Aspertame and seizures

[Nakamova]

Xylitol is generally considered safe used normally It's effect on blood sugar is less extreme than regular sugars, and it's much safer for people with E than aspartame. But if your metabolism is at all sensitive, proceed with caution. When you first start using Xylitol, it can cause diarrhea which can affect absorption of meds. And if you're dieting with it, pay attention to your overall nutrition so you can avoid low blood sugar (which can be seizure trigger for some).

[Miss Choccy]

Hi All!

I avoid consuming anything with aspertame or any other artificial sweeteners. The only time I do is when I unknowingly eat or drink something which has aspertame or artificial sweeteners in it! If I want to having something sweet I much rather have sugar (I know not good for you but, at least it is natural - it does come from a plant), eat fruit, have maple syrup (again know it isn't good for but it is natural - it does come from trees) or have honey (Know that it isn't that good for you either but, at least its natural - bees make it - comes from the flowers they get pollen from). Unlike aspertame and artifical sweetners which are man-made and made in factories!! Also all of them taste yucky - the aspertame and the artificial sweeteners that is!!!

Susan

Miss Choccy

[Westwind]

I have problems with aspertame. Too much will trigger a seizure for me. Problems generally start after about 2/3rds a can of diet pop, so I avoid it like the plague.

I remember sometime in the 90's I found that 'Fizzies' were back on the market. I loved them when I was a kid. Drop the tablet in the water and watch it fizz. Anyway, I ordered some directly from the company. I had one, and thought "hmmm....this doesn't taste quite right', but couldn't figure why. Had a second glass and had a seizure after about drinking half of it. Later checked the package and found it: aspertame . Had to through them away.

[crannsmum]

Our house doesnt really do processed foods at all but since I've been looking at my son's triggers Ive taken a much closer look at exactly what is in my cupboards and I realized that the one exception to the rule has been sugar free drinks which we consume exclusively because I am diabetic and my son also has weight issues. It makes no sense to exclude all other processed foods and leave this in our diets so I wont be buying them anymore!!

[RobinN]

crannsmum - I do think you are very wise to make this change.

Even if it doesn't cause an immediate reaction, it seems very silly to me to believe that dumping a chemical in your system daily is a good choice, especially when one has a medical condition.

I personally don't trust these industries to make the best choices for my health, nor do I think the research is done with the consumers best interest in mind.

[crannsmum]

well I'm with you on that one for sure!! and I'm not even going to start to express my concerns... there isnt a soap box big enough!! The UK has become totally dependant on processed foods and sadly the younger generations dont seem to be able to make anything from basic foodstuffs anymore, despite the huge amont of very popular cookery programmes trying to encourage you back into the kitchen

[alivenwell]

It's an interesting viewpoint. For diabetes, one has to watch carbs; simple or complex. Personally, I lost weight from cutting out diet soda and caffeine. It makes no sense to me.
I now live with the concept that portion control is the greatest weight loss technique. And, a lot of raw veggies, raw fruits and high protein (such as chicken, eggs, etc.) really seem to be more healthy. Fortunately, I have access to organic foods which I try to buy, in spite of the expense, but at least I'm not ingesting insecticides, growth hormones, etc. Read Newsweek this week. See what you think.

[RobinN]

I think what you save on buying the "junk" excess, non nutritional foods, you can spend on more quality foods. It doesn't have to be expensive.

[IMgood1]

When it first came out, I consumed it. My seizures increased tremenously. Once I quit. They decreased. I haven't knowingly used it since. I can always tell when it is present in food.

[davidmc]

When it first came out, I consumed it. My seizures increased tremenously. Once I quit. They decreased. I haven't knowingly used it since. I can always tell when it is present in food.

I used to drink a lot of diet drinks and other things with aspartame in it.
My partial seizures were greatly increased, though until I cut them out, I didn't know it was them causing more seizures.

Anyone who wants to avoid aspartame, avoid Pound Bakery!

I emailed this bakers, owned by Sayers to ask which products contain artificial sweetners. They said the sweeteners are in the fresh cream products and gave me a list:

Strawberry Tarts

Cream Doughnuts

Bavarian Slices

Small and Large Custards

Victoria Sponges

Éclairs

Chocolate Doughnuts

Raspberry Puffs

Chocolate Sponge Sandwiches

Princess Sandwich Cake

But I can tell you now that the sweeteners are not just in those products, yet that is supposed to be a complete list. There is definately aspartame in the belgium buns, there is so much it makes them taste disgusting and they are what I used before my EEG test because I could guarantee that by eating them I would have partial seizures that day even if it was one of the days where I didn't get any. So by my reasoning, ALL Sayers and PoundBakery items are best avoided (same company).

And shouldn't they have a warning for PKU sufferers like they do on diet products? Is that legal not to have a warning anywhere in store?

[RobinN]

You may choose to disagree with me, but the above list of items are not FOOD.

Food nourishes the body, and creates energy for each and every cell in the body.
There is simply no nutritional value from the list of refined products listed above. You can't possibly expect the body to function at its best by consuming them.

I don't believe a warning is necessary. We each have the power of choice. There is enough information about good nutrition for health. You are what you eat.

[Jfpinell]

If this doesn't scare the heck out of people......
Aspartame was once used as an ant poison.
The Dept. of Defense once considered it as a possible biological warfare additive because of its neurologist-toxicity properties.
Flies won't eat it (and what WON'T they sit on?), roaches won't touch it. But yet the all knowing FDA says it's perfectly safe for human consumption.

Go subscribe to Dr. Mercola and Dr. Douglass newsletters on-line. There's TONS of info. about this trash!

