Aspartame - safe?

Before PC I used to eat Fiber One. Noticed shortly after that it contains aspartame. Am trying to eat healthy. What's the real deal on Aspartame?

Not a bad idea to avoid real sweetners too. Though I have trouble doing this myself.

Literally millions of people a day are consuming significant aspartame and have been for decades --- it was approved for use in 1974.

It has to be the most studied "drug" in history. I'd think it's had more real life testing than bananas --- and, by the way, more than 10 of those a day can lead to potassium over dose.

Far better to have lots of aspartame than too may eggs. I generally have two eggs a day --- except on those days when I have an egg salad sandwich for lunch, when it's probably four eggs. A few years ago a doctor at Mayo told me, "every fiber of my medical education cries out to tell you to stop eating all those eggs --- but you've got cholesterol levels most of my patients would kill to have, so enjoy .... just don't tell anyone I said that."

One man's meat, another man's poison and all that.

Aspartame? I think it's like red meat, and rum, and sugar, and calcium supplement pills --- moderation, and with aspertame I'd not worry about anyone drinking two quarts a day of diet drinks. Unless they were mixing it 50/50 with rum, in which case their booze bill would be a major problem. On the other hand, my scientific research suggests the more rum I put into the diet coke, the less I really care about the booze bill. Besides, everyone knows rum is GFMPH.

Sheldon AKA Sleepless

questionaboutit said...
If you are having incontinence, aspartame should be avoided 100%. It is, according to my therapist, the worse bladder irritant.
Long before my PCa, I had noticed that diet drinks made me go more often and there has long been a common thought that it is a diuretic. It is, sort of, it causes bladder spasms.

I was given the same advice.  I've noticed that more leakage occurs after a diet soda.

Why avoid a food just because it contains aspartame? There are probably more harmful ingredients than aspartame used as preservatives, colorizers, flavor enhancers, etc. (For purposes of full disclosure, I dump a packet of Equal onto my Quaker Oats old-fashioned oatmeal each morning. ) Packaged foods with more than a few ingredients listed are often nutritionally empty.

The late Jack Lalanne, who died last month at age 96 said something like this: If it's man-made, don't eat it. Jack's older brother, Norman, rejected his advice about diet and exercise and lived to age 97. Ah, the genetics trump card!

Fyi

"Another problem with sodas is that they act as dehydrating diuretics, much like tea, coffee and alcohol."

www.globalhealingcenter.com/soft-drinks-america.html

also


"Carbonated beverages can act as diuretics, which dehydrate the body."


www.ehow.com/list_7459164_bad-effects-carbonated-drinks.html

I used to use aspartame, thinking it was better than sugar. I then switched to Splenda, thinking it was better than aspartame-containing products. Slightly, but still not good for you........ I now use Stevia, which is a plant-derived, natural sweetenter for coffee, cereals, etc.--------you can purchase it at all health food stores, GNC, etc.

Arnie in DE