more stuff on diet sodas

by shera 87 Replies latest jw friends

  • Country Girl
    Country Girl

    Just a quick note for those that use Aspartame or any other artificial sweetener:

    There is an herb called "stevia" which is 10 times sweeter than sugar. It contains no calories, and can be purchased at any health food store, or even sometimes in the health food section at grocery stores. It's very sweet, and a dab'll do ya! It's a big more expensive, but due to its sweetness, you use less of it, and this way the price is justified. It can be used for cooking and baking, also. It comes in it's free form powder, or in sugar packets. It's good for those on a diabetic or heart diet.

    Country Girl

  • Gopher
    Gopher
    I guess the environmentalist's anti-DDT campaign backfired.
    No, I don't think it did. Just because Aspartame is not the cause of all ills doesn't mean that DDT is safe for human consumption. It's not. DDT is not the only way to fight misquitos.

    Here's some information from the SNOPES site on DDT. It was incorrectly believed to have harmed eggs of certain American birds. This information doesn't address the effect that the American ban had on foreign countries. However, since America is a large food importer from tropical nations, those nations (such as the Phillipines) had no choice but to discontinue DDT use. Read on. http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/reddye.htm In the 1970s DDT, a highly effective pesticide then widely in use in the U.S., was believed to be threatening the continuation of a number of bird species. Reports claimed that bald eagles, ospreys, and perergrine falcons exposed to the chemical laid eggs with abnormally thin shells which broke during incubation and resulted in markedly fewer successful hatchings, so new generations were not surviving to replace earlier ones as older birds died off. Because of this looming extinction threat, DDT was subjected to a domestic ban in 1972. Once the pesticide was removed from the environment, the population levels of the endangered birds returned to near their previous levels. (Later studies indicated that factors other than DDT use were likely responsible for most of the decline.)

  • El blanko
    El blanko

    Hmmm... maybe I was a little reactionary with my own feelings about Aspartame. Not being a "science expert" (barf) doesn't help

    But.... most of the foods that use this particular substance tend to be of the junk variety, so avoiding these things is not bad.

    My own feelings towards the substance have been nurtured by a friend who was helped by a herbalist to overcome a nervous disorder and this man told him, amongst other food stuffs, to avoid artificial sweeteners. The diet did actually benefit my friend and I suppose based upon my friends enthusiasm, I took the idea onboard.

    I think from what I can see, that there are two sides to this debate (as is the case with all debates ) and time will tell who is right and who is wrong here.

    Balance is essential.

    Another set of confusing links -> http://www.presidiotex.com/aspartame/Facts/facts.html -> go figure?

  • Princess
    Princess

    I personally think aspartame is a health risk. My husband drank several diet Cokes a day for years. I frequently cheaped out and bought the Costco generic version of diet Coke. A few months ago they switched to Splenda. Then he read that the phosphorus in colas leaches the calcium from your bones. As a cyclist (non weight bearing exercise) he didn't need that so we switched to iced green tea. I make it by the gallon and sweeten it with Stevia.

    Can't think of anything different about his health since he switched. But it can't hurt!

    Soda, coke, pop whatever you call it. It's crap and you shouldn't drink it.

    Drink beer (not that piss you drink FMZ) real beer.

    Or water.

  • Richie
    Richie

    History of Fraud and Deception Involving ASPARTAME

    Aspartame is produced by G.D. Searle Company, founded in 1888 and located in Skokie, Illinois. Searle is now owned by others. It is about 200 times sweeter than the refined sugar that it is meant to replace, and it is known to erode intelligence and affect short-term memory. It is essentially a chemical weapon designed to impact populations en masse. It is an rDNA derivative made from two amino acids, L-phenylalanine, L-aspartic acid and methanol. Originally discovered during a search for an ulcer drug in 1966, it was ?approved? by the FDA in 1974 as a ?food additive?. Approval was followed by a retraction based on demonstrated public concern over the fact that the substance produced brain tumors in rats. According to the 1974 FDA task force set up to examine aspartame and G.D.Searle, ?we have uncovered serious deficiencies in Searles operations and practices, which undermine the basis for reliance on Searle?s integrity in conducting high quality animal research to accurately determine the toxic potential of its products.? The task force report concluded with the recommendation that G.D. Searle should face a Grand Jury ?to identify more particularly the nature of the violations, and to identify all those responsible.? [2]

