Aspartame Reports©

Many pilots appear to be particularly susceptible to the effects of aspartame ingestion.  They have reported numerous serious toxicity effects including grand mal seizures in the cockpit (Stoddard 1995).

Nearly 1,000 cases of pilot reactions have been reported to the Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Pilot Hotline (Stoddard 1995).

This susceptibility may be related to ingesting methanol at altitude as suggested in a letter from Dr. Phil Moskal, Professor of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Pathology, Chairman of the Department of Pathology, Director of Public Health Laboratories (Moskal 1990,or it may simply be that some pilots tend to ingest large quantities of aspartame during a flight.  Whatever the case, numerous warnings about aspartame dangers have appeared in piloting journals including The Aviation Consumer (1988), Aviation Medical Bulletin (1988,Pacific Flyer (1988), CAA General Aviation (1989), Aviation Safety Digest (1989), General Aviation News (1989), Plane & Pilot (1990,Canadian General Aviation News (1990), National Business Aircraft Association Digest (NBAA Digest 1993), International Council of Air Shows (ICAS 1995), and the Pacific Flyer (1995).  Both the U.S. Air Force’s magazine “Flying Safety” and the U.S. Navy’s magazine, “Navy Physiology” published articles warning about the many dangers of aspartame including the cumulative deleterious effects of methanol and the greater likelihood of birth defects. The articles note that the ingestion of aspartame may make pilots more susceptible to seizures and vertigo (US Air Force 1992).

Countless other toxicity effects have been reported to the FDA (DHHS 1995), other independent organizations (Mission Possible 1996,Stoddard 1995), and independent scientists (e.g., 80 cases of seizures were reported to Dr. Richard Wurtman, Food (1986).

By Mary Nash Stoddard and George Leighton

“Hello, is this the uh ….Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Hotline?”

“Yes, it is, how can I help you?”

“Someone put this article on the bulletin board in our pilot’s lounge and it has your number on it. I want more information, but I also wanted to tell you what happened to me. I’m a pilot with (a major airline). Last year, I experienced a grand mal seizure before a trip. Several weeks before that, my jaw had started twitching. I was drinking a diet shake two times daily to lose weight. I had no medical problems before that. My doctor suggested it might be due to the Aspartame in the product, but we couldn’t call it that because the FAA does not recognize Aspartame reactions in their regulations. At his suggestion, I quit using the product and have had no problems since.”

“Yes, I know about the FAA’s official position.. I have met with FAA flight surgeons in Washington, D.C. Off the record they acknowledged the problem but claim their hands are tied until the FDA addresses the issue. So, did you lose your medical as so many others have done?”

“I lost it, but my doctor figured that if we could call my seizure an alcohol-related problem, I could just go through an alcohol rehab clinic and that might do it. Turns out it did. I’ve never had a problem with alcohol, but we had to go through the motions so that I could keep my job. The Doctor even used some fancy syndrome name and it worked.”

“I’m really glad you were able to keep your job. Many of your colleagues haven’t been so lucky. I hear some pretty amazing stories from pilots and others on this hotline. Reports of grand mal seizures happening to the captain in flight on a major commercial airline and terrifying safety in flight incidents involving temporary loss of consciousness, vision problems and total disorientation. Not long ago, a call came in to me from a pilot who had a grand mal seizure and ‘crashed’ the simulator during his test. This event prompted a new flurry of activity among employees of that airline. They are now distributing our information about aspartame with a new fervor. You know, one reason the FAA gave us for not notifying all their pilots about this danger is because it has appeared in several flying magazines, and they tell me all the pilots already know about it.”

Hotline callers laugh contemptuously at that piece of logic. It simply isn’t true.

Adverse reaction reports on the pilot’s hotline are treated as confidential unless permission is given to release names and information about case histories. Since the hotline began in 1988, we have received well over 600 pilot related calls. This is a problem of astronomical proportions with disastrous results if left unaddressed by the American public and the FAA. In the October 14, 1989 issue of The Palm Beach Post, Dr. H.J. Roberts wrote … “Several recent plane accidents underscore the need for further inquiry into a heretofore neglected cause of pilot and driver error: confusion and aberrant behavior caused by products containing aspartame (NutraSweet). For example, did the co-pilot who inadvertently hit the disengage button before the recent USAir jet accident, and then acted ‘irrationally’ ingest an aspartame diet soda or coffee sweetened with an aspartame tabletop sweetener? I have repeatedly pointed out these and related problems in many scientific articles and addresses over the past three years. They are based on personal observations and a nationwide study. My report on 157 persons with aspartame-induced confusion and memory loss was published last month. The subjects included trained pilots who developed these and other neurologic psychiatric features … including convulsions and visual problems.”

