By Dr. Theresa Dale
Here's another great article on the dangers of Aspartame. These appear pretty regularly in newsletters and online simply because it is probably the 2nd most dangerous thing to your health right now (after prescription & non-prescription drugs). Print these articles off, send the links to friends and family and hope and pray that they get the message to avoid this terrible health hazard.
There are over 92 different health side effects associated with aspartame consumption. It seems surreal, but true. How can one chemical create such chaos? Aspartame dissolves into solution and can therefore travel throughout the body and deposit within any tissue.
The body digests aspartame unlike saccharin, which does not break down within humans. The multitudes of aspartame side effects are indicative to your genetic individuality and physical weaknesses. It is important to identify which side effects aspartame is creating within you.
Aspartame Side Effects: Grave Disease or Aspartame Poisoning.
The components of aspartame can lead to a number of health problems, as you have read. Side effects can occur gradually, can be immediate, or can be acute reactions.
According to Lendon Smith, M.D. there is an enormous population suffering from side effects associated with aspartame, yet have no idea why drugs, supplements and herbs don’t relieve their symptoms.
Then, there are users who don’t ‘appear’ to suffer immediate reactions at all. The answer is that the aspartame builds up in the body. Even individuals who don’t have current side effects are susceptible to the long-term damage caused by excitatory amino acids, phenylalanine, methanol, and DKP.
Adverse reactions and side effects of aspartame include:
Eye
Blindness in one or both eyes
Decreased vision and/or other eye problems such as: blurring, bright flashes, squiggly lines, tunnel vision
Decreased night vision
Pain in one or both eyes
Decreased tears trouble with contact lenses
Bulging eyes
Ear
Tinnitus - ringing or buzzing sound
Severe intolerance of noise
Marked hearing impairment
Neurologic
Epileptic seizures
Headaches, migraines (some severe) and dizziness, unsteadiness
Confusion and memory loss
Severe drowsiness and sleepiness
Paresthesia or numbness of the limbs
Severe slurring of speech
Severe hyperactivity and restless legs
Atypical facial pain
Severe tremors
Psychological/Psychiatric
Severe depression
Irritability
Aggression
Anxiety
Personality changes
Insomnia
Phobias
Chest
Palpitations, tachycardia
Shortness of breath
Recent high blood pressure
Gastrointestinal
Nausea
Diarrhea, sometimes with blood in stools
Abdominal pain
Pain when swallowing
Skin and Allergies
Itching without a rash
Lip and mouth reactions
Hives
Aggravated respiratory allergies such as asthma
Endocrine and Metabolic
Loss of control of diabetes
Menstrual changes
Marked thinning or loss of hair
Marked weight loss
Gradual weight gain
Aggravated low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
Severe PMS
Other
Frequency of voiding and burning during urination
Excessive thirst, fluid retention, leg swelling, and bloating
Increased susceptibility to infection
Additional Symptoms of Aspartame Toxicity include the most critical symptoms of all
Death
Irreversible brain damage
Birth defects, including mental retardation
Peptic ulcers
Aspartame addiction and increased craving for sweets
Hyperactivity in children
Severe depression
Aggressive behavior
Suicidal tendencies
Aspartame may trigger, mimic, or cause the following illnesses:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Epstein-Barr
Post-Polio Syndrome
Lyme Disease
Grave's Disease
Meniere's Disease
Alzheimer's Disease
ALS
Epilepsy
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
EMS
Hypothyroidism
Fibromyalgia
LupusNon-Hodgkins Lymphoma
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
These are NOT allergies or sensitivities, but diseases and disease syndromes. Aspartame poisoning is commonly misdiagnosed because aspartame symptoms mock textbook 'disease' symptoms, such as Grave's Disease.
Aspartame changes the ratio of amino acids in the blood, blocking or lowering the levels of serotonin, tyrosine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline. Therefore, it is typical that aspartame symptoms cannot be detected in lab tests and on x-rays. Textbook disorders and diseases may actually be a toxic load as a result of aspartame poisoning.
Have you ever gone to the doctor with real, physical symptoms, but they can't find the cause? Well, it's probably your diet, your environment or emotions.
Aspartame is the common denominator for over 92 different health symptoms at the root of modern disease.
The Aspartame and Sucralose Detoxification Program is the most effective way to reverse disease symptoms.
Remove all sugar-free products with aspartame and sucralose from your diet.
Read Labels.
Get a Five Element Saliva Test and a hair analysis.