    In 1976, an FDA ?task force? brought into question all of G.D. Searle?s aspartame testing procedures conducted between 1967 and 1975. The final FDA report noted faulty and fraudulent product testing, knowingly misrepresented product testing, knowlingly misrepresented findings, and instances of irrelevant animal research. In other words, illegal criminal activity. Understandably scared, Searle officials sought to suppress the FDA findings and obstruct justice. They turned to Nixon and Ford administration operative Donald Rumsfeld and elected him ?chairman of the Searle organization.? In 1977, the Wall Street Journal detailed the fact that Rumsfeld made efforts to ?mend fences? by asking ?what Searle could do? in the face of the changes. Also in 1977, Dr. Adrian Gross, a pathologist working for the FDA, uncovered evidence that G.D.Searle might have committed criminal fraud in withholding adverse data on aspartame. [3]

    The FDA requested that U.S. Attorney Samuel Skinner be hired to investigate Searle?s aspartame testing procedures in January 1977. Samuel Skinner was the federal prosecutor responsible for convincing the Grand Jury to investigate whether Searle willfully and criminally withheld data that cast doubt on the safety of aspartame. In February 1977, Skinner met with Searle attorneys at the Chicago law firm of Sidney & Austin. Suddenly, newly elected President Carter announced that Skinner would not remain in office, and Skinner thereafter announced that he would be hired by Sidney & Austin. Obviously, Skinner then had to recuse himself from the Searle prosecution. The case was taken over by U.S. Attorney William Conlon, who essentially sat on the case, despite complaints from the Justice Department, which was urging that a grand jury be convened to prosecute Searle Company for falsifying Nutra-Sweet test data. Failing to preform his duty, Conlon also joined Searle?s law firm in January 1979.

    Skinner?s defection from the FDA might have been prompted by the results of the review of the Searle studies. David Hattan, deputy director of the FDA Division of Toxicological Review and Evaluation, concedes that anyone reading the orginal FDA investigation reports is likely to be ?shocked? by what they reveal. He says that the ensuing review of the Searle studies, in which he was involved from the time of his arrival in 1978, was one of the most thorough in the agency?s history. It included an unprecedented hearing before a public board of inquiry composed of experts from outside the agency. Arthur Hayes, Jr., then Commissioner of the FDA appointed by Reagan, agreed with Searle and the FDA?s Bureau of Foods (now the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) that ?an appropriate analysis of the data showed no significant increases in tumor incidence in rats exposed to aspartame or DKP, one of the breakdown products of aspartame. The board of inquiry rejected concerns that Aspartame?s components could cause neurological damage.[4]

    In 1981, under pressure from the soft drink lobby, FDA Commissioner Hayes approved the initial use of aspartane in dry foods and as a tabletop sweetener, discounting public complaints as anecdotal and ignoring three FDA scientists.[5] who voiced the fact that there were serious questions concerning brain tumor tests after having done an in-house study. Hayes was widely profiled as a man who believed that approval for new drugs and additives was too slow because ?the FDA demanded too much information.? Hayes also ignored the fact that the biased scientific studies paid for by Searle were faulty.[6]

    After leaving the FDA, Hayes took the post of senior medical consultant for the public relations firm retained by Searle..[7] A subsequent inquiry ?found no impropriety?.

    In July 1983 it was approved for use in soft drinks in the United States, followed three months later by approval in Britain by the Ministry of Agriculture. All this was done despite the fact that the Department of Defense knew that aspartane was neurotoxic and harmful to human health. These facts were deliberately suppressed by the government. It is also interesting that in 1981 FDA scientist Dr. Robert Condon, in an internal government document, said ?I do not concur that aspartame has been shown to be safe with respect to the induction of brain tumors.? All safety was thrown aside because of pressure from Searle. Considering the connections the drug companies have to the medical and intelligence community, it would not be surprising that there were other factors involved in the pressure to adopt aspartame into the diet of the population.

