Joined: 09 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 2914 Gender: Male
Posted: 07 April 2008 at 11:15am | IP Logged
Quote: zanynut
I've dug it too!
Had to wait a while though for my registration details to come though but all done and dusted now!
Quote: Lynie
I've dugg it tooooo!
I don't think you both have, you've only commented on it, you actually have to hit/click the Digg icon which then changes to Dugg! to Digg it. If you look at the list of Who Dugg it you are both not on it.
Joined: 11 September 2007 United Kingdom Posts: 3057 Gender: Female
Posted: 07 April 2008 at 11:22am | IP Logged
Have done it properly now Boss!
sorry i thought adding a comment was digging it..... i didn't realise or see the little icon at the top left near the title which was what i should have pressed to start with! d'oh never mind all done now and i know for future reference!
Joined: 20 May 2007 United Kingdom Posts: 126 Gender: Female
Posted: 07 April 2008 at 1:20pm | IP Logged
This is quite long but this is an e-mail a friend of mine sent be just a couple of days ago. It doesn't relate to children but it does relate to aspartame. If it can do this to an adult what can it do to children:
In October of 2001, my sister started getting very sick. She had stomach spasms and she was having a hard time getting around. Walking was a major chore. It took everything she had just to get out of bed; she was in so much pain.
By March 2002, she had undergone several tissue and muscle biopsies and was on 24 various prescription medications. The doctors could not determine what was wrong with her. She was in so much pain, and so sick she just knew she was dying.
She put her house, bank accounts, life insurance, etc., in her oldest daughter's name, and made sure that her younger children were to be taken care of.
She also wanted her last hooray, so she planned a trip to Florida (basically in a wheelchair) for March 22nd. On March 19 I called her to ask how her most recent tests went, and she said they didn't find anything on the test, but they believe she had MS. I recalled an article a friend of mine e-mailed to me and I asked my sister if she drank diet soda? She told me that she did. As a matter of fact, she was getting ready to crack one open that moment
I told her not to open it, and to stop drinking the diet soda! I e-mailed her article my friend, a lawyer, had sent. My sister called me within 32 hours after our phone conversation and told me she had stopped drinking the diet soda AND she could walk! The muscle spasms went away. She said she didn't feel 100% but, she sure felt a lot better. She told me she was going to her doctor with this article and would call me when she got home.
Well, she called me, and said her doctor was amazed! He is going to call all of his MS patients to find out if they consumed artificial sweeteners of any kind. In a nutshell, she was being poisoned by the Aspartame in the diet soda...and literally dying a slow and miserable death.
When she got to Florida March 22, all she had to take was one pill, and that was a pill for the Aspartame poisoning! She is well on her way to a complete recovery. And she is walking! No wheelchair! This article saved her life. If it says 'SUGAR FREE' on the label; DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!
I have spent several days lecturing at the WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE on 'ASPARTAME,' marketed as 'Nutra Sweet,' 'Equal,' and 'Spoonful.' In the keynote address by the EPA, it was announced that in the United States in 2001 there is an epidemic of multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus. It was difficult to determine exactly what toxin was causing this to be rampant. I stood up and said that I was there to lecture on exactly that subject.
I will explain why Aspartame is so dangerous: When the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol in ASPARTAME converts to formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis. Formic acid is the poison found in the sting of fire ants. The methanol toxicity mimics, among other conditions, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus.
Many people were being diagnosed in error. Although multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence, Methanol toxicity is! Systemic lupus has become almost as rampant as multiple sclerosis, especially with Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi drinkers.
The victim usually does not know that the Aspartame is the culprit. He or she continues its use; irritating the lupus to such a degree that it may become a life-threatening condition. We have seen patients with systemic lupus become asymptotic, once taken off diet sodas.
In cases of those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, most of the symptoms disappear. We've seen many cases where vision loss returned and hearing loss improved markedly.
This also applies to cases of tinnitus and fibromyalgia. During a lecture, I said, 'If you are using ASPARTAME (Nutra Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc) and you suffer from fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting, pains, numbness in your legs, Cramps, Vertigo, Dizziness, Headaches, Tinnitus, Joint pain, Unexplainable depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss you probably have ASPARTAME poisoning!'
