The Number One Sweetener That You Must Never Feed Your Kids

Aspartame is a popular sweetener currently used in about 6,000 foods. The FDA rejected it several times until one of the top people in the Aspartame industry got a high-level job for the FDA. The producers of Aspartame rebranded this artificial sweetener numerous times and tried to advertise it as a harmless, and even as a natural substance. Aspartame actually consists of all-natural amino acids, but these acids are harmful when consumed in large quantities, and as soon as aspartame enters the body, it boosts the levels of dopamine in the brain. This can lead to depression symptoms, since it disrupts the brain’s balance of serotonin/dopamine. All parents should know about the dangers of aspartame.

Over 10,000 official complaints have been made to the FDA regarding reactions to aspartame. Dr. Joseph Mercola discussed in detail the risks of “America’s Deadliest Sweetener” in a Huffington Post article. The usual symptoms of overdosing on aspartame, he said, are mood swings, headaches, and gastrointestinal problems. In addition, the side effects of this poisonous sweetener can imitate conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease, chronic fatigue, birth defects, arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, panic disorder, Parkinson’s disease, attention deficit disorder, lymphoma, multiple chemical sensitivity, etc.

Moreover, the doctor talks about the risks of low-calorie foods and diet sodas. Diet soda actually increases the risk that you will get metabolic syndrome, and could nearly double the risk of obesity, which is the opposite of what the advertisers try to propagate. Diet drinks and foods actually reduce your body’s ability to count calories, and as well as this stimulate your appetite, boosting your tendency to overindulge.

Some government and states are well aware of the dangers of aspartame:
In 1997, due to concerns about the sweetener amongst the general public, the UK government brought in a new law obliging food makers to label any food containing artificial sweeteners.

Ten years later, in 2007, the Indonesian government unsuccessfully tried to ban aspartame. The Philippines attempted this in 2008, but also unsuccessfully.
In 2007, the US state of New Mexico banned aspartame, and in Hawaii a resolution was made in 2009 asking the FDA to ban the substance.

In a voluntary move in 2007, UK supermarket chains decided to stop using aspartame in their own label products. In 2009, the supermarket ASDA was sued in the English courts by the producers of Aspartame in Europe for their use of a “no nasties” label on their products to show that there are no sweeteners. However, Asda won the legal case.

More recently, this year the British Food Standards Agency has begun a set of studies into the dangers of aspartame amid complaints about the side-effects experienced by consumers of the substance.

Aspartame is found in many sugar-free drinks and candy bars, as well as in tabletop sweeteners. Special attention should be paid to the labels when buying such products to make sure that you are not consuming or, even worse, exposing your children to this substance.

For a list of foods containing aspartame, go to: blog.foodfacts.com

For food safety information, check out: cspinet.org

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.