The first pilot I met who had lost his medical certification to fly was USAF Major Michael Collings. I met him after hearing him testify at the third Senate Hearing on the safety of Aspartame. I spent time with him again when London’s Thames TV flew us into Washington D.C. to tape a special documentary they were doing on the issue. Over coffee one day I asked him to relate more details of his case. I already knew how he traced the problems of tremors and seizures suffered from 1983 to 1985 directly to his patterns of NutraSweet consumption. When his duties took him to remote places where there was no diet soda or diet Kool Aid, he was free of the tremors, and whenever he resumed intake of artificially sweetened beverages, his tremors resumed, growing more severe, and culminating in a grand mal seizure that put him in the hospital and ended his career as a pilot. Collings’ tremors and seizures ended on October 6, 1985, the day he quit ingesting NutraSweet. Michael told me how he had not once but twice turned down the invitation to become a member of the prestigious Thunderbirds.

They could not understand his decision, but he related to me that at the time, he could not fly ‘wingtip to wingtip’ with anyone. They will never know the real reason Major Collings rejected their offer … unless they read it here.

The next pilot I met who had lost his “medical” was Brownwood, Texas pilot, Charles King. He suffered symptoms similar to Major Collings’, and like Collings, he only suffered them during his use of Aspartame products. The FAA took his anecdotal symptoms seriously enough to revoke his medical certificate and end his flying days for a few years. However, King fought the system until he miraculously got his license back in 1990. To date, his is our only real success story. We consider it a major breakthrough.

He hasn’t lost his license, but he almost lost his life. After just two cups of NutraSweetened hot chocolate, pilot George E. Leighton experienced blurred vision so severe he was unable to read instruments on his panel and very narrowly avoided a tragic landing. Safely on the ground, he related his story to the co-workers in his office. Two of them recounted similar symptoms experienced after brief exposure to aspartame. He claims ‘this makes Aspartame particularly frightening to pilots, since in a single pilot IFR, full workload situation, partial impairment of capability can be just as fatal as total impairment (unconsciousness).’ Leighton has become somewhat of an Aspartame activist now, investigating suspicious incidents related to flying and attempts to raise the consciousness of the FAA and others about the issue. Recently he wrote this letter to the editor of the US Air Force Flying Safety magazine after they printed an Aspartame Alert to all Air Force pilots:

“I would particularly direct your attention to the potential altitude effects of the methanol contained in Aspartame. To my knowledge, there has been no investigation of its binding to the hemoglobin (like carbon monoxide), thereby inducing hypoxia as suggested by Dr. Phil Moskal. Perhaps your Air Force Flight Surgeons would be interested in pursuing this from a medical viewpoint. I do not have the resources to pursue such an investigation and the FAA is stonewalling the whole Aspartame issue. The FAA’s inaction is very likely politically motivated.. As a General Aviation News article points out, Samuel Skinner the boss of the FAA as Secretary of Transportation at the time was formerly employed by NutraSweet’s law firm, and Spotlight, April 6, 1992, reveals that his wife is presently employed by that firm. Later, as President Bush’s Chief of Staff, Samuel Skinner was in an even more powerful political position with direct influence over all government agencies, including the FDA, the FAA, and your own DOD. Through his own past employment and his wife’s present employment with NutraSweet’s law firm, it would seem that NutraSweet had a pipeline directly to the top. It should be noted that without the 1977 direct intervention of Samuel Skinner (who was then U.S. Attorney for the Justice Department’s Chicago office) and his associates, a grand jury would most certainly have indicted Searle/NutraSweet personnel for fraud and criminal behavior in concealing the deadly effects of the drug Aspartame from the FDA. The drug would never have been approved for use as a food additive and I would not now be writing this. I am continually appalled by the apparent indifference and inaction by various pilot-oriented organizations … FAA, AOPA, ALPA, and others … to the in-flight hazard posed by pilot’s ingestion of diet drinks or other drinks laced with Aspartame (NutraSweet or Equal). In the Navy Physiology article, for example, they state: … ‘Aspartame can increase the frequency of seizures … (susceptibility) to flicker vertigo or to flicker-induced epileptic activity. It means that ALL pilots are potential victims of sudden memory loss, dizziness during instrument flight (i.e. vertigo), and gradual loss of vision.’This certainly is a direct safety-of-flight item and should be dealt with as such. Instead, the Navy … ‘ offers a heads up to a potential problem.’ Let me ask you a question. If you became aware of a component of every Air Force aircraft which was subject to sudden, catastrophic in-flight failure, would you simply write an innocuous ‘heads up to pilots’ at the end of an obscure article in your magazine? Of course not! You would take immediate emergency action to ground all aircraft until the safety-of-flight item was removed. Aspartame (NutraSweet/Equal) is that safety-of-flight item! I do not expect to see Aspartame banned from the marketplace at this time; that is an unrealistic expectation. My immediate, personal goal, however is to have all pilots informed of the potential safety-of-flight hazard posed by Aspartame. At least, they could then make an informed decision whether they wished to risk their lives and careers by playing airborne Russian roulette with Aspartame-laced products. Of course, a more appropriate question may be asked: ‘Should pilots even have this right, when other people’s lives are at stake?”