Detoxify using the Dr. Dale’s Slow Cleanse for 30 days.
Restore depleted nutrients with Dr. Dale's Optimal Multi and Nano Ionic Multi.
Exercise and get plenty of rest.
Eat 75% raw foods at every meal.
Drink water, water, water.
Sucralose Toxicity: (Splenda)
According to one source (Sucralose Toxicity Information Center), concerning the significant reduction in size of the thymus gland, "the manufacturer claimed that the sucralose was unpleasant for the rodents to eat in large doses and that starvation caused the shruken thymus glands".
Toxicologist Judith Bellin reviewed studies on rats starved under experimental conditions, and concluded that their growth rate could be reduced by as much as a third without the thymus losing a significant amount of weight (less than 7 percent). "The changes were much more marked in rats fed on sucralose. While the animals' growth rate was reduced by between 7 and 20 percent, their thymuses shrank by as much as 40 percent." (New Scientist 23 Nov 1991, pg 13)
Research in animals has shown that sucralose can cause many problems in rats, mice, and rabbits, such as:
Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage)
Enlarged liver and kidneys
Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus
Increased cecal weight
Reduced growth rate
Decreased red blood cell count
Hyperplasia of the pelvis
Extension of the pregnancy period
Aborted pregnancy
Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights
The most misunderstood fact about sucralose is that it is nothing like sugar even though the marketing implies that it is. Sucralose was actually discovered while trying to create a new insecticide. It may have started out as sugar, but the final product is anything but sugar.
According to the book Sweet Deception, sucralose is made when sugar is treated with trityl chloride, acetic anhydride, hydrogen chlorine, thionyl chloride, and methanol in the presence of dimethylformamide, 4-methylmorpholine, toluene, methyl isobutyl ketone, acetic acid, benzyltriethlyammonium chloride, and sodium methoxide, making it unlike anything found in nature. If you read the fine print on the Splenda web site, it states that "although sucralose has a structure like sugar and a sugar-like taste, it is not natural."
Clever Marketing
The name sucralose is misleading. The suffix -ose is used to name sugars, not additives. Sucralose sounds very close to sucrose, table sugar, and can be confusing for consumers. A more accurate name for the structure of sucralose was purposed. The name would have been trichlorogalactosucrose, but the FDA did not believe that it was necessary to use this so sucralose was allowed.
The presence of chlorine is thought to be the most dangerous component of sucralose. Chlorine is considered a carcinogen and has been used in poisonous gas, disinfectants, pesticides, and plastics. The digestion and absorption of sucralose is not clear due to a lack of long-term studies on humans. The majority of studies were done on animals for short lengths of time. The alleged symptoms associated with sucralose are gastrointestinal problems (bloating, gas, diarrhea, nausea), skin irritations (rash, hives, redness, itching, swelling), wheezing, cough, runny nose, chest pains, palpitations, anxiety, anger, moods swings, depression, and itchy eyes. The only way to be sure of the safety of sucralose is to have long-term studies on humans done.
Learning as they go
Splenda is a product that contains the artificial sweetener sucralose, but that is not all that it contains. Sucralose does have calories, but because it is 600 times sweeter than sugar, very small amounts are needed to achieve the desired sweetness so you most likely won't consume enough to get any calories. The other two ingredients in Splenda are dextrose and maltodextrin, which are used to increase bulk and are carbohydrates that do have calories.
One cup of Splenda contains 96 calories and 32 grams of carbohydrates, which is often unnoticed due to the label claiming that it's a no calorie sweetener. Because this is found in so many products and can be used in cooking, it can be possible to consume 1 cup or more each day. For people with diabetes, this is a significant amount of carbohydrates, and for people who are watching their weight, this can be a problem. Consuming an additional 100 calories a day can result in a weight gain of 10 lbs. per year!
A recent study found that Splenda affected the absorption of medications in rats. The rats were given sucralose at doses of 1.1-11 mg/kg. After 12-weeks, they found that the rats had half of the good bacteria in the gut. They also found that Splenda interferes with the absorption of prescription medications. Other research studies have come out to show that this is not what happens. The only way to know for sure is to perform long-term studies in humans. Unfortunately, this takes time. It can also be dangerous if this is actually happening. The limited number of studies and lack of long-term studies on sucralose means that we are going to have to learn things like this as we go.
James Turner, chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health expressed shock and outrage after reading a new report from scientists at Duke University. "The report makes it clear that the artificial sweetener Splenda and its key component sucralose pose a threat to the people who consume the product.
