Active Low-Carber Forums
Atkins diet and low carb discussion provided free for information only, not as medical advice.
Home Plans Tips Recipes Tools Stories Studies Products
Active Low-Carber Forums
A sugar-free zone


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums.
Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!

Go Back   Active Low-Carber Forums > Main Low-Carb Diets Forums & Support > Low Carb Health & Technical Forums > General Health
User Name
Password
FAQ Members Calendar Search Gallery My P.L.A.N. Survey


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   ^
Old Wed, Mar-19-03, 08:04
joyfulc's Avatar
joyfulc joyfulc is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 38
 
Plan: Aitkins
Stats: 200/188/170
BF:
Progress: 40%
Location: Ontario, Canada
Default Aspertame & Methanol Toxicity?

I have been very curious about aspertame, and why Dr. Atkins does not recommend it (even says that it can slow weight loss). This is a new product for me, and I've been trying to find information about it. Out of the blue, I received the following forwarded e-mail, which claims that aspertame results in methanol toxicity, and may cause problems mimicking MS and other serious diseases in people.

I did not write this (nor did the friend who sent it to me). I am putting it out here not as fact, but as a jumping off point for more study on it. There are three links included at the end, which I haven't checked out yet:

FORWARDED TEXT:
========================================
I think you all might find this interesting and a little scary. Please read and pass on. I received it and just in case.....

In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick, she had stomach spasms, she was having a hard time getting around, to walk was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed, she was in so much pain. By March 2002, she had undergone biopsies, and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not figure out what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick, she knew she was dying.

She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughters name, and made sure her younger children were to be with her oldest daughter. She wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to FL (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd.

On March 19th I called her to ask her how one of her tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I thought, oh, my.... then I recalled an article a friend of mine emailed to me... and I asked her.... Do you drink Diet pop? She told me yes, as a matter of fact she was getting ready to crack one open that moment, I told her not to open it, and stop drinking the diet pop... and I emailed her the following article.

She called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she stopped drinking the diet pop, and she can walk... she went up the stairs, and the muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctors with this article and would call me back when she got home.

She called me, and her doctor was amazed, he is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweetener. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the aspartame in the diet soda, dying a slow death.

When she got to FL March 22nd, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for poisoning... she is well on her way to recovery...and she is walking!!!!! No wheelchair!!!! This article saved her life!!!!

The life saving article: If it says "SUGAR FREE," on the label, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on "ASPARTAME" marketed as 'NutraSweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.' In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus, that it was hard to understand what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.

I will explain 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. People were being diagnosed with having multiple sclerosis in error. The multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, where 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, aggravating the lupus to such a degree that it may become life-threatening. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic once taken off diet sodas. In the case of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, (when in reality, the disease is methanol toxicity!), most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision returned and hearing improved markedly. This also applies to cases of tinnitus.

During a lecture I said "If you are using ASPARTAME [NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc.) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss - you probably have ASPARTAME DISEASE!" People were jumping up during the lecture saying, "I've got some of these symptoms:

Is it reversible?" Yes, Not drinking diet sodas and keeping an eye out for aspartame on food labels, yes!

We have a very serious problem. A stranger came up to Dr. Espisto (one of my speakers) and me and said: "Could you tell me why so many people seem to be coming down with MS?" During a visit to a hospice, a nurse said that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi etc. IS NOT A DIET PRODUCT! The Congressional Record states that it makes you crave carbohydrates and will make you FAT. The formaldehyde stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Once off these products with no significant increase in exercise, etc., Dr. Roberts in his lecture stated that he had patient who lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that physicians would believe that they have a patient with retinopathy, when in fact the symptoms are caused by aspartame. The aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are neurotoxic without the other amino acids found in protein. Thus it passes the blood brain barrier and deteriorates the neurons of the brain, causing in diabetics (as well as in patients not suffering from diabetes) various kinds of brain damage, seizures, depression, manic depression, panic attacks, rage, violence. [The Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.]

Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects i.e. mental retardation if taken at the time of conception and early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NOT be given NutraSweet. I can relate different case histories of children having mal seizures and other disturbances being on NutraSweet. Unfortunately it is not always easy to convince a mother that aspartame is to blame for her child's illness. Only by trial and success will she be able to warn other mothers to take their children's health in their own hands.

Stevia, a sweet herb, NOT A MANUFACTURED ADDITIVE, which helps in the metabolism of sugar (which would be ideal for diabetics) has now been approved as a dietary supplement by the FDA. For years the FDA has outlawed this sweet food because of their loyalty to MONSANTO.