Aspartame was discovered as a drug in the 60s (first approved in 1974 then rescinded because of the brain tumor issue — then approved again, over the objections of many scientists, in 1981) and is composed of two synthetic amino acids, Phenylalanine, Aspartic Acid and Methanol (10% wood alcohol). At temperatures exceeding 85 degrees F (body temperature is 98.6) the substance breaks down further into Formaldehyde, Formic Acid, and Diketopiperazine (a brain tumor agent). Aspartame complaints make up 80% of all complaints volunteered to the FDA. Aspartame is often the unidentified environmental trigger for: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimers, Lyme Disease, Post Polio Syndrome, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Epilepsy, Anxiety/Phobia Disorders, Manic Depression, Graves’ Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart Disease, Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome and others. Many Doctors have reported drastic improvement or disappearance of symptoms after removing Aspartame from the patients’ diet. On rechallenge, the symptoms tend to return. Symptoms reported to the FDA include: headache, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, numbness, blurred vision, blindness, memory loss, suicidal depression, personality and behavior changes, hyperactivity, gastrointestinal disorders, seizures, skin lesions, muscle cramping and joint pain, fatigue, heart attack symptoms, hearing loss and tinnitus, pulmonary and cerebral edemas, shock and death.

The FDA continues to ignore this imminent danger to the American public, choosing instead to call moratoriums on things having no absolute proof of danger, no emperical data, no double blind studies showing harm such as Dow’s breast implants and L-Tryptophan. They even allow the newest Monsanto fiasco, Bovine Growth Hormone to be injected into our previously safe milk supply. Registered Dietitians have been handed $100,000 to set up a hotline to tell callers how great BST is for their families. Monsanto is suing small dairies who wish to state on the label that their product is BST-free. Judge Clarence Thomas, a former Monsanto attorney may have a difficult job remaining absolutely neutral if Monsanto (his former employer) is brought before the Supreme Court. If you want to know more about the underhanded dealings of the makers of Aspartame and BST, rent the movie “I Love Trouble” starring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte. It’s all about a fictional chemical company [makers of an artificial sweetener and a bovine growth hormone] whose employees attempt to kill people who get too close to discovery of their darkest secrets.

Ironically a major soft drink manufacturer made a conscious effort to target pilots for sales of their Aspartame sweetened product as they feature two pilots [diet drinks in their hands] flying a chopper in their commercials on TV. Their management was notified fully of the problems associated with aspartame ingestion on the part of pilots and others in the spring of 1991. At that time we were told they were switching to another sweetener in six months. What happened? We may never know. Diet Pepsi is now expiration dating their product in what we can only assume is a vain attempt to spare some customers the agonies of possible brain tumors from the breakdown product, Diketopiperazine (DKP) which kept Aspartame off the market for many years. Because military participants in the Gulf War were rehydrating with Diet Drinks furnished free by the soft drink companies, it is likely that Desert Storm Syndrome may simply be serious reactions to Aspartame. In desert heat the breakdown products reach toxic proportions much more quickly … leaving a virtual witches brew in place of the original chemical sweetener.

