Is Aspartame bad for you?

We all know that too much sugar will make you fat but what will too much artificial sweetener do?

The debate as to whether or not artificial sweetener (or Asparatame) is bad for you still rages on however the general consensus is a BIG FAT YES! Here are a few facts I’ve dug up that may raise a few eyebrows.

FACT #1: Aspartame is 160 times as sweet as sugar with virtually no calories. It breaks down in the body to 1) Phenylalanine (50%) which can be neurotoxic and in some susceptible people cause seizures. 2) Aspartic acid (40%) which can cause brain damage in the developing brain. 3) Methanol (10%) which turns into formaldehyde. These all have adverse effects, but not everyone is affected equally. This is why the scientific community has trouble evaluating these reports.

FACT #2: Aspartame will make you gain weight. The Phenylalanine in Aspartame stimulates your appetite and increases hunger. It also poisons your metabolism so you cannot burn calories. *Arsenic is routinely included in chicken food when the chickens are being raised for meat production because it poisons the metabolism and the chickens don’t burn off the calories, they turn it into fat, and thus they produce rapid weight gain for the farmer.

FACT #3: One of the major complaints that are made as an Aspartame side effect is headaches. There are many that claim that their migraines and headaches are a direct result of ingesting Aspartame. Perhaps most significant is a University of Florida study which showed that aspartame increases migraine frequency in 50% of sufferers.

FACT #4: Aspartame accounts for 75% of ALL complaints to the FDA for a food additive – with even MSG running a poor second. Some research has concluded that aspartame contains a carcinogen (substance that causes cancer) which is suspected by many scientists to be behind conditions ranging from brain tumors to epilepsy

FACT #5: 10% of Aspartame is metabolized in small intestine to give methanol, which is converted into formaldehyde which is very toxic compound to kidney and liver.

Aspartame is hard to avoid, it is used in more than 4,000 products, including diet drinks, cereal bars, yogurt and chewing gum. My first suggestion is NOT to use any chemical sweeteners at all, but to use natural sugars or stevia (a natural sweetener) – see NuNatural Stevia available online. Make up your own mind but I spat my chewing gum out as I was researching these facts.