Splenda and Aspartame linked to neurological and immunological disorders. Whats Your Story?

A few blog posts ago I talked about some serious chemical and amino acids that cause damage to the body. I would like to leave with you today that those same chemical compounds lead to not only many neurological and immunological disorders but also cause the reverse effect that they are sold for. They cause weight gain!

What am I talking about?

Artificial sweeteners. Aspartame and sucralose. (Nutra sweet and Splenda)

Do you have any stories about these chemical sweeteners? Please share your thoughts, questions and stories in a comment.

Do you know someone suffering from the toxic effects of aspartame? Learn how to detox from this excitotoxin.

Unsure about the safety of Splenda ?

So many of us out there don't realize the danger of these fake sugars. I have watched parents sit their little ones down with fresh fruit and a small bowl of splenda to dip their berries in. I use to be a big Diet Dr. Pepper drinker and was having blurred vision and migraines, then heard about a study done at the University of Washington that linked aspartame to lesions on the brain. I quite drinking my fav soda! One of my strongest testimony stories comes from a friend that I had helped. She was suffering from severe migraine's and had to go to the doctor at least once a day for shots to help with the pain. What was she to do, being the mother of three active children she needed to survive the day and be present for her kids. Never did she link that the diet Pepsi she was drinking everyday was the cause of these migraines! I knew I had the answer, I knew I had to speak out and share with her the research on these diet drinks. In a few short weeks her migraines subsided. No more migraine shots needed. Today her and her lovely family are aspartame free today and migraine free!

There are so many stories. What's yours.

Read Aspertame's Not So Sweet News

Continuation on A Sweet Note....

How many sodas do you drink in a day?
How many does your child drink in a day?
How many teaspoons of sugar are in the juice your child had for breakfast?
In the energy drink after the game?
In the lollipop treat after the dental visit?

Maybe you have already started to eliminate the sugar in the house and jumped on the no sugar bandwagon and started using such products as nutra-sweet and splenda. We have learned more about these items in previous newsletters and there will be more in the future, but what I will say here is that you might want to reconsider those attempts of replacing sugar with these above named sugar substitutes.

As sweet as it is, sugar can be a very dangerous substance. One that we as parents are all guilty of taking too lightly. Sugar might give us that immediate high, that sudden burst of energy that we think we would not have gotten else where, but it is an unhealthy high. After the sugar causes its immediate nervous energy in our blood stream it throws our bodies into a state of crisis, our bodies begin to waste energy instead of burning energy in a useful form. The wastes cause drainage on our systems, which in return causes sleepiness, fatigue, anger, and weeping. That’s why your child after a double scoop of ice cream at 7pm finds himself outside running all over hyper and active and not wanting to get ready for bed and then throwing a tantrum at 7:15 about the ball rolling too far down the street, then another fit to try and stay out longer and finally another about getting to bed, but once in bed at 8pm finds himself passed out by 8:04pm. Is this just a child being a child or did the sugar he had before going out have anything to do with the meltdowns and the sudden passing out?

What I look for and do.

When I first learned about sugar I went crazy. I walked out to the garage got the dumpster and sat it in the middle of my kitchen. Opened the refrigerator and my pantry cabinets. I then proceeded to pick up each item and read the ingredients. At first I was only looking for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). I did not think that there would be that much of this bad product in my home.

To my surprise, I was wrong! Very wrong.

HFCS was in everything. The salad dressing, the mustard, the ketchup, apple sauce, peanut butter and of course the jelly. I even found it in the deli meat. The freezer, well you guessed right, the ice cream, the juice, and the frozen bread products. The pantry was not much better. I discovered HFCS in cereals (some that I thought were healthy), pancake syrups, sauces, canned goods and easy bake packages. My dumpster was bulging at the seams and my kitchen was 80% empty!

Now, I am not suggesting that you do as I did here. But what I am suggesting is for you to get familiar with the products in you kitchen and then don’t re-purchase anything that has granulated sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar, powdered sugar, or HFCS in it again.

I found that the best products in the bread, pasta, cereal and grain section do not have any sugars, not even honey or molasses. I now only buy organic raw peanut butter, jellies made with natural fruit juices to sweeten, yogurts that are plain or have evaporated cane juice or maple syrup, and unsweetened natural organic apple sauce.

Some of my favorite products are:

· Organic Agave Syrup (made from the agave cactus plant, a sweetener for yogurt, granola, oat meal, tea, coffee, on toast, etc.)
· Organic Molasses, unsulphered (great on oats, toast, marinades and dressings/sauces, and baking with it, etc.)
· Local organic raw unfiltered Honey (local is important with honey, it will help reduce allergies and boost your immune system)
· Organic Maple syrup (top pancakes or waffles, yogurt or cottage cheese, makes yummy sauces and much more.)
· Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (use in place of granulated sugar)
· Stevia (great in teas and even some baking)
· Bionature organic Fruit Spreads (great on toast or for PB&J’s)
· Crofters organic Fruit Spreads
· Vegenaise (in place of mayo)
· R.W.Knudsen Juices plain or mixed with pure sugarless seltzer water to create a healthy option to soda other wise known in our home as soda juice.

To review more health alternitives to processed sugar and sugar substitutes, please visit A Sweet Note.

Read Part One

More on Excitotoxins

Yesterday, I was sent an informative email regarding this very topic and I would like to share a piece of it with you.

"...you will discover, within 6 months after Aspartame came out on the market in 1984 there was a 10 % increase of brain tumors and 30% increase in diabetes. Medical research showed the increase in brain tumors was not related to better detection methods and there was a definite increase in sheer numbers of new patients. This has been the case ever since Aspartame came out on the market in 1983. Aspartame mainly is toxic to nerve cells and has the potential to cause fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer's, chronic fatigue, and depression., retardation, seizures and MS. Aspartic acid (an ingredient of Aspartame) also causes holes in the brain in mice as does MSG. It also effects neurotransmitter resulting in mental disorders as well. Aspartame are listed as a cytotoxin and has a direct effect on brain function. Unfortunately the FDA has taken a position of rubber stamping this product as safe, no matter what evidence is presented as to the danger of this product. Consumer education is the only way to stop the production of this toxic substance. Write your congressperson and ask them to start an investigation into the poisoning of the American people with Aspartame."

(adapted from Why are Dr. Blake and Dr. Louie so upset? -C. Burrett Cox)

Please take the time to view the link to this insightful video on this dangerous drug!
Documentary on Aspartame

Read more on this.

Read Part One

March News 2008 and Apartame's Not So Sweet News

It is March and the storm clouds blow through the heaven's with moments between of golden rays shining down on our earth.

March find's my family preparing to move from our Emerald City of Seattle to the Lone Star state. We will be making our journey across the lands of the western United States toward the end of this month. However, first we have been blessed with the opportunity to have a short holiday in Maui. All are looking forward to the warm waters and sun filled skies. Sitting on the beach and soaking in the beauty of paradise!

Aspertame's Not So Sweet News

It is time to wake up about this toxin!

Aspertame (Equal, nutrasweet, etc.) the sweetener that so many of us choose to use for dieting purposes or because we are diabetic. If it is not this "fake" sugar, we then choose sucralose (splenda). I was made aware of the dangerous effects of this cytotoxin back in 1996, when I was an avid diet soda drinker myself. We had recenly moved to Seattle with our first born who was not two years of age yet. I had been experiencing severe headaches and dizziness, but never linked these symptoms to my beloved diet soda. One evening while listening to a news report, I overheard that the University of Washington had linked aspertame to brain lesions and possibly tumors and cancer. That's all it took for me! I was done with the diet soda.

Read Part Two

Please check out updates on my Expert page