By the way, FDA Director, David Kessler told a Time magazine reporter that he starts every day with a diet drink.

George E. Leighton is a pilot and noise control consultant based in Orange, CA., and an FAA certified ATP flight instructor.

COVER STORY IN EXTRAORDINARY SCIENCE – July, 1995

In the light of deaths of American Airline pilots who heavily used aspartame Dr. Blaylock gives this warning. We continually receive complaints from pilots about seizures, cardiac problems, vision loss, vertigo, confusion, disorientation, etc. associated with consumption of Equal/ aspartame/NutraSweet/Spoonful/Canderel/E951, etc Aspartame is a compound of phenylalanine, aspartic acid and a methyl ester which converts to methyl alcohol in digestion: wood alcohol, 1 ounce is a fatal dose, then into formaldehyde! Mission Possible Aviation.

I have reviewed reports from airline and private pilots concerning effects of aspartame on various physiological systems. Several of these are related to the nervous system, which puts this in category of great concern to the pilot as well as the general public. The more common complaints include disorientation, difficulty thinking and concentrating, visual blurring or even monocular blindness, seizures and heart failure. It is well known that the ingredients in aspartame, as well as its breakdown products, have deleterious effects on the nervous system and retina.

For example, phenylalanine is a precursor of the catecholamine neurotransmitters in the brain and elevated levels in the brain have been associated with seizures. These catecholamines are metabolized to form other excitotoxins and peroxide products that can lead to elevated free radical formation and lipid peroxidation within neurons.

Likewise aspartic acid, an excitotoxin, acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter and can lower the seizure threshold making a seizure more likely. The additive effect of aspartic acid and phenylalanine would significantly increase the likelihood of a seizure, especially under hypoglycemic conditions. This would occur if a diet drink is substituted for a meal, or if one is on a stringent diet. It is well known that hypoglycemia greatly magnifies the excitotoxic effects of these ingredients.

The combination of hypoglycemia and aspartame would also increase the likelihood of mental confusion and disorientation. In the pilots situation, this could be disastrous. It must be recognized that pilots would also be frequently exposed to other excitotoxins, such as MSG, hydrolyzed proteins, etc, that have a synergistic effect that greatly increases the likelihood of an adverse reaction.

One of the intriguing associations with excitotoxins of all types is the occurrence of sudden death. We know that one of the primary sites of actions of these excitatory substances is the hypothalamus and that sudden cardiac death can be induced by stimulating the hypothalamus. It is entirely possible excitotoxic stimulation of these hypothalamic centers could also lead to cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death. Hypothalamic stimulation has also been shown to produce an ECG pattern exactly like that of myocardial infarction. Combinations of excitotoxins, such as aspartic acid and glutamate, great increased the risk.

Finally, a scientific study demonstrated that aspartame exposure significantly increases the level of formaldehyde in all tissue, including brain and retina and that this breakdown product of aspartame is very toxic to proteins and DNA, leading to permanent injury to these vital cellular components. Even more important, was the finding this highly toxic substance accumulates in these tissues with chronic exposure to aspartame. This could lead to significant injury to the brain, retina and other organs long after the exposure. Also, the effects appear to be dose related. That is, the more aspartame you consume, the greater the danger. It should be appreciated that formaldehyde is a powerful carcinogenic agent.

My book, Excitotoxins, The Taste That Kills, explains in detail how excitotoxins damage the nervous system, leading to severe disorders, and what can be done to reduce your risk. It is my opinion that aspartame is a dangerous neurotoxin, as well as a significant carcinogen to many organs, and that it should be avoided at all cost. Dr. Russell Blaylock, Neurosurgeon, 14 June 2007

Fit or Fiction, Posted on Feb 22nd 2011 1:00PM by Liz Neporent
Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss,

The average 12-ounce can of cola delivers 150 almost all of them from sugar. So it would seem the more virtuous choice would be to crack open a can of diet soda every time you have the urge for a little fizz. Anyone watching his weight feels virtuous making this choice, because who doesn’t believe it protects one’s waistline — and overall health — from an assault of unnecessary, empty calories?

