It's a Diet Coke Thing

To quote from Diet Coke's 2004 ad campaign, "It's a Diet Coke Thing."  I detailed my relationship with the red and white can in my last post.  The ingredient that gives Diet Coke its sweet taste is of course found in a myriad of diet soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, and in those light blue packets people sometimes dump into their morning coffee.  Diet Jello is a go to dessert for low carb dieters.

The safety of the artificial sweetener aspartame AKA NutraSweet has been questioned since its debut into the food and beverage industry in the early eighties.  The chemical formula that creates the low calorie sweetener is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylanaline dipetide.  Like many peptides, the chemical is unstable, breaking down at higher temperatures.  If you've ever tasted a can past the expiration date or that was sitting in the hot sun, you'd find the soda essentially without taste.  During Desert Storm, soldiers were treated to cases of the presumably thirst quenching beverage.  When aspartame reaches temperatures of over 85 degrees F, the chemical breaks down into toxins including wood alcohol, formaldehyde (embalming fluid), formic acid (ant sting venom) and DKP (brain tumor agent.)  Perhaps it's no coincidence the symptoms suffered by Gulf War vets are similar to those reported by frequent aspartame users.

According to Dr. Janet Starr Hull, author of "Sweet Poison," aspartame is associated with 92 different symptoms, which may present suddenly or gradually.  Unlike saccharin, aspartame is a dissolved during the digestion process, sending the chemical throughout your body.  Symptoms reported to the FDA include everything from migraines and dizziness to seizures, night vision problems, tinnitus, digestive issues, palpitations, and ADD.  That's just for starters. 

Aspartame illness, as some in the medical community refer to the spectrum of associated symptoms, can mimic a number of serious diseases including Parkinson's Disease, Lyme Disease, Epstein-Barr, chronic fatigue, Graves Disease, ALS, Alzheimers, Epilepsy, hypothyroidism, fibromalgyia, ADD, and MS. 

In an ironic twist, low-calorie aspartame may actually lead to gradual weight gain and hypoglycemia.  You can't fool mother nature.  When we trick out bodies into thinking sugar calories are coming, the pancreas pumps more insulin into our system, exacerbating high blood sugar and contributing to weight gain, especially in the abdominal region. 

The chemical structure of the amino acids present in NutraSweet or aspartame may block or lower serotonin, tryrosine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and adrenaline, effecting the neurological system.  If some of these sound familiar, they are present in many meds taken by people with low levels.  Coincidence or not?

NutraSweet should especially be avoided during pregnancy and childhood when the concentration brings additional toxicity due to lower body weights.  Methanol, one of the chemical components broken down from aspartame, causes problems with DNA replication and is suspected to cause birth defects including retardation.

If you're still hooked on that icy red and white can, I'll share Dr. Hull's detox tips in my next blog.

Until then,

Beth