Aspartame: Sugar-Coated Poison

As if you need another reason to read labels, artificial sweeteners are being injected into everything from popular soft drinks to that tiny breath mint you regularly pop into your mouth. Aspartame, previously listed as a biochemical warfare agent, was discovered in 1965 by accident when James Schlatter was testing various chemicals in a laboratory. Although scientific studies have shown evidence of aspartame’s harmful effects, it is legal to sell as a food without warning labels. Sold under the names of Equal, AminoSweet, Canderel and NutraSweet, this artificial sweetener has been on the market, creating severe damage to people’s health for over 30 years.

Found in many products including chewing gum, toothpaste, mouthwash, gelatin desserts, Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, diet sodas, diet foods, yogurt, candy, instant tea, protein shakes, table-top sweeteners, baby food/formula, cereals, jams, vitamins, medication and a thousand other products, aspartame has a sneaky way of making its way into your home, and even worse, your body. These dangerous goods are often deceptively labeled with terms such as sugar free, diet, naturally flavored and low calorie. And if all of this isn’t bad enough, marketing campaigns also advertise aspartame as a diabetic-friendly sweetener. Truth, proven time and time again, blows that ignorant claim out of the water.

Contrary to popular belief, aspartame does NOT promote weight loss, nor does it optimize insulin sensitivity. When aspartame enters the body, it is absorbed from the intestines and passed to the liver to be broken down. The liver then metabolizes aspartame’s toxic components, which include phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol (a chemical that becomes formaldehyde in the body). This process exhausts the liver, leaving little energy to burn fat. Excess fat begins to build up in the liver, making it difficult to lose weight. Aspartame also stimulates appetite, creates cravings for sweets and damages your body’s ability to count calories.

The symptoms/effects of aspartame are alarming. If you consume this poisonous drug, stop immediately. Even a single dose of this chemical can wreak havoc on your health and cause damage to the brain. Detoxify your body by removing artificial sweeteners from your diet and satisfy your sweet tooth with real foods that nourish your mind, body and spirit.