Maybe it’s time to think again. No study to date has ever shown diet soda to be especially useful in helping people prevent or shed unwanted pounds. In fact, there is a growing body of research that seems to suggest that high diet soda consumption is associated with a higher risk of obesity and may surprisingly carry an even greater risk of obesity than drinking regular, full-calorie and -sugar drinks.

In 2005, University of Texas Health Science Center researchers in San Antonio reported their findings culled from seven to eight years of data on 1,550 Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white American women aged 25 to 64. Of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese during the course of the investigation. For those who drank half a can of regular soda on a daily basis, their risk of being obese was 26 percent; for those who drank the same amount of diet soda, their risk jumped to 36.5 percent. Women who drank one to two cans a day fared even worse: Their obesity risk rose to 47 and 57 percent, respectively. In fact, for each additional can of diet soft drink a woman guzzled per day, her risk of being overweight went up by 65 percent and risk of obesity shot up 41 percent.

Although this sounds like pretty damming evidence, few experts are jumping to the conclusion that there is a direct cause and effect between diet soda and weight gain. The study is flawed in that it didn’t track eating habits and total calorie intake or caloric expenditure, even though the two subject groups were notorious for their poor diet, exercise and other lifestyle habits, at least as demonstrated in other studies. Still, other investigations have come up with conclusions along the same lines.

One explanation could be that artificial sweeteners alter metabolism and brain chemistry in some way. They may tell the brain that the body has eaten something high in calories, but since it really didn’t, the brain directs the body to go in search of those calories elsewhere, like from a sizable slice of pie or a yummy candy bar. Another explanation put forth by the University of Texas researchers is that perhaps people who’ve already begun to gain weight in the first place switch over to diet soda to prevent further weight gain but don’t make the other corrections necessary to either lose weight or stop continued weight gain.

It’s also possible that people mistakenly equate drinking diet soda to actually being on a diet. If you rationalize a liquid calorie savings as a license to gorge, there’s little chance you’ll keep your weight under control for very long. I once had a client who drank a 64-ounce bottle of Diet Coke and ate a one-pound bag of M&Ms almost every night. She used to tell me it wasn’t so bad because the soda contained no calories. Then I explained to her that she was eating more than 2,300 calories. In one sitting. Every night.

Whether diet soda causes weight gain, is linked to weight gain in some way or is simply a marker habit for obesity (meaning that the fact that someone drinks the stuff is something to watch out for) is impossible to say just yet. Only time and better studies will tell.

If you’re serious about getting your weight under control and nothing seems to be working, it’s definitely worth trying to at least cut back on artificial sweeteners and see if it helps your efforts. (There are certainly many other reasons you might want to curtail this habit anyway, like cuting back on caffeine, saving money and giving your teeth a break.) If you don’t want to give it up, keep a food journal and track your total caloric intake to make sure you’re not using diet items as a justification for other poor nutritional choices.

I admit to being a former diet cola fiend myself. I cut way back a few years ago and now have only an occasional can. My weight hasn’t changed, but I’m certainly less bloated and I sleep better because of the caffeine reduction and the fact I don’t have to get up six times a night to pee.

What about you? Have you ever ordered a diet soda with a ginormous piece of cake? Or do you think diet soda is a vile, evil nectar? Sound off in the comments section or chirp off to me on Twitter.

Liz Neporent holds a masters degree in exercise physiology and is certified by the American Council on Exercise, the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has coauthored various books on health and fitness. Follow Liz on Twitter, @lizzyfit.

Marie Woolf Political Correspondent – The Independent, Sunday 20 June 1999.

THE MOST widely used sweetener in the world, found in fizzy drinks and sweets, is being made using a secret genetic engineering process, which some scientists claim needs further testing for toxic side-effects.

As the G8 summit of rich country leaders decided last night to launch an inquiry into the safety of genetically modified (GM) food, an investigation by the Independent on Sunday revealed that Monsanto, the pioneering GM food giant which makes aspartame, often uses genetically engineered bacteria to produce the sweetener at its US production plants.

“We have two strains of bacteria – one is traditionally modified and one is genetically modified,” said one Monsanto source. “It’s got a modified enzyme. It has one amino acid different.”