People were jumping up during the lecture saying, 'I have some of these symptoms. Is it reversible?'
Yes! Yes! Yes! STOP drinking diet sodas and be alert for Aspartame on food labels! Many products are fortified with it! This is a serious problem. Dr. Espart (one of my speakers) remarked that so many people seem to be symptomatic for MS and during his recent visit to a hospice; a nurse stated that six of her friends, who were heavy Diet Coke addicts, had all been diagnosed with MS. This is beyond coincidence! Diet soda is NOT a diet product! It is a chemically altered, multiple SODIUM (salt) and ASPARTAME containing product that actually makes you crave carbohydrates.
It is far more likely to make you GAIN weight! These products also contain formaldehyde, which stores in the fat cells, particularly in the hips and thighs. Formaldehyde is an absolute toxin and is used primarily to preserve 'tissue specimens.'
Many products we use every day contain this chemical but we SHOULD NOT store it IN our body!
Dr. H. J. Roberts stated in his lectures that once free of the 'diet products' and with no significant increase in exercise; his patients lost an average of 19 pounds over a trial period.
Aspartame is especially dangerous for diabetics. We found that some physicians, who believed that they had a patient with retinopathy, in fact, had symptoms caused by Aspartame. The Aspartame drives the blood sugar out of control. Thus diabetics may suffer acute memory loss due to the fact that aspartic acid and phenylalanine are NEUROTOXIC when taken without the other amino acids necessary for a good balance.
Treating diabetes is all about BALANCE. Especially with diabetics, the Aspartame passes the blood/brain barrier and it then deteriorates the neurons of the brain; causing various levels of brain damage, Seizures, Depression, Manic depression, Panic attacks, Uncontrollable anger and rage.
Consumption of Aspartame causes these same symptoms in non-diabetics as well. Documentation and observation also reveal that thousands of children diagnosed with AD D and ADHD have had complete turnarounds in their behavior when these chemicals have been removed from their diet.
So called 'behavior modification prescription drugs' (Ritalin and others) are no longer needed. Truth be told, they were never NEEDED in the first place! Most of these children were being 'poisoned' on a daily basis with the very foods that were 'better for them than sugar.'
It is also suspected that the Aspartame in thousands of pallets of diet Coke and diet Pepsi consumed by men and women fighting in the Gulf War, may be partially to blame for the well-known Gulf War Syndrome.
Dr. Roberts warns that it can cause birth defects, i.e. mental retardation, if taken at the time of conception and during early pregnancy. Children are especially at risk for neurological disorders and should NEVER be given artificial sweeteners.
There are many different case histories to relate of children suffering grand mal seizures and other neurological disturbances talking about a plague of neurological diseases directly caused by the use of this deadly poison.'
Herein lies the problem: There were Congressional Hearings when Aspartame was included in 100 different products and strong objection was made concerning its use. Since this initial hearing, there have been two subsequent hearings, and still nothing has been done. The drug and chemical lobbies have very deep pockets.
Sadly, MONSANTO'S patent on Aspartame has EXPIRED! There are now over 5,000 products on the market that contain this deadly chemical and there will be thousands more introduced. Everybody wants a 'piece of the Aspartame pie.'
I assure you that MONSANTO, the creator of Aspartame, knows how deadly it is.
And isn't it ironic that MONSANTO funds, among others, the American Diabetes Association, the American Dietetic Association and the Conference of the American College of Physicians?
This has been recently exposed in the New York Times. These [organizations] cannot criticize any additives or convey their link to MONSANTO because they take money from the food industry and are required to endorse their products.
Senator Howard Metzenbaum wrote and presented a bill that would require label warnings on products containing Aspartame, especially regarding pregnant women, children and infants.
The bill would also institute independent studies on the known dangers and the problems existing in the general population regarding seizures, changes in brain chemistry, neurological changes and behavioral symptoms.
The bill was killed.
It is known that the powerful drug and chemical lobbies are responsible for this, letting loose the hounds of disease and death on an unsuspecting and uninformed public. Well, you're informed now!
Joined: 12 June 2005 Germany Posts: 801 Gender: Female
Posted: 11 April 2008 at 11:17pm | IP Logged
I also avoid aspartame products and so does my husband since I told him the reason why and this is not someone elses story this is what happened to me....