Hundreds of consumers have complained to us about side effects from using Splenda and this study, published this past week in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A, confirms that the chemicals in the little yellow package should carry a big red warning label," said Turner.
Among the results in the study by Drs. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, Eman M. El-Masry, Ali A. Abdel-Rahman, Roger E. McLendon and Susan S. Schiffman is evidence that, in the animals studied, Splenda reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%, increases the pH level in the intestines, contributes to increases in body weight and affects the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the body in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected. Turner noted that the P-gp effect "could result in crucial medications used in chemotherapy for cancer patients, AIDS treatment and drugs for heart conditions being shunted back into the intestines rather than being absorbed by the body as intended." http://www.splendaexposed.com/articles/2009/01/new_splenda_suc.html
Headaches
Both aspartame and sucralose appear to trigger headaches in some individuals, according to research studies. A 2006 study published in the scholarly journal "Headache," notes that sucralose triggers migraine headaches in some users. Another study published in "Headache" -- this one conducted in 2005 -- indicates similar effects from aspartame.
If you find that you're having unexplained headaches and use either sucralose or aspartame, you might try removing the artificial sweetener from your diet for a period of several days. If the headaches resolve, it may be that the sweeteners were causing your symptoms.
Increased Sweet Cravings
Studies have linked consumption of sweet food to increased desire for sweet food. As such, if you consistently sweeten your food -- whether you use table sugar, honey or a non-caloric sweetener such as aspartame or sucralose -- you may crave sweet flavors more than you otherwise would. A 1988 study published in the scholarly journal "Physiology and Behavior," reports that individuals who consume non-nutritive sweeteners crave sugar more than those who don't use these sweeteners. Researchers suggest that because artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than table sugar, they increase desire for very sweet flavors.
Cancer Risk
Sucralose is one of the newest artificial sweeteners, and, as of 2010, no studies have linked use of the sweetener to cancer risk. However, a 2007 article in the scholarly journal "Environmental Health Perspectives," notes that rats exposed to aspartame in utero have a higher risk of cancer over the course of their lives. This may or may not indicate that using aspartame as an adult will increase your risk of cancer, but it does suggest that if you are pregnant, using aspartame during your pregnancy might make it more likely that your unborn child will have a higher risk of cancer later in life.
Abdominal Cramping
One of the most common complaints from Splenda is abdominal cramping, bloating and pain that often resembles a pulled muscle, food borne illness or more serious gastronomical problems. It often takes awhile for most people to form a connection to something they ate with Splenda. But once they realize that is the culprit, people with this reaction are more diligent about checking labels and avoiding the sweetener altogether.
Headaches
With symptoms ranging from mild headaches to migraines,Splenda has long been blamed for headaches in many people. For most people experiencing this symptom, the results begin within minutes of drinking a beverage or other product containing Splenda and can last for hours. For most people, the symptoms stop within 24 hours after Splenda is cut from their diet.
Mood Swings
Many people who eat Splenda regularly have suffered from immense mood swings, but have had a tough time putting the connection between the mood swings and Splenda together. Because many people using Splenda are dieting and trying to lose weight, they often attribute the mood swings to other influences. But once they cut Splenda from their diet, they realize that the mood swings are alleviated altogether.
Weight Gain
Though Splenda was developed as an alternative to sugar with fewer calories, for many Splenda has caused weight gain. Whether it is a combination of bloating, overindulgence, or a direct result of ingesting sucralose, many people have found that it is easier to lose weight when cutting out sweets altogether instead of just replacing the natural sugar with an artificial one.
Fatigue/Sleepiness
There have been many reports of people experiencing chronic fatigue after consuming products made with sucralose. In most cases, this fatigue and overall sleepiness is alleviated within a day or two of ceasing to eat products made with Splenda. The fatigue has been characterized by many symptoms, ranging from an overall sleepiness, to an inability to concentrate or focus, to a tingling and weakness in the limbs for hours after eating something containing sucralose. With so many potential side effects, it is no wonder that many are leery about using Splenda.
Everyone's body is different though, and many people experience no symptoms. At any rate, it is a good idea to keep track of when you ingest Splenda to determine if some of the side effects you may be experiencing are from Splenda, and if so, cut it from your diet.
Link:
http://www.naturalcures.com/healthblog/19_aspartame_more_unsavoury_side_effects_041211.php
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