Artificial sweeteners: if safe, why harmful?

Question
Tanya
I am 50.
About five years ago I started using those paper packet artificial sweeteners.
I thought it would be a good way to cut out sugar and lose weight.
My health has not improved and has gotten worse. I have gained weight, developed hypertension, and gallstones.
This is puzzling to both me and my doctor as I do eveything you are supposed to do to avoid these problems.
I have recently been on a very low calorie diet and have not lost an ounce.
This has got me to thinking that somehow my system has ben compromised and is not behaving normally, maybe because of something I ingest.
Since I dont drink, take drugs, eat junk, all I can think of is my daily aspartame habit.
There seems to be conflicting information out there.
The FDA says it is very safe, as of course do the food companies, but other natural health sites claim it is nothing less than poison,especialy to the liver.
I am going cold turkey to see what happens.
Your thoughts appreciated.


Answer
Hi Bud,

In 1981, FDA approved aspartame as a sweetener In 1985, the Council on Scientific Affairs of The American Medical Association concluded that "Available evidence suggests that consumption of aspartame by normal humans is safe and is not associated with serious adverse health effects". FDA has evaluated aspartame 26 times. In 1996, FDA approved aspartame as a general-purpose sweetener. Aspartame is also approved for use in more than 100 nations.

However, it's not enough to conclude that aspartame is not a poison. The matter is, it has adverse long term effects on metabolism. You might want to read the debates in the BMJ journal. I contributed to the debates with the article "Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners" ( T. Zilberter. British Medical Journal, 15 Oct 2004)
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/329/7469/755#78439

Or, there's an illustrated version:
http://bantadiet.com/banta/?page_id=43

Some successful low carb diet plans prohibit any artificial sweeteners, some advise to withdraw any sweet tasting foods if a diet don't work or weight loss plateau occurs. I think, it depends on individual metabolic make up and the state of glucose/insulin control system of the body.

Read more:

Soft Drinks Linked to Increased Risk of Insulin Resistance
http://www.atkinszone.com/did-you-know/2007/10/soft-drinks-linked-to-increased-r...

Do Artificial Sweeteners Help?
http://www.atkinszone.com/weightloss/2007/09/do-artificial-sweeteners-help.html

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