I actually started to have problems myself a fews years ago. I am tee-total and so drank diet coke whenever I went out anywhere and had done for a few years before the problems began to occur. I always used to get very hyper after drinking it which was great as everyone else was drinking and so I just joined in with the party. It was then about 10 years ago now I decided to arrange a night out clubbing in Reading with some friends for my birthday, I was really looking forward to the night. I drank my usual diet coke, we hadn't been there that long really as I was planning a long night out and I started to feel really really sick. To be honest the strob lights were quite intensive as well but I'd never had any problems with them before. I got myself a glass of water instead thinking I must have eaten something but the feeling didn't pass I managed to get myself into the toilets but really felt I needed some fresh air. I could barely walk I felt so ill and weak that I had to literally crawl along the floor to the door to get out of the club. Once outside I had no energy whatsoever and was just lying on the pavement in front of the door. Some bloke kept trying it on with me and I didn't feel comfortable at all and asked the bouncers if I could come back into the club and sit just inside the door to which the reply was that I shouldn't drunk so much, they wouldn't believe me that I hadn't had a single alcoholic drink. Nothing happened with the bloke except he managed to kiss me which I tried to fight off but just didn't have any energy... it was the worse birthday ever.
Eventually, I decided that the strob lights had caused this problem and so a few months later I planned another night out with a few friends to a different club that didn't use strob lights. I had my usual diet coke and was having a really good night. Again later into the night I started to feel a little funny but nothing compared to the first night. I had to go down some stairs to use the toilet in this club and so off I went however all I can remember is being at the top of the stairs and two blokes standing chatting about halfway down. The next thing I remember is that I was in a heap at the bottom of the stairs and I have no idea even to this day how i got there. The blokes were laughing at me saying I must be really drunk. My sister had come out of the toilet and asked me what happened but I just didn't have a clue. I must have blacked out and fallen.
I went to the doctors and described what had happened in both cases but they just said that they didn't have a clue and couldn't help me. As I mentioned before I used to drink diet coke but I also used to chew a lot of sugar free gum as well. I had quite a few fillings early in my teens and so thought I was helping my teeth.
Once again this happened in a club where I felt so ill etc that in the end I decided that I would have to avoid all clubbing etc etc as it must be the lights or something.
About a year after the last time I became ill. I thought I had flu, but I didn't ache I just had literally no energy I struggled to get out of bed and walk to the next room I would have to sit down and rest if I did. I just ate my 3 meals a day and drank lots of water when I felt like this and after a week or so it would go but it would come back again after a few weeks and it went on and on like this. The doctor decided that I had chronic fatigue. He said although some of the symptoms can be similar to the early stages of MS chronic fatigue was becoming very common because of the lifestyle we are now living so he signed me up for a clinic they were running for it at the time. They advised me to try and do more exercise etc etc but the problem did still not clear up.
One of the places I worked at was at a leisure centre (I had two jobs at the time one in an office and the second as a swimming teacher). There was a woman there who did the food allergy tests and so not for any particular reason I decided pay her a visit as she had offered members of staff a free test. I thought it would be interesting. She told me I was allergic to aspartame which at the time I must admit I thought was silly as I didn't react immediately after having it. Anyway I did some research on the internet about aspartame when I got home and a lot of the symptoms I had been having matched some of the minor cases linked under problems with aspartame. They advised that as a test you should avoid all aspartame products for 1 week and they believe that you would start to notice a difference as early as the first 3 or 4 days.
I gave it a try and I did feel a lot more energetic etc after the first 4 days so I decided to stay off it for a few more weeks. I didn't get the symptoms of chronic fatigue back and I could now understand why after a week of feeling ill with it and not touching diet coke or chewing gum etc I would feel well again until a few weeks later. Not that I'm so bothered about clubbing now as I'm considerably older but after about 1 year I could actually go into a club with strob lights etc and I'm fine. So all along these problems appear to have been linked to aspartame.