    In 1984, the Arizona Department of Health began testing soft drinks to ascertain the level of toxic deteriorization by-products in soft drinks. It was determined that soft drinks stored in elevated temperatures promoted more rapid deteriorization of aspartane into poisonous methyl alcohol (methanol). The FDA decided to ignore these results. Public complaints about the effects of aspartane began to come in. People complained of headaches, dizziness, vomiting, nausea, blurred vision, seizures, convulsions and a host of other reactions to aspartane.

    Also in 1984, the Centers for Disease Control made the fraudulent announcement that ?no serious, widespread? side effects of aspartame had been found. It was an outright lie, and this announcement was quickly followed by another from PepsiCo that it was dropping saccharin and adopting aspartame as the sweetener it all its diet drinks. Others followed suit, despite the January 1984 broadcast on CBS Nightly News where the chief scientist for the FDA task force investigating Searle publicly stated that Searle company officials made ?deliberate decisions? to cloak aspartame?s toxic effects.

    When a human comsumes "Nutra-Sweet", it breaks down above 85° not only into its constituent amino acids, but into methanol, which further breaks down into formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic[8] and very toxic, as well as formic acid and a brain tumor agent called diketopiperazine (DKP). In a meek attempt to ward off further public inquiry, the FDA in 1984 announced that no evidence has been found to establish that aspartame?s methanol by-product reaches toxic levels?. This was a direct lie, since Medical World News reported in 1978, six years earlier, than the methanol content of aspartame is 1,000 times greater than most foods under FDA control. Furthermore, the methanol in aspartame is ?free methanol?, which is never found in nature. Methanol in nature is always accompanied by ethanol and other compounds which mitigate the methanol when introduced into the body.

    In 1985, Searle Company was bought by Monsanto, the maker of other insidious substances that manage to find their way into human food, including Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH). Senator Metzenbaum, commenting on the FDA relative to the aspartame issue in 1985 said, ?the FDA is content to have Searle conduct all safety tests on aspartane. That?s absurd!


    Supreme Court Collusion in ASPARTAME Coverup
    Clarence Thomas Former Monsanto Lawyer

    In 1986, the Washington Post reported that the Supreme Court refused to consider arguments that the FDA had not followed proper procedures in approving aspartame, despite arguments that the product ?may cause brain damage.? (Supreme Court obstructing Justice). Since Clinton-appointed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is a former attorney for Monsanto.[9], it is unlikely that hundreds of millions of people will find redress. There are also indications of ties between Monsanto and elements in the CIA.


    University of Illinois Fraudulent Study on ASPARTAME

    In August of 1987, the University of Illinois, a recipient of funding from Monsanto, issued a study ?exonerating aspartame of causing seizures in laboratory animals.? The fact that they were paid by Monsanto automatically invalidates the results. U.S. Senate hearings in 1987 showed that G.D.Searle used psychological strategy? to get regulators at the FDA into a yes-saying habit to bring them into a subconscious spirit of participation.[10] More than half of 69 medical researchers polled by the FDA in 1987 said they were concerned about aspartame?s safety.[11]


    FDA Ignores Complaints of Neurological Symptoms from ASPARTAME

    In 1989, the FDA received over 4,000 complaints from people who described adverse reactions. Because the FDA conveniently lists aspartane as a ?food additive?, it removes the legal requirement for adverse effect reporting to any Federal agency and the necessity for safety monitoring processes. Research also indicates that aspartame, when combined with glutamine products (such as MSG, widely used in foods) increase the likelihood of brain damage occurring in children.[12]


