The vote is out on if NutraSweet causes any side effects and what those may be with the Food and Drug Association.
However I do know that Aspartame is not so great. They have warning (like those on alcohol or cigarettes here) on products containing Aspartame in Mexico because so many people are allergic to it. Aspartame causes headaches, seizures and other symptoms. My husband is allergic to it and it took going all the way to Mayo Clinic to find out. He was passing out due to his reaction to Aspartame.
Not that I drink soda in the first place (although I would give this recipie a try) I'm of the opinion that the closer you can get to the "real thing" (natural) the better you are anyway. We refuse anything that has fake sugar like NutraSweet/Aspartame in our household along with many of the Low Fat, Low Sodium, etc. products. We just figure that you may be saving in one way or another by going Low Fat/Sodium, but you're gaining in other ways. As pointed out to me, usually your carbs or other things go off the scale when they take out certain things.
Besides, someone else explained to me how bad it is for your kidneys. Your kidneys produce insulin when they detect sugar. If those kidneys are detecting the sweet of Aspartame/NutraSweet and forcing insulin into your system when there isn't any sugar to attach to and combat it isn't good. Do I remember all the things it would do to me? Of course not. I just remember thinking it was bad at the time.
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From:
http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/symptoms.htm
Side Effects:
headaches, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, numbness, blurred vision, blindness and other eye problems, memory loss, slurred speech, depression, personality changes, hyperactivity, stomach disorders, seizures, skin lesions, rashes, anxiety attacks, muscle cramping and joint pain, loss of energy, symptoms mimicking heart attacks, hearing loss and ear ringing, and loss or change of taste. (The Deadly Deception 1)
Mexico:
Americans are not the only people worried about the safety of aspartame. In 1988, the Mexican government issued a detailed warning to be put on diet sodas that contain aspartame (Bouleau 66). The label on these diet sodas reads:
This product should not be consumed by individuals who are allergic to phenylalanine. Consumption by pregnant women and children under 7 is not recommended. Users should follow a balanced diet. Consumption by diabetics must be authorized by a physician, (Bouleau 66).
If a product has to have this many warnings, how can it possibly be on the market?:
The FDA has the answer. Thomas Wilcox, FDA spokesman, claims that "some people don't tolerate aspartame, but the reports to the FDA aren't sufficient to warrant a change in the product's classification. . . . Unless there is shown to be some very common serious effect . . . you don't want to deprive the entire population of the product" (qtd. in Bonvie and Bonvie G1). How serious do the side effects have to be and how many people have to be affected before this product is pulled off the market? When you start to add up the Phenylketonurics, the 10 million PKU carriers, migraine sufferers, diabetics, children, and pregnant women, who are all possible victims of aspartame poisoning, it seems significant enough to ban the use of aspartame. Don't these people who are at risk or have already suffered count? Depriving people of their health seems more serious than "depriving the entire population" of a sugar substitute.
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