Diet Soda, Anyone ? (Poll)

[PlateletGal]

I've been meaning to do this, but had forgotten about it (imagine that!). I had a friend whose wife had MS symptoms and none of her physicians could diagnose her. It turned out that aspartame, a sweetner that is often added to diet drinks, was responsible for her symptoms ! Aspartame apparently has been banned in Europe in children's products.

Anyhow, so here's my new poll question :

How many people here are drinking DIET sodas ?

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html
http://www.sweetpoison.com/articles/0706/aspartame_symptoms_submit.html --- Aspartame Symptoms Submitted to the FDA

I'm not sure now which diet drinks are still using aspartame, but if you drink diet soda... I would seriously start checking.

[wonko]

I'm not sure with what you are disagreeing.  I posed no opinion on the safety of aspartame, I just commented on your sources.

I don't know the basis of the bans in Europe, though that is surely interesting!  However, that in and of itself does not prove the danger of those products.  

I never tried Stevia.  I actually bought a jar when I first quit art. sweeteners, thinking I'd need it, but I quickly adapted to unsweet tea.

I do appreciate all of the information you provide, and I agree that sometimes good answers are found off of the beaten path.

[PlateletGal]

P.S. ~ I like doing research and so I was reading more information on aspartame. It looks like at some point Indonesia was trying to ban the product. It seems like in most people, it is okay. But if you exceed the average limit... then perhaps not ? In some people, it is certainly not okay (like my friend's wife).

I'm avoiding it altogether. I'm not interested in many of these "diet" products anyway. I mean... people in France don't have all of this **** in their food and they aren't as overweight as Americans. My mom was also telling me how in the '70's... American's weighed less, but ate real food (real butter, real milk... no low fat stuff).

[PlateletGal]

I actually disagree with you... probably because Europe had banned aspartame for children and because of my friend's wife experience. The link you provided from snopes... made claims about aspartame that I did not make.

Although, Wikipedia is written by volunteers... there are sources on their website. And although Dr. Mercola is not an MD (which may be a good thing.. LOL!) he wrote a New York Times best selling book on artificial sweetners.

Interesting how Stevia is banned in Europe and yet it is on the shelves in every grocery store here in the U.S.

Want to hear something really disgusting ? Toxins in laundry detergents and air fresheners.

"The European Union recently enacted legislation requiring products to list 26 fragrance chemicals when they are present above a certain concentration in cosmetic products and detergents. No similar laws exist in the United States."

Some Sources:

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm?id=3026&T=HEALTH&B1=EM082008F

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cancer/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100216588

http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/fraud.htm

[wonko]

Again, to counterpoint:  While I'm very happy for the friend's wife, that is a single testimonial that can't be verified by anyone reading this.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is not an MD, he is a DO (he holds a doctorate in osteopathic medicine).  I did a very quick search on him, and immediately found a hit for him on quackwatch.org.  I am not in general familiar with him, I mention this only because he is indicated to be an expert above.

Wikipedia is written by volunteers, and the article posted about the Aspartame Controversy is flagged because its neutrality is disputed.

I'm not an MD, and I have no specific knowledge of aspartame.  I just feel some of the claims and references on this thread may be unbalanced.

To each their own, and to all, be well.

[PlateletGal]

Aspartame Controversy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy

The debate is still continuing folks !

[PlateletGal]

It's not a hoax. I just mentioned that my friend's wife was having MS symptoms and those symptoms stopped after drinking diet sodas with aspartame.

The e-mail that snopes.com investigated was inaccurate, but there are STILL problems with aspartame and this is why Europe has banned it in children. The snopes post had nothing to do with side effects from aspartame and MS LIKE symptoms.

From Dr. Joseph Mercola's website:

http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm