom line is that lifelong consumption of aspartame probably increases the risk of cancer. People—especially young children—should NOT consume foods & beverages sweetened with aspartame, and should switch to products sweetened with SUCRALOSE (Splenda) instead, or should avoid all artificially sweetened foods. Two other artificial sweeteners, SACCHARIN and ACESULFAME-K, have also been linked to a risk of cancer.

Acesulfame K (Potassium)
(chewing gum; diet soda; baked goods; desserts; Somersize products; etc)

Poorly done safety tests in the 1970’s suggested that acesulfame potassium may cause cancer. The FDA has refused to require better studies. The safety tests of acesulfame-K were conducted in the 1970s and were of mediocre quality. Key rat tests were afflicted by disease in the animal colonies; a mouse study was several months too brief and did not expose animals during gestation. Two rat studies suggest that the additive might cause cancer. It was for those reasons that in 1996 the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the FDA to require better testing before permitting acesulfame-K in soft drinks. In addition, large doses of acetoacetamide, a breakdown product, have been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. Hopefully, the small amounts in food are not harmful.

[hummingbird11]

Originally Posted by gettinserious

sounds like there is absolutely no difference between splenda and aspartame.

There is a chemical difference:


SUCRALOSE
Artificial sweetener: No-sugar-added baked goods, frozen desserts, ice cream, soft drinks, tabletop sweetener (Splenda).

Approved in the United States in 1998, sucralose — marketed as Splenda — is used in soft drinks, baked goods, ice cream, sweetener packets, and other products. It previously had been used in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere. Sucralose is safer than saccharin, acesulfame-K, and cyclamate, but it is often used in conbination with acesulfame-K. Unlike aspartame, sucralose can be used in baked goods.

When sucralose was first being considered for approval by the FDA, the Center for Science in the Public Interest objected. A study in rats had indicated that the additive might cause premature shrinkage of the thymus gland, which is part of the immune system. However, a subsequent study did not find any problem. Likewise, studies designed to detect whether sucralose could cause cancer in lab animals did not find any problems.

The manufacturer, McNeil Nutritionals, long advertised Splenda as being "made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar." That statement may be literally true, but is misleading, as the Sugar Association charged in a lawsuit. In fact, the sweetener is a synthetic chemical made by chemically reacting sugar (sucrose) with chlorine. However, the fact that sucralose is synthetic does not make it unsafe.



ASPARTAME
Artificial sweetener: "Diet" foods, including soft drinks, drink mixes, gelatin desserts, low-calorie frozen desserts, packets.

Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), a chemical combination of two amino acids and methanol, was initially thought to be the perfect artificial sweetener, but it might cause cancer or neurological problems such as dizziness or hallucinations.

A 1970s study suggested that aspartame caused brain tumors in rats. However, the Food and Drug Administration persuaded an independent review panel to reverse its conclusion that aspartame was unsafe. The California Environmental Protection Agency and others have urged that independent scientists conduct new animal studies to resolve the cancer question. In 2005, researchers at the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy, conducted the first such study. It indicated that rats first exposed to aspartame at eight weeks of age caused lymphomas and leukemias in females. However, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the study and concluded that the tumors probably occurred just by chance.

In 2007, the same Italian researchers published a follow-up study that began exposing rats to aspartame in utero. This study found that aspartame caused leukemias/lymphomas and mammary (breast) cancer. It is likely that the new studies found problems that earlier company-sponsored studies did not because the Italian researchers monitored the rats for three years instead of two.

In a 2006 study, U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers studied a large number of adults 50 to 69 years of age over a five-year period. There was no evidence that aspartame posed any risk. However, the study was limited in three major regards: It did not involve truly elderly people (the rat studies monitored the rats until they died a natural death), the subjects had not consumed aspartame as children, and it was not a controlled study (the subjects provided only a rough estimate of their aspartame consumption, and people who consumed aspartame might have had other dietary or lifestyle differences that obscured the chemical’s effects).

The bottom line is that lifelong consumption of aspartame probably increases the risk of cancer. People—especially young children—should not consume foods and beverages sweetened with aspartame, should switch to products sweetened with SUCRALOSE (Splenda), or should avoid all artificially sweetened foods. Two other artificial sweeteners, SACCHARIN and ACESULFAME-K, have also been linked to a risk of cancer.

[hummingbird11]

Sugar Made Healthy! Whey Low Natural Sweetener

NuNaturals

Xylosweet Sugar Substitute

XO,
HB

[Melle]

Originally Posted by hummingbird11

Acesulfame K (Potassium)
(chewing gum; diet soda; baked goods; desserts; Somersize products; etc)

Poorly done safety tests in the 1970’s suggested that acesulfame potassium may cause cancer. The FDA has refused to require better studies. The safety tests of acesulfame-K were conducted in the 1970s and were of mediocre quality. Key rat tests were afflicted by disease in the animal colonies; a mouse study was several months too brief and did not expose animals during gestation. Two rat studies suggest that the additive might cause cancer. It was for those reasons that in 1996 the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the FDA to require better testing before permitting acesulfame-K in soft drinks. In addition, large doses of acetoacetamide, a breakdown product, have been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. Hopefully, the small amounts in food are not harmful.

Well, great! I got rid of all the Crystal Lite, today. Guess the Arizona Tea will be thrown out, tomorrow...it has acesulfame potassium. I'll have to check the NSA Nesquick.

We watched "Sweet Misery", tonight. I tell you what. It's incredible. I can't believe they can get away with that...money means everything,
doesn't it?

Did anyone notice that at the very end (during the credits), he said that there have NEVER been any reports of problems with Stevia...and that's the one the FDA won't approve, as a sweetener? I'm just going to start making my own tea, and flavoring it with Stevia. I'll just buy one bottle at a time, of the flavored Stevia.

[Zer]

Originally Posted by Melle

Well, great! I got rid of all the Crystal Lite, today. Guess the Arizona Tea will be thrown out, tomorrow...it has acesulfame potassium. ...

... NEVER been any reports of problems with Stevia...and that's the one the FDA won't approve, as a sweetener? I'm just going to start making my own tea, and flavoring it with Stevia. I'll just buy one bottle at a time, of the flavored Stevia.

I am really enjoying Stevita fruit-flavor powder in several flavors - lime, grape, cherry being fine with me, orange was weird for me - and it makes drinking my water quota (128oz daily) a lot easier to manage. It says a tsp flavors a quart, but I mix it a little lighter, just for flavor, not punch. Just a trace of stevia lifts SoCal sludge up to a palatable level. Actually, just a bit of plain stevia does wonders, but this fruity Stevita is nice. Do try it. I hope no one discovers that herbal stevia has bad effects.

[Zer]

Originally Posted by hummingbird11

Sugar Made Healthy! Whey Low Natural Sweetener

What an interesting product:

Ingredients: Sucrose, fructose, lactose monohydrate.

Oh, I'm off to see if the brown sugar is available at Netrition, for my next order. I see some LC penuche in my future, if I can get a LC brown sugar!

[LoraJR72]

We can be debate this issue until our fingers fall off but the issue is all artificial sweeteners are just that, "artificially created in a lab". Why would anyone want to consume products created in a lab? I belong to Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous and any flour or sugar product isn't on my food plan. My sweet comes from fruit only.

Even before I started this plan, I learned to drink my coffee and tea black. I stopped using white sugar years ago and used pure maple syrup and cinnamon to sweeten hot cereal. If I wanted to be thin I avoided sweets. (I prefer salty things like cheese anyway!) Tell you the truth I crave fruit more often than not these days.