Connections between disease and diet are generally not made because artificial sweeteners are GRAS and folks have bought the lie. Erythritol is made from corn, it's not a chemical substance like aspartame. Aspartame is dangerous, period.

I suggest before you ridicule and condemn negative articles about artificial sweeteners, you watch a movie called Sweet Misery . Then follow the money and do some homework on how and why aspartame was approved by the FDA after it failed clinical trials.

In my post I related my own anecdotal evidence about people I know who have been hurt by aspartame. Thankfully, both brothers have recovered from the brain cancer, and the aneurysm. The father doesn't have migraines anymore.

Hey, it's your life you can drink whatever you want.

IMO, all artificial sweeteners are poison and I wouldn't dare put them in my body.

Yup, that's me. I get ocular migraines (aura, no pain) - and artificial sweeteners, red wine, and dairy seem to trigger them.

Sorry to be glib about it in my original post, but if we're talking 'follow the money', fear also sells very well. Making people afraid sells books and documentaries and website hits, and that is the part that makes me angry.

I'm sorry you had friends who got sick, but I'm sure you can agree that it's difficult to prove that it's the diet coke that did it from one anecdotal case.

I don't really have a dog in this fight since I don't generally use aspartame, but I've looked for the studies showing it causes cancer or autism or anything else I've seen claimed of it on the internet, and I never found anything that made me go out of my way to avoid it.

(I tried to do a new google search in the interest of fairness, but I'm either ending up that sites that want to sell me stevia and vitamins, or sites that want to sell me books, such as http://www.aspartamekills.com/.)

Well I adore artificial sweeteners and they don't bother me at all. But every time my kid has a drink with one, or food with one, she would get a splitting headache, even if she didn't know that was in it. I've finally had to sadly accept that this just doesn't work for her.

Which makes me wonder, rather like gluten, if it doesn't work for anybody, and it's merely that some like her are at a farther extreme on 'visible reaction'.

No prob. We can agree to disagree about it. I don't buy into fear, I just don't put anything into my body that I don't trust. Sweet Misery was the movie that convinced me about aspartame. They don't sell anything, just provide info. Anyone who uses aspartame can watch the entire movie here: Sweet Misery Video Then they can make up their own mind.

I will say that I used Aspartame for a long time, and loved it. However I started noticing a strange taste in the mornings, and what I called "Brain Fog". I noticed it first with SF jello, and more so with certain flavors. Then, any food I consumed with aspartame. Any yes, I do know that it was the sweetener rather another ingredient. I found a really good diet drink that did not list Aspertame as an ingredient. When I got the same reaction, I e-mailed the company and ask. Yes there is a small amount of Aspartame in the drink. Maybe too small to have to list, but enough if you are sensitive to it. I don't need a published report to prove to me that there is a problem. The brain fog is gone and the funky taste doesn't occur unless I am careless.
Just my 2cents worth.

It's never happened to me, though I do know people who have reactions, especially to aspartame. I had a friend who had such severe headaches the doctor was ready to do an MRI to see if she had a brain tumor - and then she gave up aspartame and the headaches vanished.

Yes, I had the same problems which is why I quit using all types of artificial sweeteners.

Maybe I'm weird (no not maybe...) but aspartame makes my legs itch and splenda gives me a headache. Thanks for the video link, Water Lily. Very interesting.

Well, I find the taste weird enough that I will try to stay away from non-sugar sweeteners. I haven't tried Stevia more than once or twice and didn't get the "dose" right I guess, because it tasted bitter to me.
Something else that probably belongs in a different thread is that when I eat sugar, I wake up the next morning with my hands numb. When I'm lowcarbing this doesn't happen at all, except if I've taken in too much artificial sweeteners. That gives me pause, because it is proof to me that they are in some way acting on my body the same as sugar, which I consider toxic to my system.

Splenda (even just one Coke Zero) makes my brain feel fuzzy and my vision slightly blurry, making me feel mildly disoriented, yet noticing things I don't normally notice. For example walking down the hall at work where I've been for 21 years - normally I see the doors, handles, people, but on Splenda the woodgrain patterns on the doors pop out like Rorschach tests. More than one dose of Splenda and my eyesockets start aching. Curiously I don't have this problem with aspartame, but I usually stick to stevia.

Maybe you have fructose intolerance or fructose malabsorption? Sugar is half fructose, half glucose. Starches break down to only glucose, so if starches don't do this to you, then you might be suspicious of the fructose.

I would like to know if this is the case. It isn't when I eat just sugar though--I have never really broken it down like that. I mean carby stuff like cookies, cake, ice cream. I consider that sugar, but of course it's starch also, so I spoke sloppily. I would love to do an experiment and test myself with just sugar vs. just starch, if that could be done. But actually I would rather just avoid both, since I feel better that way!

Stevia and Sweet n Low don't bother me, but if I accidentally eat anything with NutraSweet in it I get a terrible migraine. Almost immediately.

About 10 years ago I was totally addicted to Diet Coke. I drank at least one Big Gulp a day. I started having symptoms similar to MS. Slurred speech, involuntary muscle moment, even vision problems. My doctor suggested going off the Diet Coke. One week later no symptoms. I realize, however, most people drink diet sodas much more moderately than I was. (moderation is a skill I'm slowly but surely learning)

I have heard that aspartame is one of the few substances that can cross the blood/brain barrier (MSG being another) actually changing brain chemistry in those who are sensitive. The aspartame suppresses a chemical called CCK a hormone that tells the brain you're not hungry. As I understand it, this is why diet sodas can increase appetite in some people. I guess it's like a lot of things, one person can consume it with no ill effects, and the next person needs to avoid it totally.