With the media focusing on the perceived evils such as binge drinking, radiation caused by heavy mobile phone use and salt laden processed foods, a deadly form of sweetener could be next to feature on the health freak's danger list.
The Artificial Sweetener Aspartame
Within a humble looking can of soft drink lies the artificial sweetener aspartame, which is over 200 times sweeter than sugar. Sometimes referred to as Nutrasweet, it has been used in soft drinks, other low calorie foods and even flu remedies such as Lemsip for over 25 years and there are major concerns over the effects it has in its consumer.
Brain Damage
According to the Food Standards Agency, there are a small group of people who cannot consume aspartame and they can suffer from the disease phenylketonuria, which means that they are unable to metabolise important amino acids effectively, leading to serious brain damage if untreated. The same website states that 1 in 10,000 are affected, with stringent food labelling legislation used to inform the watchful consumer.
http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/chemsafe/additivesbranch/sweeteners/55174
Aspartame Ailments
The online medical journal http://www.health-report.co.uk details the possible ailments caused by aspartame in all it's gory glory. These range from;
- Birth Defects
- Diabetes
- Emotional Disorder
- Epilepsy
Along with most medical experiments, the consumption of aspartame was tested on animals, with one initial survey in 1969 focusing on monkeys. Out of 7 infant primates that took the sweetener, one died after 300 days, whilst five other suffered from seizures.
Most shockingly, these negative findings were not disclosed when aspartame was allowed to be first used as an artificial sweetener. People will understandably be asking why these findings were'nt discovered earlier, and the simple blunt truth is that this is because the general population were not aware of the sweetener exisiting, and also most people do not associate symptoms with artifical sweeteners, especially in the light of the increasing moral panic surrounding binge drinking, heavy drug use, use of E-number and other chemicals in food, and the controversy over genetically modified foods.
http://www.health-report.co.uk/aspartame-ailments.html
How to Prevent Ailments from Aspartame
Some of the aspartame induced effects listed bring a shock to the system, but prevention is simple and with most things in life involve common sense.
Moderating sports and soft drinks consumption and reading labels on sweeteners, breakfast cereals and most sugary foods is probably the most sensible advice.
Future studies and information is being released on this subject constantly, so a future ban may be in place, but as long as the consumer is sensible and looks out for the dangers, there is no need to panic. Always read the labels and try going without sweeteners for a few days to see if symptoms such as headache and sweating dissipate.
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