The Aspartame Trap: You May Be Unknowingly Ingesting this Toxic Sweetener

Andre Evans  -  Activist Post

The risk of artificial sweeteners is still very real. Aspartame is used as a substitute sweetener in thousands of products. Most diet sodas, processed foods and candies contain this ‘alternative’ to sugar.

If you aren’t careful, you’ll easily run into it somewhere in your food.

Aspartame is marketed not by its real name, but through products like Equal and NutraSweet. This is because aspartame itself has a bad reputation as a dangerous excitotoxin. An excitotoxin is named for its ability to ‘excite’ the cells of the body into overproducing a particular chemical, thus burning them out prematurely. Aspartame in particular has been found to affect brain cells, by mimicking the response to sweetness and producing an artificial form of it.

One study actually found that 67% of female rats exposed to aspartame developed tumors roughly the size of golf balls or larger.

When you consume an aspartame-sweetened product, its effect can translate into a number of neurological symptoms like headaches, fatigue, vision problems, and anxiety. These will continue to manifest until the user eliminates it from their diet completely.

However, if aspartame usage is continued, a physical addiction to the substance occurs. Most people know at least one person who can’t seem to kick their diet drinks, and when they try to, they end up with a number of these symptoms. Aspartame is considered addictive, and a chemical dependency begins to form when aspartame is consumed regularly, and is hard to break.

Aspartame Linked to Cancer, Contains Genetically Modified Bacteria

Due to the neurological effect aspartame has, its continued use can be expected to lead to many forms of neurological diseases as well as cancer. Aspartame has been suggested as a prominent cause for certain forms of brain cancer as well. It is also interesting to note that aspartame is also created using Monsanto’s genetically modified bacteria, raising further cause for alarm.

But who is most at risk for unknowingly consuming aspartame?

Older people and diabetics are more likely to consume aspartame due to their desire to replace sugar with a ‘healthy’ alternative. Of course aspartame is far from a healthy alternative. Its effects can easily accelerate or compound health concerns that these individuals may already have. Similarly, children are more likely to consume aspartame due to its prominent usage in all forms of candy, snacks, and soft drinks. This would easily serve to compromise their ability to achieve optimum health, as they are still in their formative stages, and therefore aspartame can cause irrevocable damage.

Avoid this addictive drug-like substance at any cost, and replace it with a real healthy alternative like stevia. Furthermore, it will benefit you to reconsider your stance on sugar consumption in general.

Rather than look for what seems to be a shortcut or alternative, consider that simply consuming less sugar is healthier.

The Governments" philosophy has become "Delay, Deny - Until You Die."

Stand up and Occupy Your Food ...
Official US registry for Dow's petition for GMO "Agent Orange" approval. WE HAVE UNTIL FEBRUARY 27, 2012. can you please leave you comment on this link Thank you   -  h/t to AJ

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People are still surprised to learn diet sodas don’t give you what they promise. You may drink them because they have no calories. But diet sodas don’t help you drop weight. They make you fat instead. And you can get hooked on them.

I came across an article in JAMA about just how addicting those diet soft drinks are. When you drink them, changes take place in your brain that make you behave differently.1

Your self-control goes out the window. Your body actually becomes addicted to the unnatural sweetness like it’s a drug.

In one study, animals had the choice between cocaine and saccharin. Ninety four percent chose saccharin – even if they were already addicted to the cocaine.2

Early man had none of the sweet foods you have today. And this is when your taste receptors evolved. So now, when you’re exposed to hyper-sweet artificial sweeteners, your brain is tricked into thinking it’s getting nutrition.

When your drink contains aspartame, sucralose, or any other artificial sweetener, you over-stimulate your sweetness receptors. It changes the way you think about the way things should taste.

You crave high-intensity sweetness. And naturally sweet foods like fruit don’t taste as good to you. Vegetables lose their appeal, because they’re not sweet.

Your gut has sweetness receptors, too. It’s all ready to absorb nutrients, so you get a surge in hormones, like insulin. But when the calories don’t arrive, your body tells your brain to go out and get them.

Your appetite increases, and you get cravings that cause you to overeat. What’s worse, you turn to high-carbohydrate foods and sweets to make up the calorie void.3

But now, the insulin you’ve poured into your blood tells your body to turn whatever you do eat into fat.

I read one study of almost 2,600 people. Those who drank diet sodas had a 47 percent higher body mass index (BMI) than those who didn’t, and their risk of obesity was doubled.4

The solution? Go back to the real thing.

When you switch to naturally sweet drinks, your taste receptors adjust and go back to normal. You regain the ability to taste the sweetness found in natural foods and drinks. Your nutrition and the quality of your diet improve.5 And it’s far easier to drop weight.6

There are a lot of natural juices at the grocery store. But every one goes through processing and sits on the shelves, losing nutrients quickly. If you must buy them, stick to organic brands in glass bottles such as R.W. Knudsen, Lakewood, or Santa Cruz.

My suggestion is to invest in a juicer or a heavy-duty blender.
Citrus juicers are only for citrus like oranges or grapefruits. Juice extractors are for juicing fruits and vegetables.

A cheaper extractor will handle soft vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, and most fruits, but you’ll need a pricier, more powerful model if you want to juice hard vegetables like beets and large carrots.

I like to use a heavy duty, multi-use blender. It keeps the fiber in the drink you make. Throw in bits of vegetables and fruits, add water and ice, blend, and out comes a delicious drink in seconds.

If you blend hard vegetables, you’ll need a strong motor. Get one with as much as 2 hp. Many come with a 7-year warranty.

But there is a world of drinks you can easily make and enjoy without any additional equipment…

• Brew herbal tea and use honey to sweeten it. Cool, add ice, and you’ve got a naturally sweet drink. Look for organic teas like Yogi, Tazo, and Rishi.
• Squeeze lemons and add to filtered water to make lemonade. If it’s too tart, add raw, whole sugar or honey to taste.
• You can make a soda-like drink by blending the pulp of one mango and a slice of lemon and lime with 4 cups filtered water.
• Use cut up organic peaches, strawberries, and grapes in any combination. Add ice, filtered water, and blend.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD