- Mild side effects of artificial sweeteners include headaches, gastrointestinal problems, consuming higher amounts of calories than you expected
- Aspartame has so many health complaints connected to it that these conditions are called Aspartame Disease
- Panic attack and depression have been linked to artificial sweeteners
- Nervous system disorders and many types of cancer may also be associated with artificial sweeteners
- Ginseng Power Max 4x and St John's Wort can help restore the nervous system and significantly reduce stress.
While eating too much sugar can cause weight gain and can lead to the development of diabetes, using artificial sweeteners may have some health risks, too. Below we look at the top 10 dangers of artificial sweeteners.
1. More Calories than You Think
Some artificial sweeteners are misleading. Because they have few calories, the foods containing them can be listed as containing no calories when, in fact, they do have calories which can add up quickly if you are indulging your sweet tooth. This is particular true if you’re talking about foods that contain Splenda or even more natural sugar substitutes, such as sugar alcohols.
2. Headaches
This is one of the side effects associated with almost every artificial sweetener on the market. It is also part of the condition known as Aspartame sickness which refers to a collection of ailments seemingly caused by the consumption of that particular artificial sweetener.
3. Gastrointestinal Problems
Many of the most popular artificial sweeteners have also been associated with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Usually these problems occur after high levels of the product are consumed or in people who are sensitive to the products. Foods containing sugar alcohols, such as sorbitol, must be labeled to warn consumers about these problems.
4. Allergic Reactions
Some consumers have reported allergic reactions to some of the artificial sweeteners available. These reactions have been relatively mild, including headaches, skin rashes, and similar symptoms.
5. Male Infertility
While the research is not entirely conclusive yet, some studies have linked Aspartame to an increased risk of male infertility. The mechanics of this are also not well understood either. However, any man hoping to start a family should avoid foods that contain this artificial sweetener.
6. Panic Attacks
Just as two much sugar can cause nervous agitation, people who consume some types of artificial sweeteners have reported experiencing panic attacks, which include symptoms including racing heart beats, shortness of breath, feelings of impending doom, and more. People who have a tendency to have panic attacks may also have their attacks triggered by an intake of these sweeteners.
7. Cell Damage
Some of the research on artificial sweeteners has also shown that they can do some damage to cells. For this reason, infants, children, and teenagers should have their intake of artificial sweeteners limited.
8. Depression
Several years ago, a study of the affects of Aspartame on depression involving 40 participants had to be ended prematurely because more than half of the individuals involved had such several reactions to the sweeteners. Mood changes can be severe.
9. Central Nervous System Disorders
Research has shown that Aspartame may also be one of the causes or triggers of many serious central nervous system disorders, including fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis. Many of other diseases have also been connected to this specific type of sweetener which, incidentally, has more health complaints filed against it by consumers than any other additive on the market.
10. Cancer
One of the biggest concerns about these artificial sweeteners has been cancer. There is some research to suggest a higher incidence of bladder cancer (saccharin), cancer of the reproductive organs (aspartame), and more. More research on these connections is still being done.
If you’re feeling depression or anxiety brought on by the intake of artificial sweeteners or for any reason, there are natural supplements that can help. Check out products like Ginseng Power Max 4x and St John's Wort to help with depressed thoughts or moods.
 Sugar Substitutes 6 Feb 2009 |
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Should Splenda really be included in this list? It’s supposedly made with real sugar make it less artificial than the others.
Dear Andrew,
Despite Splenda supposedly being the healthiest of all known sugar substitutes, it does have its drawbacks, too. Its side effects are not as threatening like cancer or depression, but overusing Splenda might cause unwanted intestinal gas problem and increased appetite that might end up with consuming unwanted calories. In other words, everything, and artificial sweeteners are not an exception, requires a moderate rate of use.
With Regards,
Prof. Nutralegacy
this is very concerning. i didn’t realize that artificial sweetners could lead to so many problems.but it’s sort of hard toget away from them. mainly because they are in just about every we eat.
Splenda is not natural..it is altered on an atomic level..it’s synthetic.