As I mentioned at the beginning I obviously avoid aspartame, although it's a build up of it that causes these problems and not and instant thing after the first intake it's just not even worth the little bit. It is in so many food though, not just the drinks, it's in a lot of yoghurts, even some of the full fat ones and various other products you wouldn't expect it in so make sure you check the labels if you are choosing to avoid it, which I would highly reccommend and it's spelt pretty much the same way in most countries as well (some countries drop the e at the end).
Just as a final note, sorry I know this post is extremely long already, but a few months back I did see a documentary on aspartame and some studies that were being carried out in Holland I think it was. These tests and studies were not approved by the government but then I believe that's because, if I remember rightly the government supported the sale of a cheap sweetner and there were some links somewhere with the company responsible for aspartame. Anyway, this study used rats to test the effects of aspartame. They gave the rats what is considered the legal dosage, the same dosage found in many soft drinks etc. They also gave some rats lower doses and some higher. Some of the rats I believe with the higher dose were unable to cope and they had a form of epileptic fit and died fairly quickly. The rats with the legal dosage and even the lower dosage all developed brain tumors and obviously died as well so you can see how damaging it is. I'm also not sure how valid this last piece of information is as I remember read it on the internet all those years ago when I was investigating it further, but I remember reading that supposidly the man who created aspartame also had a fit immediately after tasting the sweetness of it. It is believed though the amount he took on that taste is more than the dose they put into drinks but it's a scarey thought all the same.
Anyway enough of my waffle. I have also dugg it and will continue to avoid aspartame as well.
Joined: 11 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 6070 Gender: Female
Posted: 12 April 2008 at 8:21am | IP Logged
I think I must have seen a similar documentary as Nickimas, the documentary that I saw the experiements were carried out on mice. They also gave below the reccomended dose, the recommended dose and a high dose. The higher dose mice died fairly quickly and became lethargic and ill looking straight away. Both the reccomended dose and low dose mice groups all had brain tumours.
Aspartame was never developed as a sweetner to be used on young children. Yes the government wanted a cheap replacement for sugar for diet use, this was though to be the holy grail of diet products a cheap sweetner that could be used to replace sugar and aid in weight loss. There have been no studies on the effects of Aspartame on the growing brain, it was also never intended to be consumed in the quantities it is.
People think they are doing the right thing by replacing sugar when they are actually harming themselves more.
I have a similar story to Nickimas. I used to drink large amounts of diet coke, for a few years I felt ill but could never find out what it was. I was constantly tired, my joints ached and I had no motivation at all. Numerous trips to the dr's didn't really help, they tried blood tests, multi vitamins, all did not make me feel better. The dr also suggested to me that I might have chronic fatigue syndrome. What really started me looking at Aspartame was the link to Gulf War syndrome as my ex husband was in the first Gulf War. It really is quite instant if it is Aspartame affecting you. Within 48 hours you will see and feel a huge improvement within a week you will feel "normal".
Our bodies were not designed to consume so much refined sugar that we put in to it now adays, but you can't replace the refined sugar with an artificial sweetner in an attempt to beat the system. I rarely drink caffienated drinks now a days because I found once I stopped I didn't crave for them anymore but if I do I drink normal coke not diet, zero or max.
Joined: 14 June 2005 United Kingdom Posts: 2421 Gender: Female
Posted: 12 April 2008 at 10:37am | IP Logged
I have been looking at most of the soft drinks on offer in newsagents and was shocked at justs how many contain this sweetener!! I have been really careful not to buy any of the products to give to my kids, the fruit shoots are out!
I cannot drink ordinary coke for some reason, it gives me major headaches and makes me sick, so i have been drinking a lot of the diet variety, now i think i will just stick to water! DH has also been only drinking the ordinary coke, not the usual zero he was drinking.
Maybe we could start a thread listing what is "safe" as we stumble across them, as it would be really handy and if we all work together we can all be free of this poison!
Joined: 05 July 2006 United Kingdom Posts: 2389 Gender: Female
Posted: 12 April 2008 at 12:50pm | IP Logged
Ladies, i think this topic deserves more than 9 diggs, considering how many members we have on here. Surely your all concerned about this, especially with the real stories written above? As Flip said.. it only takes seconds to register and then click a button to show your support. Thank you lol x-x-x
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Topic: Robinsons Squash
DH has also been only drinking the ordinary coke, not the usual zero he was drinking. 
