Nutrasweet: The Nutrapoison

Deep Politics ^ | Alex Constantine

[John Lenin]

They tested the **** out of the stuff. I believe it is safe.

"They" also said eggs were linked to high cholesterol and than 20 years later changed their minds. If it tastes like poison, it probably is.

[gitmo]

If my younger son ingests a peanut, he gets an aderenalie injection immediately and a rush to the ER. High probability of death.

[The Coopster]

Well, I won't discount that it may taste better than Nutrasweet, sacharrin, etc. - but that's relative. And probably it tastes so heinous to me because I don't do diet stuff.

Kudos to you, BTW for changing your diet as well, to support your wife. That's what it's all about....

[dennisw]

Excellent point! Anecdotal information is much more conclusive.

Hey. Go to town and drink that crap by the gallon. Put in your BBQ sauce. Slop it all over your apple pie and cheese cake. It's a free country. I have my policy as far as aspartame and I will not eat anything that has it.

[hardhead]

Good tag line! Exactly what is alleged in the article.

[Doc On The Bay]

Call it an "Educated Guess!"

Doc

[John Lenin]

Tell me it's not hilarious to see some 300 pounder drinking a diet coke. The irony !

[MEG33]

That's what I mean by dangerous!

[Doc On The Bay]

Hhmmmnnn---

---& Cannabis is "Just a weed!

Doc

[Nick Danger]

You don't have to know anything about food additives, medicine, or chemistry to spot ax-grinding BS when it is this thick.

Here's a guy on the board of directors — the Chairman no less! — who in the 1950's served in the Army! Not only that, he was in the Chemical Corps! This same division tested LSD on groups of human subjects in concert with the CIA! Well, that proves it! The whole thing is a giant plot hatched in the 1950's by CIA operatives who turned this young lieutenant (I dunno, maybe he was a private) into the chairman of a huge drug company founded in 1888 by people who had known connections with the Bavarian Illuminati and Nazis cloaked as isolationists, or something like that. And that was so the chairman of the board could personally slip this poison cocktail in the food stream of the American people, which the CIA wants to kill. Or at least did, in the 1950's.

Aww geez, not this again.

[Pablo64]

"I could not find one single double blind study that backed a single claim."

I would have to agree with your statement. I think that, as with a multitude of things, some people may have individual reactions, perhaps even allergic reactions. For instance, my younger brother can't tolerate anything with NutraSweet in it. He gets severe headaches from it. But once he figured out what was giving him the headaches (doing his own trials) he just avoids products that have it.

For myself, I don't seem to have any adverse reaction to it, despite several other food allergies that I have. We can't go around banning everything just because someone has a bad reaction to it. If that were the case no one would be allowed to have any more pecan pie because I am allergic to pecans (walnuts, too). I don't begrudge anyone their pie, just please let me know if you put any pecans or walnuts in the dessert you're serving me!

[MEG33]

You mean my consumption of Diet Coke with Hershey's Nuggets makes no sense?!!

[Bluntpoint]

I only eat Hershey Nuggets when I am high on that Nutrisweet. Nutrimunchies.

[dennisw]

however, look back through this conversation string. Could all these symptoms or effects be nonsense?

No. Some are more sensitive than others. Some have children who are more sensitive. The stuff tastes artificial and terrible. Last time I had some it was in an apple pie. I didn't have any reaction, it's just that I don't trust it or need it. I'll never drink a diet soda. They taste lousy. 

For those boosters of aspartame, and diet sodas, live it up if you like it. No law against it.

[MEG33]

So that's it!

[Bluntpoint]

I don't care what you drink in the privacy of your own home. But I don't think I should have to breathe in your aspartame fumes in public places.

[PeaceBeWithYou]

The real question is would people be as willing to ingest something called l-Aspartic Acid Methel Ester of Phenylalanine, a substance that could already be broken down into Methanol and it's metabolates Formaldahyde and Formic Acid.

That methyl group on the phenylalanine can break off pretty easily, and at temperatures as “low” as 86° F (= 30° C — lower than body temperature or a summer day), aspartame starts to disintegrate, releasing methanol (which in larger quantity causes blindness, etc. — it’s toxic). As the liver tries to deal with the methanol using normal metabolic pathways, it ends up turning the methanol into formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen. carcinogen.

Also of interest:

PKU or phenylketonuria is a genetic disorder for which, by law, all newborns must be tested. People with this disorder are lacking an enzyme called phenylalanine hydroxylase needed to turn the amino acid, phenylalanine into tyrosine so it can be eliminated via the urine. Since phenylalanine cannot be eliminated, it builds up and in children whose nervous systems are still developing, causes mental retardation. According to the Merck Manual, the body is slowly able to turn it into several other compounds which can be eliminated via the urine, but these chemical reactions are too inefficient to get rid of the excess phenylalanine. If PKU is detected shortly after birth, the child is put on a special diet low in phenylalanine and has normal mental development. Since phenylalanine is an amino acid that is needed by the body for normal growth and development, the goal is to limit intake to just what the child needs without any excess that could build up in his/her system. The Merck Manual says that, unfortunately, most natural protein sources, including milk, are too high in phenylalanine for children with PKU, so these babies/children must be put on a special formula from which most, if not all, of the phenylalanine has been removed. As the child grows, some low-protein, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, and some kinds of grain are OK to eat. The needed phenylalanine is supplied via carefully-measured amounts of natural protein plus the residual in the formula. One area of “debate” is how long the special diet must be continued. Some people think the diet may be discontinued after the brain finishes developing at about age 5. Others have noted some behavior problems and learning difficulties that appear to be related to going off the diet, and recommend that people with PKU stay on the diet for life. Staying on the special diet is especially important if a woman who has PKU is even thinking about trying to become pregnant. Because any excess phenylalanine in her system could cross the placenta and could cause mental retardation in the baby, especially in the first few weeks while the nervous system is forming, she has to make sure that she adheres to the special diet from before conception. Note that this is not a major concern for a normal woman carrying a baby with PKU (she wouldn’t know that until after the baby was born and tested) because the woman’s body can digest phenylalanine, including any excess from the baby’s body that is sent back, via the placenta, to her body.

For these reasons alone, Freepers should take a pass on Aspartame, Nutrasweet and Equal.

[Bluntpoint]

Try pouring some Diet Coke into a plastic bag and huffing it.

[aSkeptic]

aspartame tastes bad. Bleh. Since I'm on a low carb diet I avoid sodas almost entirely. Once in a while I'll get a soda from a fountain. I'll take a soda with extra fizzy water before drinking a diet soda.

[redangus]

Military-industrial complex, chemical weapons, Nazis, Jim Jones, evil rich people, the greedy pharmacuetical companies., did I forget anybody? This guy throws in everybody that anyone could ever think to hate or be suspicious of to make his point. That kind of over the top argument usually means the real argument has little merit.