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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Ame Sans Vie on October 28, 2003, at 18:45:49
My mother noticed a sensitivity to aspartame just a few days ago -- she was breaking out in a rash, aching all over, her joints were swelling, and she could barely move. She had no idea what it was at the time, but then her mother mentioned a book on health problems associated with aspartame and she read it. The symptoms matched hers exactly. She cut out the Diet Vanilla Coke and figured we should all do the same -- my 15-year old sister and I have experienced unexplained rashes from time to time, and then of course there was my "fibromyalgia". So we've switched to a cola made with sucralose (Splenda) and my mom's problems have disappeared. I really don't know what else to say... it's an anomaly. <shrug> If you're not hypersensitive though, perhaps it's okay to drink but I would highly suggest drinking it in moderation. There was also a link of aspartame to cancer in that book. :-\
As an aside, my mother is highly sensitive to *many* medications. I've only ever seen her take prednisone and benzodiazepines without having problems. Codeine, morphine, Ultram, all OTC pain-killers, antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood-stabilizers, lithium, barbiturates, Ambien, alcohol, clonidine, phentermine, fenfluramine, amphetamine, Provigil, caffeine... the list goes on and on and on. Etodolac (a pain-killer [prescription] similar to ibuprofen but stronger) incapacitated her completely for over a week -- that was when she went to the ER and got the prednisone. The one sensitivity I share with her is the OTC pain meds -- I can't ever even take a Tylenol when I want. <sigh>
Michael
P.S. I take phenylalanine every day, as does my mother, without problems -- aspartame is a combination of phenylalanine and aspartic acid. I would say the aspartic acid appears to be the culprit, but chemistry is more complicated than that, lol.
Posted by mattdds on October 28, 2003, at 21:15:47
In reply to mattdds -- Re: aspartame, posted by Ame Sans Vie on October 28, 2003, at 18:45:49
ASV,
Man, you sound like yourself again, refreshing!
So you cut out the aspartame and have noticed improvements? I guess that's all you need to go on. You stopped taking and you feel better. For me, this is usually all the evidence I need. Any honest person will admit that it's all trial and error.
For a long time, perhaps to defend my overconsumption of Diet Coke, I vehemently defended aspartame, and still am not convinced it is carcinogenic or otherwise toxic (to the vast majority). But, really, I've reached a point where I feel we know very little about nutrition - so now I'm not so sure. I still have a gut feeling that it's relatively benign to most (certainly better than chugging a 44-ouncer of *raw* Coke - up around 1000 calories!), but I'm not such an avid defender of it anymore. I've just seen too many people who do indeed seem sensitive to it.
For me, aspartame seems to have a stimulant property all of its own - in addition to the obviously stimulating caffeine which it usually accompanies (at least in my beverages). Subjectively, a cup of strong coffee and a 44- ouncer of Diet Coke have an entirely different feel. Have you noticed this?
Sucralose seems closer, at least structurally, to natural sugar, so perhaps it is better.
You know what's funny though? Even though Splenda tastes more like sugar, I like the taste of aspartame more, and I can't even drink more than an ounce or two of regular Coca-Cola without getting disgusted - it has the texture of cough syrup to me, lol :).
Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this, but I was just curious. I'm always looking for opinions on aspartame, no matter how polarized they might be.
Great to have you back, dude!
Matt
This is the end of the thread.
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