[STEVIA IS A PRODUCT THAT I HAVE BEEN USING ON THE ADVICE OF MY DOCTOR, FOR THIS VERY REASON, I.E. IT IS DANGEROUS. STEVIA COMES IN LIQUID, TABLET, AND POSDER FORMS.] Books on this subject are available: EXCITOTOXINS: THE TASTE THAT KILLS - written by Dr. Russell Blayblock (Health Press 1-800-643-2665) and DEFENSE AGAINST ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE - written by DR H. J. Roberts, also a diabetic specialist. These two doctors will be posting a position paper with some case histories on the deadly effects of Aspartame on the Internet.

According to the Conference of the American College of Physicians "we are talking about a plague of neurological diseases caused by this deadly poison." Here is the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when aspartame was included in 100 different products. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, but to no avail. Nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets. Now there are over 5,000 products containing this chemical, and the PATENT HAS EXPIRED!!!!! I assure you, MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame knows how deadly it is. They fund among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association, the Conference of the American College of Physicians. This has been exposed in the New York Times - to no avail.

These Associations cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and have to endorse their products. Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote a bill that would have warned all infants, pregnant mothers and children of the dangers of aspartame. The bill would have also instituted independent studies on the problems existing in the population (seizures, changes in brain chemistry, changes neurological and behavioral; symptoms). It was killed by the powerful drug and chemical lobbies, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting public.



http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/


http://www.dorway.com/


http://aspartamekills.com/
=======================================
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2   ^
Old Wed, Mar-19-03, 14:11
Jacy's Avatar
Jacy Jacy is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 34
 
Plan: Schwarzbein Principle
Stats: 167/159/112
BF:
Progress: 15%
Location: arizona
Default

Thanks so much for this I have been so sick for the last year... I am gunna call my doc and take this in for him to read... Jacy
Reply With Quote
  #3   ^
Old Wed, Mar-19-03, 14:14
k-fire's Avatar
k-fire k-fire is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 28
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 171/152/140
BF:
Progress: 61%
Location: California
Default not sure how much is true...

Hi Joyfulc,

As I read this I thought it sounded familiar to a rumor/hoax that started in the mid-90's. After a little digging I found these links:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp.htm
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBUrban...shtml#aspartame

Any email that asks you to foward to others is a little suspicious.

As for artificial sweetners? Yuck. With Splenda now available why bother?! Enjoy your search for the product that works best for you!!

Happy LC'ing!
Reply With Quote
  #4   ^
Old Wed, Mar-19-03, 14:53
joyfulc's Avatar
joyfulc joyfulc is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 38
 
Plan: Aitkins
Stats: 200/188/170
BF:
Progress: 40%
Location: Ontario, Canada
Default

Thanks for the hoax info, but I took it more seriously than I would most "chain" letters because, in the case, the gentleman who sent it to me is someone I would not describe as an easy target for a hoax. (I'll pass back your message to him.)

So the FDA approves it, but Dr. Atkins recommends avoiding it. Why? It's said to cause problems in some people, and slow weight loss in others -- how exactly does it do that?

I wish there were more reliable information around. Before deciding one way or the other, I'd like to know what exactly it is that causes problems, or may cause problems in some people. Personally, I've had no problems with it yet.

I did find Splenda here, but I do like to drink a diet Dr. Pepper every day, and also to treat myself to sugarfree Jello occasionally. These products are made with aspartame.
Reply With Quote
  #5   ^
Old Wed, Mar-19-03, 15:13
TeriDoodle TeriDoodle is offline
Starting Over!
Posts: 3,435
 
Plan: Protein Power LifePlan
Stats: 182/178/150 Female 67 inches
BF:Jiggley mess
Progress: 13%
Location: Texas!!
Default

Here is a list of articles written by Dr. Joseph Mercola, a respected osteopathic physician who maintains a very useful BS-free website dedicated to excellent health. He's written several pieces about the dangers of aspartame. In my opinion, it's soooo not worth the risk....

http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/
Reply With Quote
Reply


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Low carb drinks Rogue Australia / New Zealand 3 Tue, Nov-18-03 17:55
Aspertame = gut clenching misery? nylis22 General Low-Carb 3 Thu, Sep-11-03 13:16
Aspertame TQuilaRose Newbies' Questions 3 Wed, Apr-30-03 20:24
Diet Soda No Carb No Aspertame ChuckP Newbies' Questions 2 Tue, Dec-10-02 22:39


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:22.


Copyright © 2000-2024 Active Low-Carber Forums @ forum.lowcarber.org
Powered by: vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.