The use of genetic engineering to make aspartame has stayed secret until now because there is no modified DNA in the finished product. Monsanto insists that it is completely safe.

A Monsanto spokeswoman confirmed that aspartame for the US market is made using genetic engineering. But sweetener supplied to British food producers is not. However, consumer groups say it is likely that some low-calorie products containing genetically engineered aspartame have been imported into Britain.

“Increasingly, chemical companies are using genetically engineered bacteria in their manufacturing process without telling the public,” said Dr Erik Millstone, of Sussex University and the National Food Alliance.

MPs want the Government to launch an inquiry to see how much US aspartame is coming into the UK. Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, will this week write to Jeff Rooker, the Food Safety minister, to ask him to ensure that US aspartame is labelled as genetically modified. “Monsanto’s sweetener has turned sour,” he said.

Aspartame is made by combining phenylalanine, which is naturally produced by bacteria, with another amino acid. Monsanto has genetically engineered the bacteria to make them produce more phenylalanine. Scientists fear that other unknown compounds, which may end up in food, are produced by the genetic engineering process.

“Whether such a contaminating compound will be toxic, or not is completely unknowable until empirical studies are done to test toxicity,” said Dr John Fagan, a former genetic engineer who now heads Genetic ID, the world’s leading GM test centre. “No such studies have been done, or at least they have not been placed in the public domain.

By Sean Poulter, Consumer Affairs Editor, Mail Online, 12 July 2010

Concern: The study suggests pregnant women should think about how many fizzy drinks they consume. Mothers-to-be who down cans of fizzy drink containing artificial sweeteners could be at greater risk of having a premature baby.

Research funded by the EU found a correlation between the amount of diet drink consumed and an early birth among the 60,000 women studied. Many had switched from sugary drinks to those with artificial sweeteners believing they were a healthier option. But this study suggests that drinks using sweeteners, such as aspartame, carried dangers for the unborn child. Some British public health experts are now advising expectant mothers to avoid food and drink containing the chemicals.

It is rare for a mother-to-be to give birth before 37 weeks of a normal pregnancy. But the EU research suggests this low risk was increased by 38 per cent if the woman was drinking, on average, one can of diet drink a day. Routinely drinking four or more cans a day could increase the risk by as much as 78 per cent.

However, the researchers said in a report in the journal of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition that there was no link associated with sugar-sweetened drinks. They suggested that exposure to methanol, which is in some artificial sweeteners, may play a part in bringing forward the birth.

Critics of the sweeteners say methanol is a known nerve toxin, which can form formic acid in the body. It can also lead to formaldehyde, the chemical used to preserve dead bodies. Historically, saccharine has also been identified as accumulating in the placenta.

Co-author of the study, Dr Thorhallur Ingi Halldorsson, said the research might be ‘helpful in identifying sub-groups where intake of these sweeteners should perhaps be avoided or limited’.

Public health expert Professor Erik Millstone, of the University of Sussex, said: ‘I would think it is prudent for pregnant women to diminish consumption of these drinks and possibly those foods containing artificial sweeteners.’

The British Soft Drinks Association said: ‘This study merits a cautious reaction. ‘Its findings should not be over-stated.’

Statistics from the San Antonio Heart Study, a quarter-century-long
community-based epidemiologic study conducted at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, paradoxically suggest that the more diet sodas a person drinks, the greater the chance that he or she will become overweight or obese. Extra weight is a strong risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes.

“On average, for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese,” said Sharon Fowler, M.P.H., faculty associate in the division of clinical epidemiology in the Health Science Center’s department of medicine. She presented the finding June 12 in San Diego at the American Diabetes Association’s 65th Annual Scientific Sessions.

Fowler’s colleague, Ken Williams, M.S., assistant professor of clinical
epidemiology, found that regular soft drinks were no longer significantly linked to the incidence of becoming overweight or obese, but diet soft drinks were.

Schools are greatly concerned about the epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Aspartame and MSG both induce obesity. A 2005 study by Sharon Fowler of the University of Texas linked diet drinks to obesity, and we know that aspartame makes you crave carbohydrates so you gain weight. Further, the formaldehyde accumulates in the fat cells, and damages the liver so it’s hard to lose weight.