    ASPARTAME Affecting Airline Pilots

    Some of the more interesting developments in 1989 surfaced in the Palm Beach Post on October 14th, where an article by Dr. H.J. Robert described several recent aircraft accidents involving confusion and aberrant pilot behavior caused by ingestion of products containing aspartame.[13] Soft drink makers were notified of this problem in 1991. It is interesting to note that after Samuel Skinner left Sidney & Austin, Searle?s law firm, he was appointed Secretary of Transportation. Hence, he was in charge of the FAA, just in time to head off complaints from pilots affected by aspartame. His wife was employed by Sidney & Austin. Later as George Bush?s Chief of Staff in 1991, during the Gulf War, he was in a position to head off all inquiries relative to asparatame, no matter where they were directed - to the FDA, FAA or Department of Defense. This constitutes criminal negligence and racketeering. George Bush, of course, was an ex-director of the Central Intelligence Agency.


    British News: "NutraSweet Tests Faked"

    On July 20, 1990, an article in the national British newspaper The Guardian, entitled ?NutraSweet test results ?faked??, revealed that the British government had finally been persuaded to review the safety of aspartame after ?receiving a dossier of evidence highlighting its potential dangers.? According to The Guardian, the dossier alleged that laboratory tests were falsified, tumors were removed from laboratory animals and animals were ?restored to life? in laboratory records.[14] The dossier against NutraSweet was compiled by Erik Millstone, a lecturer at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University and author of two books on food additives. It was based on thousands of pages of evidence, much of which was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The COT, Committee on Toxicity, was at the time looking into consumption of artificial sweeteners and did not possess the key documents covering alleged mishandling of the safety tests which Millstone was asked to provide.

    The British Ministry of Agriculture and Department of Health have never revealed the evidence upon which approval was given in England for the distribution of aspartame, maintaining that ?these are matters of commercial confidence.? The British government does not testing of its own but relies on safety tests provided by the manufacturer, which of course constitutes a conflict of interest. The 1990 article quoted the British Department of Health as saying ?NutraSweet is not a health hazard on the available evidence, but people do suffer ?ideosyncratic reactions? to food additives.? Interestingly, it was pointed out that three out of 14 members of the Committee on Toxicity have direct or indirect links with the artificial sweetener industry, according to David Clark, the Labour Party Agriculture spokeman, who requested a Parliamentary Answer to address questions of conflict of interest. Aspartame is also sold in England under the product name ?Canderel.? In 1990, the market for asparatame in England was estimated at £800 million.


    ASPARTAME Dosing of the Military in the Gulf War

    During the 1991 Gulf War, all military personnel were provided free supplies of aspartame-laced soft drinks together with experimental vaccines, nerve gas antidotes and personal insecticides. They were also treated to direct biochemical warfare compounds. The result is Gulf War Syndrome, which is communicable and deadly, and 50,000 military personnel and their dependents are wasting away before our eyes. Criminal negligence? Of course. Criminal conspiracy? Yes. Genocide? Probably - we?re waiting to see.


    ASPARTAME Alters Brain Chemicals That Affect Behavior

    Independent tests on animals have shown that aspartame alters brain chemicals that also affect behavior. The chemical nature of aspartame was also shown to defeat its own alleged ?purpose? as a ?diet aid?, since high doses instill a craving for calorie-laden carbohydrates. Then, the aspartame-carbohydrate combination further increases the effect of aspartame on the brain.[15]


    Fraudulent Claims of ASPARTAME as a "Diet Aid"

    Interestingly, even the American Cancer Society confirmed that users of artificial sweeteners gained more weight than those who didn?t use the products, further undermining the supposed ?purpose? for the existence of aspartame in the food.[16] Haven?t we heard this kind of criminal fraud before?

    The major selling point of aspartame is as a diet aid, and it has been demonstrated that the use of this product actually causes people to consume more food. Normally, when a significant quantity of carbohydrates are comsumed, serotonin levels rise in the brain. This is manifested as a relaxed feeling after a meal. When aspartame is ingested with carbohydrates, such as having a sandwich with a diet drink, aspartame causes the brain to cease production of serotonin, meaning that the feeling of having had enough never materializes. You then eat more foods, many containing aspartame, and the cycle continues. Monsanto?s profit from its NutraSweet Division was $993 million in 1990.


