There is a totally fake chain letter that's been sent around for ages, saying that it causes everything from lupus to MS. It has a "tone" that sounds official, and scares a lot of people, but it's totally bogus! 

Check out the Mining Co. alert regarding the Internet chain letter


These are some reputable sources and what they have to say about aspartame:

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American Diabetes Association
Statement Regarding Aspartame
(Brand Name NutraSweet)
February 9, 1999

There continues to be unsubstantiated claims that the nonnutritive sweetener aspartame (brand name NutraSweet) poses health risks to people with diabetes. Aspartame has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a governmental agency that conducts thorough scientific reviews to determine foods that are safe for public consumption. The American Diabetes Association follows FDA recommendations and recognizes that there is no credible scientific evidence linking aspartame to any health-related problems for people with diabetes.

For all food additives, including nonnutritive sweeteners, the FDA determines an acceptable daily intake (ADI), which is defined as the amount of a food additive that can be safely consumed on a daily basis over a person's lifetime without any adverse effect, and includes a 100-fold safety factor. Actual intake of all nonnutritive sweeteners, including aspartame, is well below the ADI and therefore does not pose health risks.

The American Diabetes Association considers aspartame - as well as the other FDA-approved nonnutritive sweeteners saccharin, acesulfame K, and sucralose - acceptable sugar substitutes and a safe part of a diabetic meal plan.

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David Squillacote, MD
Senior Medical Advisor, Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
January 12, 1999

ASPARTAME (NUTRASWEET): NO DANGER

The Inappropriate and Unsubstantiated Alarm Over Aspartame

1. There are 377 citations in the world medical literature (all languages) from 1966-1998.
2. There is no information whatsoever about deleterious effects of aspartame on MS, systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE or lupus), or fibromyalgia.
3. There is no evidence that aspartame in any way causes, provokes, mimics or worsens MS.
4. There is no evidence of any "aspartame disease".
5. Repeated studies in peer reviewed journals show no adverse effects of aspartame on seizures (rats, children, adults), weight gain, body temperature, cognitive/behavioral/neuropsychiatric/neurophysiologic function, brain/intestinal/liver hormones or enzymes, brain tumors, cancer, birth defects (rats and humans), Parkinson's disease, allergic responses, blood pressure, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, etc.
6. It has not been shown to be dangerous to diabetics in any way.
7. One small study (which has not been repeated) did find some worsening of depression when depressed patients took very large doses of aspartame.

Several small reports have appeared showing that there may be a subset of migraine patients who worsen with aspartame. Other studies show no connection in patients who have claimed to have aspartame-related headaches.

In summary, this series of allegations by MS. Markle are totally without foundation. They are rabidly inaccurate and scandalously misinformative. I have found no basis for alarm about aspartame, but would recommend (based on one study) those patients who are being treated for depression let their physicians know that they are using aspartame. Patients who have a documented, evaluated adverse reaction to aspartame should avoid its use. 

There is no connection between the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and Ms. Markle or her writings.

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TIME MAGAZINE - A Web of Deceit
Online advice from TIME health columnist Christine Gorman
10/4/99

Heard the one about the common shampoo ingredient that causes cancer? Or how about the epidemic of blindness among toddlers who accidentally get waterproof sunscreen in their eyes? These absurd fictions used to be the stock-in-trade of ninth-graders bent on frightening the younger kids. But now such tall tales are appearing on the Internet, and many adults are taking them seriously.

Consider the latest electronic health scare: about the artificial sweetener aspartame, which is found in everything from Equal to diet Coke. A widely disseminated e-mail by a "Nancy Markle" links aspartame to Alzheimer's, birth defects, brain cancer, diabetes, Gulf War syndrome, lupus, multiple sclerosis and seizures. Right away, the long list warrants skepticism. Just as no single chemical cures everything, none causes everything. 

In this and similar cases, all the Nancy Markles of the world have to do to fabricate a health rumor is post it in some Usenet news groups and let ordinary folks, who may already distrust artificial products, forward it to all their friends and e-mail pals. I received several copies last week, as have many doctors and health organizations.

When I searched Alta Vista for aspartame AND brain AND seizure AND sclerosis, I learned that Markle's message is almost identical to an anti-aspartame screed first penned under a different name in 1995. None of the specific allegations pans out, however. Among the more outrageous claims:

Aspartame leads to "methanol toxicity." Not even close. Trace amounts of methanol exist naturally in many fruits and vegetables and a tiny amount is released whenever the body digests aspartame. But there's four times more methanol in a glass of tomato juice than in a can of aspartame-sweetened soda, and our bodies have no trouble handling such a tiny amount.

Aspartame triggers headaches. Wrong again, says Susan Shiffman, a medical psychologist at Duke University who conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 40 "aspartame sensitive" people. A little probing often revealed the real trouble. One woman, who often ate peanuts
with her diet soda, was allergic to peanuts. Another subject drank too much caffeine.

Aspartame is responsible for the recent uptick in brain-cancer rates. So how do you explain that the trend dates back to 1973, eight years before aspartame was approved in the U.S.?

Curiously, Markle didn't warn against aspartame's single known health risk. Folks with an uncommon genetic disorder called phenylketonuria shouldn't consume the sweetener because they cannot metabolize one of its ingredients.

Before you decide to believe or, worse, forward an e-mail with serious health claims, do a little checking. Start on the Web with www.urbanlegends.miningco.com, which catalogues the more persistent rumors. Then go to reliable health sites, like www.mayohealth.org (for general health), www.medhelp.org (especially good for cardiology), www.oncolink.org or www.cancernet.nci.nih.gov (for cancer) or www.navigator.tufts.edu (for nutrition). Otherwise, you might get caught in a web of confusion.

===================================================

Some links for more information:

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/tpaspart.html

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-adf9.html
FDA statements on Aspartame

http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/askdiet/htm/new/qd971001.htm
Mayo Clinic

http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9703/htm/sweeten.htm
Another Mayo Clinic article

http://ificinfo.health.org/brochure/aspartam.htm
International Food Information Council
Everything You Need to Know About Aspartame

http://ificinfo.health.org/insight/aspallrg.htm
International Food Information Council
No Link Between Aspartame and Allergy Found

http://ificinfo.health.org/insight/aspcons.htm
International Food Information Council
Aspartame Consumption Found Safe in New Studies

http://ificinfo.health.org/insight/swthypr.htm
No Sweetener Link to Hyperactivity

To quote a wise woman from the alt.support.diet.low-carb Usenet newsgroup:

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"You know there is a product on the market today (and for many years) that causes heart and blood vessel damage. Will destroy your pancreas. Can cause blindness and will eventually kill you. It is called SUGAR! Yep, those who continue to feed sugar to themselves, their children and their friends will one day pay the ultimate price, death or disability."
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Bottom line, it's totally YMMV. It's up to you. You like it, and feel good, then use the stuff. If you don't, then don't.  But it won't make you go blind! LOL


HEY, take care, and keep up the good work!!

Lisa