It appears xxxx was warning you and xxxxxx about the dangers of NutraSweet.
Unfortunately, xxx’s dead right. I know from my own experience, the levels of devastation this product are real. I have lesions on the left temporal lobe of my brain and a series of seizures to prove it.
Forgive me for being personal and while I am no longer enraged about the subject. I am cognizant of the problem, and believe it needs to be looked at rationally. (Well, as rationally as using methanol (wood alcohol), aspartic acid, and phenylalanine in a FOOD source can be.) I drank Diet Coke for YEARS. loved the stuff. and though everyone told me (vaguely) that Aspartame was bad for me. Did I listen?? Noooooo. (smile)
And I paid the price. Albeit I was already in a spiral into MCS as well as Candida undercurrents. But the Aspartame on its own did serious harm. Permit me one small clip here.
“NutraSweet, a.k.a. Aspartame, is a compound of the following chemicals: methanol (wood alcohol); aspartic acid; and phenylalanine. Aspartame readily breaks down into its component parts, and this decomposition is hastened by heat. Methanol breaks down further into formaldehyde and formic acid (ant sting poison). ” (from an article written by a former FDA investigator- I will post it to anyone who’s interested in its entirety)
That “breakdown” occurs at 86 degrees F. pretty low level when you consider the summer temps we have in North America. Not to mention the internal temperature of a transport truck sitting in the sun.
You wrote:
You sure have a vendetta against NutraSweet. I don’t have a problem with the stuff. I think people that can’t handle it shouldn’t consume it, but they shouldn’t freak out and try to insist everyone else can’t have it either. I also consume MSG. It doesn’t bother me, either. I have that do bother me that I don’t have to overreact to those that don’t Hmmm. Oh can I EVER appreciate that sentiment. However, at the time, I never realized that chemical additives like MSG and Aspartame, that I didn’t think bothered me or didn’t “manifest” an immediate reaction, were adding to the total “toxic load” that eventually took my immune down. If you’re on this list for Yeast-related problems your immune system is already in serious trouble.
When those people familiar with the Aspartame issue try to warn others against it. It’s not because we can’t have it. (Would you REALLY drink wood alcohol or formaldehyde by choice????). It’s because the people on this list and other truly care about the welfare of our list mates. After all, none of us would be here if we were in perfect health would we?
Do I still miss Diet-coke? You BET I do. Would I pick up a can? No. not for all the tea (herbal of course. grin) in China.
I noted at the end of your post you mention “bi-polar” disorder”. I’m very familiar with that issue having flirted dangerously around the edges of it myself and have a dear friend who has suffered with it for years. It’s a hell in its own right.
The psycho-neurological reactions to this product are equally as frightening as the physiological ones, and in my opinion bordering on criminally negligent. I have always wanted to ask the “boys” at Monsanto and Searle. If they allow their children to consume this stuff.
So xxxxx, with all respect to you, (having been there and not listened myself). Whether symptoms are “presenting” or not. Believe me. This little toxic cocktail is not doing you any good and in all probability, is exacerbating problems that do exist. Please reconsider the info we share here is because we do care and in most cases have “been there”.