Diet stuff and asparatame

Violetwind

Determined
After reading about asparatame and it turning to formaldahyde in your stomach Im a wee bit worried. So i started checking labels and Its EVERYWHERE. Kids no sugar squash everything. It seems anything diet or low fat will Have it. And it seems heating it like in diet coke chicken is lethal!

Anyone else concerned?
 
You'll find any number of debates on this - I found this on MyFitnessPal forum:

Aspartame is aspartic acid + phenylalanine. Both of those are amino acids that your body needs on a daily basis anyway. They are also in every single protein source you eat. In fact, 4 oz of chicken breast contain as much aspartic acid and phenylalanine as 23 cans of diet soda.

Do some people have bad reactions to it? Sure, but millions of people have bad, sometimes instantly fatal reactions to peanuts or shellfish. Does that mean it's bad for everyone else? No.

Also, as for the "toxic chemical" during metabolism, I assume you mean either formic acid (formaldehyde) or methanol. Both are actually naturally occurring compounds in the human body, as well as found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, in higher concentrations than you'd get from a diet soda, so any article that pushes that as a negative on aspartame is scaremongering.
 
My husband used to work regularly with aspartame in his previous job 'inventing' new foods and he is not worried about it in the slightest. The hype originally came from America where a handful of people had a bad reaction and then it got blown out of all proportion. Sure, some people may react badly to it but that doesn't mean it's a 'poison' HTH :)
 
I heard that the formaldehyde thing was a hoax. saying that though, aspartame is evil. I would rather use splenda or even better, Stevia or Trivia.
 
Unless you grow it, breed it, kill it, cook it, eat it you just don't know what's in our food


You can drive yourself mad looking for additives, preservatives or anything else, or you can just not worry about it.

If you research enough you can find debates on not eating eggs, fruit, meat, dairy, anything! We have a choice.

Not processed is best, but I know I have a very busy life and I don't have time for checking every single label in shops. It "slightly" concerns me, but I've been dieting for years, eating low fat, low sugar, artificially sweetened products and I'm still here :)

Each to their own but I don't have time to worry about such things at this point in my life.
 
Aspartame has a nasty after taste..... But that's the worst thing about it, oh and my brother is allergic (but pink rash and going gaga type allergic)
but if your not allergic it's fine.
saying that I still prefer to use stevia or Splenda.
 
I've read very contradictory reports including some horror stories (there is definitely a thread on here by a lady who ate a LOT of sweetener and got poisoning diagnosed by the dr). I'd say if you notice any issues such as increased tiredness, depression, joint problems, keep an eye on it. Also, it's widely thought that aspartame can mess with your appetite and insulin control, so if you suspect it makes you hungry, keep an eye on it too.

Myself I just feel I'd prefer to stick to slightly more natural foods and learn to change my tastes away from craving really sweet things for the long term, so I limit sweetener to diet Coke/RedBull when knackered, and the occasional sugarfree jelly or mullerlight when I really need something sweet and low-syn. I don't think Hifis or Alpen Lights have sweeteners in them. When I make cakes I use honey or juice and a bit of sugar, not sweetener, though sugar isn't exactly good for us either (article in the Guardian today!)

I definitely feel lesss well on days I have Red Bull and it really messes with my digestion. But that could be all the other nasty chemicals in it...
 
Is this stuff in every single type of sweetner?
Splenda is aspartame free!

I have had a bad reaction with it myself during my sw time, I had used sweetener every morning with my porridge and evening with my fruit salad along with muller light yogurts and coke zero
And after a number of weeks of eating like this I ended up with a kidney infection and had to be put on anti biotics

Spoke to my gp who confirmed that the change in my diet with the increased amount of aspartame was more than likely the cause for my problems

Needless to say I stick to water, some Splenda and natural unsweetened yogurt from now on
 
I feel like eating Mullerlights has become my lazy way to weightloss. Ok once in a while, but probably not a great health choice long term and not in the mindset of being mindful and making food from scratch. Think I will switch to natural Greek yoghurt with a bit of honey this week. A couple of syns but worth it.
 
This is my one bug-bear with SW, I still use sugar (only a little though, didn't use all that much before) rather than sweetener because sugar may be bad for you, but at least it's more natural than the alternatives. Somethings I just can't sub - I'd rather be healthier and the weight loss take a little longer than worry about chemicals every step of the way.
 
I use honey a lot.. nicer than sweetener!

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I've never liked hot drinks and find regular fizzy drinks too sugary for my taste so have drunk Pepsi Max for years. As others have said, aspartame has been shown to be safe so I don't give it a second thought. To be honest, I'm far more uneasy about what's in Fry Light! :giggle:
 
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We shouldn't:
Eat red meat, white meat, processed meat, meat generally nor should we eat animal by-products such as cheese, yoghurt, cows milk, goats milk, sheeps milk, asses milk (maybe that's just Cleopatra though). We shouldn't eat chocolate, biscuits, blue smarties or Jaffa cakes which are, for tax purposes, biscuits in disguise.

We mustn't:
Wear underarm deodorant, wear underwired bras, put our phones too close to our heads, wear skirts too short or stand too close to microwaves. We mustn't have sex outside of marriage, or sex within marriage except every other Friday with the lights out under the covers in the missionary position because we are British thank you kindly SIR. We mustn't smack our children if they are naughty, shout at our dog or offend our neighbours, all for fear of giving him/her/it a complex in later life. We mustn't drive our cars too often, or at all if its deemed socially too big for ones needs (yeah MFs I drive a 4x4) we mustn't run over cyclists or if we do we should go back and at least help them up again.

It is imperative that we do not:
Live beyond our means, step off the property ladder, spend ANY money on anything EVER that we absolutely, categorically do not need, satisfy a want rather than a basic need, buy a house just because we like it without regard to its future potential, let the petrol tank run so low the fuel light comes on, play with fire, play with fire again because the old adage about being once burnt is a load of tosh, let anyone see our weaknesses, cry in front of a stranger, consume aspartame in such minuscule amounts it wouldn't hurt an undernourished kitten, go to the cinema alone for fear of attracting the "just the one ticket please" pity, burn the candle at both ends, live to work and finally DO NOT forget to collect your £200 when you pass go.

I may never leave the house again.
 
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Oh lick the lid I love your humor and the sentiment!
 
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