I have read DANDR a few times. I'm familiar with his questions on it's safety, and have heard in later books he says it MAY cause stall in SOME people... however, I don't see any real documentation of this. Did he do double-blind controlled studies, or are the reports anecdotal?

Correlation doesn't prove causation.

It never stalled me. I ate SF jello during induction and still do from time to time. No problems at all.

You can believe what you want to believe, ive lost over 200 pounds, so i know what stalls me and what doesnt. If aspartame doesnt stall you, then more power to you.

Then SAY it seemed to stall YOU... but you can't tell everyone with authority that it WILL stall everyone. That's all I'm trying to say. I personally feel sugar alcohols stall me, but I don't feel enough proof is even warranted there to go telling everyone "They WILL stall you!" since everyone is different and there hasn't been enough work done to definitively PROVE a causal relationship.

Aspartame definitely stalls me, and I'm one of those people who never feels ANY side effects... ie medicine, certain foods, etc... I will never get the bad effects. But I noticed after adding diet sodas to my diet, I was going NOWHERE for a long time. I finally had to cut them out (the only 'diet' soda I use is the kind w/splenda). I think the combination of aspartame and the sodium was hurting my progress. I notice when I have a glass of Diet Rite (black cherry is tops) I don't want a second, third, fourth.. whereas w/Diet Coke I felt drinking all day did nothing to slake my thirst.

All the above is IMHO!

Diet coke also contains a lot of other junk that Diet rite doesn't... caffeine, citric acid (I think). Any number of things... It's great to cut as much junk out of our diets as possible, and I hope I'm not coming off as a nutcase....(or MORE of a nut than usual.. :D ) But I just think certain products are vilified without enough rope to hang them, so to speak.

Just because I feel like urinating into the wind this afternoon, I want to add my .02 cents. Aspertame is more a health issue than it is a dietary issue for most folks. It is a personal choice, like caffeine. If I were to stall from either, it will be my consequence and no one elses. I am my own food police.

What I think is funny about SF jello, is that my dogs won't eat it!

My dogs eat anything, they even like lettuce, if it's people food they want it!

I had a little left in my bowl that I couldn't finish, and thought the tiny bit left would be a nice treat so I offered it to them. They both sniffed it and then looked at me as if to say, "There isn't any food in there, what's up?"

Actually, Hunt's makes their sugar-free jello with malitol instead of aspertame. 5 or 10 cals a serving too. Of course, YMMV with the malitol.

In Canada, Juicy Gels are made with Splenda (gelatin in individual, ready-made servings). I think they're made by Hunts?? I have them very rarely (buy a pack of 4 and it lasts for weeks) but that's just because I don't really find jello satisfying when I'm wanting something sweet.

I've never passed up on something because it's made with aspartame vs. Splenda but that's mainly because there's hardly ANYTHING in Canada made with Splenda. It's either have the aspartame or go with the sugar alcohols or it's go without :D I do avoid, s.a.'s, however, because I do feel that they stall me.

I eat SF Jello all the time and it doesn't stall me. I believe Dr Atkins said over 3 servings a day of Aspartme might stall some people. Maybe just limiting the jello to a serving or two might be a good idea, then again, it might not effect you at all.

same as nancy lc, i usually only stall when i eat too many calories. i consume aspartame-containing products several times a week, no problems. why are some people getting riled up about this?

Since moving to WI, I've had a REALLY hard time finding Diet Rite (just found it for the first time last night -- yaay!!). Anyway, I've been drinking diet coke and pepsi instead. I really hate the taste of aspertame, but it hasn't stalled me at all.

I'm glad I can stop drinking it in my diet pop, but I don't plan to completley cut it out if I have no better choice available.

It must definitely be different for everyone. I don't think it's fair to say that it WILL stall everyone -- that certainly doesn't seem to be the case from my observation just on this board.

Just too many sweeteners
 

I'll say it one more time..if I eat my carbs from real - whole - foods, no problem. If I eat too many from artificially sweetened products - stall. It does not seem to matter which sweeteners even. I think it has to do with the artificial and processed product. They crept up on me and I did not want to believe this was it. Cut them out and the scale was my friend again! Atkins said it ...who listens?

On induction, I ate a lot of SF jello, but now I don't. Didn't notice any cause and effect from it. I think it is normal to stall occasionally. Maybe your body needs a little time to adjust to the weight loss. Donna