[epileric]

The aspartame story has been proven time & time again to be fiction
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors...kinscancer.htm

I'm not familiar with Dr. Douglas but I know Dr. Mercola & he is qualified osteopath yet he makes statements about curing things beyond his expertise and has been charged with making illegal claims of being able to cure things he can't. Joseph Mercola Is A Threat To Public Health, Spreading False Information

Personally I would be very reluctant to take any sort of advice from anyone that A) is not qualified and B) has been charged with illegal practices so many times.

[Krista2882]

Aspartame gives both me and my mom migraines. I try really hard to avoid it. But it's almost impossible to find chewing gum without aspartame in it. So I don't chew gum very often at all. I'm ok if I have it once, but if I have it two days in a row I get a migraine.
It tastes gross, too. I don't know how people can drink diet soda. SO GROSS. Splenda tastes even worse. Ugh, I can't stand it.

[RobinN]

Dogtor J.’s Favorite Links

BEST OVERALL MEDICAL SITE ON THE WEB:

www.mercola.com
This is undoubtedly the most incredible website I have ever seen when it comes to understanding what food is doing to our body. This doctor’s site has over 15,000 pages of fact-filled information on this topic and much, much more. It contains information on everything from foods to estrogens to cardiovascular disease to cancer. However, like my site, the focus keeps coming back to the role of nutrition and what the same foods we have discussed are doing to our bodies every time we consume them. Be sure to read his Optimal Eating Plan. I have been following it and it is absolutely awesome. It meets all the criteria I had already established in all of my previous research. Is it difficult to do at first? Of course. But, a little step of faith will reap great rewards. Understand this concept then examine how motivated you are to get well. If you’re like I was, you are ready for the miracle that awaits you when you follow these guidelines.

[epileric]

Despite what some people think about him there are many in the medical society (that treat humans, not animals) who feel Mr. Mercola is extremely ruthless in his suggestions.



9 Reasons to Completely Ignore Joseph Mercola

[Aaleayha]

Aspartame is really bad for you. It destroys your liver and your digestive tract. I can't even drink 0NE diet drink. It makes me sick just drinking it. So I generally stay away from it.

[RobinN]

Steven Novella
The editor of Science-Based Medicine, an influential blog that has tirelessly gone after alternative medicine.

Dr. Novella’s participation in something called the American Council on Science and Health, a front group for special interests that has lined up doctors to shill for them now for decades. Need someone to say pesticides are safe or fat doesn’t cause heart disease or that formaldehyde in insulation is safe? Turn to ACSH, funded largely by pharmaceutical, chemical, and food interests.

The reality of Novella, easily found, is that he testifies for insurance companies, and that seems to be the extent of his practice.

Science Based Medicine
Published by David Gorski
David Gorski’s Financial Pharma Ties: What He Didn’t Tell You

Sanofi-Aventis is in a partnership with his university, which in turn is sponsoring his clinical trial of Sanofi’s drug, Riluzole.
Though he may not expect to receive money from Sanofi-Aventis directly, he can expect to receive money that Sanofi has paid to his employer, Wayne State.

from a comment:

After having been in email contact with Gorski over his attacks on Joe Mercola and others, I am confident that this piece accurately represents the man. He seems bent on attacking anyone who offers real cures with his half truths, broken facts, and misleading energy and wit.

http://childhealthsafety.wordpress.c...dmit-sabotage/

[epileric]

LOL, so all we have is your word that the ACSH is a big pharma conspiracy & 2 notorious conspiracy sites saying that even though Gorski isn’t getting any money there’s a conspiracy somewhere and the fact that his boss gets money proves it???. Personally I think you’ve just given them more validation. However, I’m willing to pretend that they have ulterior motives other than just good health.

Finding claims of danger re. Mr. Mercola is not hard. Journalists well as doctors seem to think his actions are dangerous & based on unproven fact. It doesn’t help that he sells the unproven “cures”.

According to another doctor

Mercola.com is a horrible chimera of tabloid journalism, late-night infomercials, and amateur pre-scientific medicine, and is the primary web presence of Joseph Mercola. Unfortunately, it is also one of the more popular alternative medicine sites on the web and as such is uncommonly efficient at spreading misinformation. I am not a fan, and have addressed his dross in the past.
Joseph Mercola has recently posted an excerpt from an individual he evidently holds in high regard, Bill Sardi. Bill published “18 reasons why you should not vaccinate your children against the flu this season.” Mercola chose his nine favorites (one would assume the nine best reasons), and re-posted it on Mercola.com. There are so many mistakes, so much misinformation in so little space, it’s almost a work of art. You know, like that crappy art that you might expect to find on the wall at an hourly motel. Without further delay, let’s examine Mercola and Sardi’s nine best reasons for you not to vaccinate your children against influenza this season:

1. The swine flu is simply another flu. It is not unusually deadly.
“Not unusually deadly.” Oh good, then we can expect only ~36,000 people to die from it this year! Why does that number not reassure me?
One could do an entire post on just this single misleading claim. Oh wait, we have. Suffice to say every influenza strain has unique characteristics, some subtle (like the differences between seasonal strains from 2005-2007), some glaringly different (like the pandemic strains of 1918, 1957, and 1968, or the H5N1 “bird flu”). Saying something is “simply another flu” is nearly meaningless.

http://getbetterhealth.com/joseph-me...ion/2009.10.23

He even made the encyclopedia of American loons

This doesn’t even take into account his troubles with the FDA or his F with the Better Business Bureau

[RobinN]

There are numerous examples of well-educated, innovative doctors and scientists who have created alternative medical treatments that far supersede conventional drug treatments, and yet they are more frequently than not shunned, persecuted, or even prosecuted for their efforts.