    Governments Continue Suppression and Coverup on ASPARTAME

    In 1991, the National Institutes of Health.[17] listed 167 symptoms and reasons to avoid the use of aspartame , but today it is a multi-million dollar business that contributes to the degeneration of the human population, as well as the deliberate suppression of overall intelligence, short-term memory[18] and the added contribution as a carcinogenic environmental co-factor. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control continue to receive a stream of complaints from the population about aspartane. It is the only chemical warfare weapon available in mass quantities on the grocery shelf and promoted in the media. It has also been indicated that women with an intolerance for phenylalinine, one of the components of aspartame, may give birth to infants with as much as a 15% drop in intelligence level if they habitually consume products containing this dangerous substance. [19]


    FAA Collusion in Suppression of Facts on ASPARTAME

    The March 1995 issue of The Pacific Flyer published a pro-aspartame article in which it stated, ?the Federal Aviation Administration conducted its own cognitive research and, according to experts, found no contraindications that would prevent pilots, or anyone, from ingesting aspartame.? This flies in the face of consistent reports from pilots who maintain they have suffered severe and dangerous repercussions in the air after drinking soft drinks containing aspartame. Virtually every time, symptoms disappeared when aspartame-laced drinks were discontinued.[20] Over 600 pilots have reported this problem.


    FDA "Findings" on ASPARTAME Remain Based on Faked Tests

    So, the faked Searle tests remain. The FDA bases its findings on the faked Searle tests, and the Journal of the American Medical Association, examining the FDA findings, based on the faked Searle tests, announced the consumption of aspartame poses no health risk for most people. Searle officials argue that the use of aspartame as an artificial sweetener ?has been officially approved not only by the FDA, but by foreign regulatory agencies and the World Health Organization? - based on Searle-sponsored aspartame research, not independently conducted tests.


    Symptoms of ASPARTAME Intoxication: Minimal to Severe

    The symptoms of aspartame intoxication include severe headaches, nausea, vertigo, insomina, loss of control of limbs, blurred vision, blindness, memory loss, slurred speech, mild to severe depression often reaching suicidal levels, hyperactivity, gastrointestinal disorders, seizures, skin lesions, rashes, anxiety attacks, muscle and joint pain, numbness, mood changes, loss of energy, menstrual cramps out of cycle, hearing loss or ringing in the ears, loss or change of taste, and symptoms similar to those in a heart attack. In addition, aspartic acid chelates (combines) with chromium - which is a necessary element for proper operation of the thyroid gland. People who consume large quantities of aspartame may end up with a false diagnosis of Graves disease and suffer allopathic irradiation of their thyroid gland for no reason. Complaints about aspartame represent 80-85% of all food complaints registered with the FDA. More than 6,000 complaints have been made concerning the effects of aspartame. Thirty independent doctors and scientists have conducted research on the adverse effects of aspartame or have compiled supporting data against its use.The use of NutraSweet® or Equal® should be seriously curtailed or stopped.


    ASPARTAME Use As Part of Planetary Biomedical Genocide

    The fact that tons of aspartame is pumped into the world population each year, knowingly and deliberately, especially with the historical and documented record of fraud and misrepresentation, constitutes a conspiracy of the highest order, as well as criminal negligence. The rewards of continued use are increased profits for the medical and pharmaceutical industries and chemical companies who produce aspartame and treat people suffering from the effect of it. Aspartame is the only biochemical warfare product on grocery shelves....