Aspertame is one of the most poisonous substances in our food supply (out of many)…it is an excitotoxin..it over-stimulates brain and nerve cells to death, kind of explodes them. it passes through the blood-brain barrier…basically it goes into your brain and kills part of it. and it’s kind of addictive too, because that “over-stimulation” is kind of a buzz…you know, like doing speed or other stimulants, but i don’t think even cocaine or meth kills your brain cells like Aspartame does…
in addition, Aspartame causes a huge laundry list of health problems. also, when it is heated above about 85F, like if you cook with it, or just leave your Diet Coke in the sun, it turns to formaldahyde, which is also poisonous. they say the troops in Iraq routinely drink Diet Coke that’s been over heated like that in the Iraq sun…
the FDA is a criminal organization for allowing this…and they didn’t at first..for many years they didn’t allow Aspartame….i recommend reading the history of the approval process..you will see some familiar names from the Bush administration in there, and some familiar heavy handed politics.
kinda sad that millions of people are being brain damaged into premature senility for the profit of a ffew companies. it is implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease…basically all those kind of things are just brain damage, probably from foods and other ingested toxins that surround us these days.
most “modern illnesses” can be traced back to modern chemicals and pollution that are in the food and environment now.
This really comes as no surprise. White refined sugar is already bad as it is. I would recommend using muscovado sugar or coco palm sugar as substitute if sweetening is really necessary. Our tongues have just been accustomed to having sugar but in truth we can live almost without it. Please teach your children at an early age to develop an aversion to sweets.
This is all on pretty shaky ground, most ‘conclusions’ of the ‘dangers’ that are presented as facts, are based on inconclusive evidence and conflicting research.
Mentioning cancer as a possible side effect is way over the top and could scare people back to the use sugar, who else would benefit substantially from the use of artificial sweeteners.
These 10 ‘dangers’ have not been proven and there’s nothing scientific about what’s being presented in this article!
JUST SO WE’RE ALL TOTALLY CLEAR -
Donald Rumsfeld (he who as we all know armed Saddam Hussein, one of W’s chief architects of the Iraq/Afghan wars, was recent US Defense Secretary under Bush, and if you care to believe such things, involved in the 9/11 inside job) – before he got up to his neck in the Neocon plan for world domination, worked as CEO for Searle, who make the popular and widely used sweetener Aspartame.
“Among the many ironies of our modern world is that Gerald Ford awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom-America,s highest civilian honor-to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on January 19, 1977. Just a few weeks later on March 8, Rumsfeld became the CEO of G.D. Searle to take point on a mission to force the Food and Drug Administration to approve for human consumption a known carcinogen and neurotoxic poison.” [1]
Aspartame (widely used – you probably had some today) “aspartame causes headache, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma and cancer. It worsens or mimics the symptoms of such diseases and conditions as fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue and depression. Further dangers highlighted is that aspartame liberates free methyl alcohol. The resulting chronic methanol poisoning affects the dopamine system of the brain causing addiction. Methanol, or wood alcohol, constitutes one third of the aspartame molecule and is classified as a severe metabolic poison and narcotic.” [2]
“For 16 years the FDA refused to approve it, not only because its not safe but because they wanted the company indicted for fraud. “[2]
“Donald Rumsfeld was on President Reagan’s transition team and the day after he took office he appointed an FDA Commissioner who would approve aspartame. The FDA set up a Board of Inquiry of the best scientists they had to offer who said aspartame is not safe and causes brain tumors, and the petition for approval is hereby revoked. The new FDA Commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, over-ruled that Board of Inquiry and then went to work for the PR Agency of the manufacturer, Burson-Marstellar, rumored at $1000.00 a day, and has refused to talk to the press ever since. ” [2]
MY QUESTION: Is any of this a surprise? At all?
ANSWER: Nope.
I think it says something about the world however, and it’s corporations and structures, that we are still consuming this “chemical weapon” daily in our food and drinks.
[1]
http://www.rense.com/general67/rum.htm
[2]
http://www.newswithviews.com/NWVexclusive/exclusive15.htm