Breaking news about aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet)

[Verleen]

Breaking news about aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet)
NewsTarget.com printable article
Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Donald Rumsfeld named in $350 million class action lawsuit over aspartame

If you enjoy this article, you may also be interested in an article entitled 'Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose may actually promote obesity and weight gain, says research.'


Overview:



A $350 million class action lawsuit was filed on September 15, 2004 in United States District Court in San Francisco, California, case no: C 04 3872.

Plaintiffs maintain that this lawsuit will prove how deadly the chemical sweetener aspartame is when consumed by humans.

Contained in the lawsuit is the key role played by current Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld in helping to get aspartame pushed through the FDA.

Plaintiffs maintain that Rumsfeld used his political muscle to get aspartame approved by the FDA despite objections of many FDA health researchers and negative studies.

These studies conducted in 1983/84 by the J.D. Searle Company were translated to English from Spanish by a translator in 1984.
According to the Affidavit, the doctor directing the studies has been missing since the approval of aspartame in 1984.

The affidavit also describes how the affiant was directed by J.D. Searle officials to destroy all records of the studies - including filed notes and/or translations - possessed by the affiant.

This lawsuit charges the defendants engaged in unlawful acts of "knowingly and intentionally using the neurotoxic Aspartame as a sugar substitute in the manufacture of Equal, while knowing that exposure to Aspartame causes among other diseases/symptoms: abdominal pain, arthritis, asthma, brain cancer, breathing difficulties, burning eyes or throat, burning urination, chest pains, chronic cough, chronic fatigue, death, depression, diarrhea, headaches/migraines, hearing loss, heart palpitations, hives (urticaria), hypertension, impotency and sexual problems, memory loss, menstrual problems or changes, nausea or vomiting, slurring of speech, tremors, tinnitus, vertigo and/or vision loss."

The lawsuit also states, "Further, Aspartame disease mimics symptoms or worsens the following diseases: Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Lupus, Diabetes and diabetic complications, Epilepsy, Alzheimer's Disease, birth defects, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lymphoma, Lyme Disease, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Panic Disorder, Depression and other psychological disorders."

Source: http://www.newswithviews.com/Breaki.../breaking25.htm

[Verleen]

Here is the second article that was referenced
NewsTarget.com printable article
Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose may actually promote obesity and weight gain, says research
Groundbreaking new research published in the International Journal of Obesity reveals that artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose -- precisely the kinds of chemical sweeteners found in diet soft drinks or many low-carb food products -- may actually promote obesity by tricking the body into thinking that sweet-tasting foods and drinks don't contain as many calories as they really do.

In the experiments, rats who were fed artificially-sweetened foods tended to overeat foods containing real sweeteners, causing them to gain weight. In humans, it's the same result: drink diet soft drinks and consume enough foods made with artificial sweeteners, and you'll very likely overeat the sweets when the real thing comes along: apple pie, cookies, cake, ice cream, and so on.

This result is rather obvious, come to think of it: I don't recall ever seeing a thin person buying a twelve-pack of diet Pepsi at the grocery store. The people you see buying diet soft drinks are inevitably overweight or obese. Obviously, if diet soft drinks made people thin, you'd see lots of thin people buying them, right? It's common sense.

Further, all the thin people I know (including myself) wouldn't touch diet soft drinks, nor regular soft drinks. In fact, soft drinks are simply off the menu for anyone concerned with their health. They tend to be consumed by lower-income, lower-intelligence people who are more prone to advertiser influence and can't think for themselves.

But the real problem with artificial sweeteners today is their skyrocketing use in low-carb foods: Sucralose is used in practically every low-carb food bar, drink, snack, recipe or meal. And Sucralose very likely has the same effect as aspartame in this case: it trains your body to overconsume genuine refined carbohydrates when you encounter them.



Overview:



- Sugar substitutes may offer sweet treats for calorie-conscious dieters, but a new study shows that they may also play tricks on the body and sabotage weight-loss efforts.
- Researchers say artificial sweeteners may interfere with the body's natural ability to count calories based on a food's sweetness and make people prone to overindulging in other sweet foods and beverages.

- For example, drinking a diet soft drink rather than a sugary one at lunch may reduce the calorie count of the meal, but it may trick the body into thinking that other sweet items don't have as many calories either.



Source: http://my.webmd.com/content/article...0000_1000_1n_01

[AmyElizabeth]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I have a bad allery to aspertame. It gives me migrane headaches and bad rashes. I believe that my little sister who suffers from migranes may have a similar intolerance, but I can't get her to stop the diet pop even as an experiment.

The only artificial sweetner that I can now use is stevia, but I only use it sparingly when I cook and try to avoid it the rest of the time.

[Verleen]

Amy, you are on the right track my friend. I gave up aspartame when I found out how bad it was.....a neurotoxin. Started on Splenda (sucralose) and now reports are coming out about how bad it is. All man made crap.....made to make a profit by preying upon people addicted to sugar. I now use Stevia myself....its not man made, comes from the leaves of a plant. And I use it sparingly too because I am trying to break my body's dependence on sugars and stop my insulin and leptin resistance.

[AmyElizabeth]

Verleen, I am also trying to break my taste for sweet things. It's increddible how much I crave diet soda. I didn't realize what sort of addiction it was until I stopped drinking them. It never occured to me that I may have some insulin resistance, but conisdering the impact of sugars and sweet things on my body I'm begining to think it's a distinct possiblity.

[mom2kgirls]

Verleen, I think you have posted some valuable information. The medical profession has been aware of some of the side effects of asparatame for a while, but only recently has research come out to show that the problems people get come from asparatame toxicity - as you said, it is a neurotoxin, and affects people differently. The symptoms mimic MS, and Lupus, and can cause significant memory loss. People who have these problems (even ones who have had a diagnosis of MS or Lupus) were symptom free after they quit ALL asparatame products within about 3 weeks- whatever time it took to detox their body.
The real key here is to use things in moderation and find balance in your life! Remember when saccarin was so bad? Then they decided it wasn't as bad as they thought! When I was pregnant, I was criticized as neurotic because I refused to ingest anything with artificial sweetners (among other things!). My MD told me that Equal was great, not harmful, well-researched etc- I didn't believe it. I agree with you that man-made stuff that puts $ in people's pockets should be viewed suspiciously!
The real key here is that anything sweet, natural or not, triggers the production of insulin. This is true of stevia, also. Understanding what insulin does in our own bodies is the key to making our choices. I know I use sugar substitutes - Splenda, asparatame, and stevia, but limit my usage. I also periodically stop using asparatame altogether for several days at a time to make sure I keep the levels in my body from building up. I would encourage everyone to examine their use of artificial sweetners and cut back wherever they can. Limiting diet sodas to 1-2 a day is a great start to this- Remember water is better!

[andipandi]

Thanks for posting this. It's good to see that someone is finally taking action against aspartame since it has been a problem for many for so long now.