    REFERENCES:
    [1] According to Alex Constantine in his essay entitled Sweet Poison.
    [2] The Guardian, England, July 20, 1990. The Guardian also published articles that prompted the NutraSweet Company in Deerborn, Illinois to file a lawsuit for libel, maintaining that safety issues were resolved long ago. The Guardian cited documents submitted to a British government committee reviewing artificial sweeteners.
    [3] Ibid.
    [4] Food Magazine, Vol 1, No.9. April/June 1990, Artificial Sweetener Suspicions (England).
    [5] Two former FDA scientists involved in the Searle investigations, Jacqueline Verrett, a former FDA toxicologist who reviewed data from three key studies, and Adrian Gross, who was part of a team of FDA investigators that spent three months at the Searle laboratories - say the irregularities they discovered were serious enough to invalidate some of the studies. In an interview, Verrett called the FDA?s final decision to approve aspartame ?a giant cover-up.? Food Magazine , Vol 1 No.9, April/June 1990. (England)
    [6] Science Times , February 1985, described the studies as scientifically lacking in design and execution.
    [7] Burston-Marsteller.
    [8] Formaldehyde is also a prime ingredient in vaccinations/immunizations given to humans.
    [9] Extraordinary Science, Vol 7, No.1, Jan/Feb/Mar 1995, p.39.
    [10] The Guardian, April/June 1990 Laboratory Animals Back from the Dead in Faulty Safety Tests.
    [11] Ibid.
    [12] Study by Dr. John Olney, professor of neuropathology and psychiatry, Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Interestingly, Japan?s Ajinomoto Company, a maker of MSG, is a licensee of Searle Company. Note: (Nutra-Sweet + MSG = Brain damage in children = Behavior disorders = crime= perceived control necessity = totalitarian surveillance and control. Mind control is a reptilian paradigm.
    [13] Dr. Robert published a report detailing 157 persons with aspartame-induced confusion and memory loss.
    [14] The full investigation was known as the Dressler Report. An example from the report: Animal A23LM was alive at week 88, dead from week 92 through 104, alive at week 108 and dead at week 112. Lab animals were not permanently tagged to avoid identification mixups. Tumors were removed from animals which were returned healthy to the study. Animals were allowed to decompose before post mortem exams were conducted.
    [15] Studies by MIT neuroscientist Richard Wurtman.
    [16] American Cancer Society six-year study which tracked 80,000 women.
    [17] The Effects of Aspartame
    [18] In the 1985 FDA hearings instigated by Senator Metzenbaum, a sample case was revealed in which a woman?s memory rapidly slipped into oblivion until she stopped consuming aspartane-laced products.
    [19] Steinman, Diet for a Poisoned Planet, p.190. University of California study.
    [20] PILOTS: For more information, contact the Aspartame Safety Network at 214-352-4268


  • Richie
    Richie

    Shera, I really hope you'll read my previous post, as this will confirm your worst suspicions. My advise is to take utmost precaution and never ever ingest aspartame no matter what. I know that the labelling act in Canada is very stringent in that they have to, by law, mark all ingredients on any product label sold to the public in stores. It may be different in the USA where it may not be completely mandatory to print all ingredients on the product label, so if in doubt, then just do not buy it. As was mentioned before, Stevia is a natural sweetener and is many times sweeter than sugar and is available in most health stores...

    Continued good health to you......

    Richie :*)

  • Special K
    Special K

    I was tested for food allergies.

    guess what my #1 alergy is to>> Yup!.. Aspartame. ..

    My body doesn't like it at all.

    and my husband has never been able to eat anything with aspartame in it.. Gives him the jitters.

    sincerely

    Special K

  • drwtsn32
    drwtsn32

    Richie..not sure how much I trust something with so many misspellings. What the hell is aspartane? lol

    A neurotoxin? Causes brain tumors? If that was the case we'd have people dropping like flies because of it. How many people do you know have brain tumors? All lies I tell ya!

    ~Doc (of the "drinks 1+ gallon of diet pop a day and has no tumors or sapped intelligence to show for it" class)

  • drwtsn32
    drwtsn32
    guess what my #1 alergy is to>> Yup!.. Aspartame. ..

    Can I ask how were you tested? I find this odd because aspartame is simply made up of a couple protein components found everywhere. If you're allergic to it you'd probably have issues with many foods.

  • ball.
    ball.

    I hate to tell you all this but Phenylalanine is one of the essential ingredients in chocolate. It contains quite a lot of it, and it is the "addictive" ingredient in chocolate. So all those giving up sodas because of aspartamine better give up chocolate quick!

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