Aki Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Yesterday, I read an article on artificial sweeteners in the Discover magazine. Here is it for those who want to read it:http://www.discover.com/issues/aug-05/departments/chemistry-of-artificial-sweeteners/ The article is quite interesting. At the end of the article, in the box, says: When the sweetener aspartame is digested, its methyl ester bond is broken down into methanol, which further degrades into formaldehyde. Both methanol and formaldehyde are toxic in high doses, but a person would have to drink 600 cans of diet soda to get as much of either substance as is contained in a single orange. That fact is very surprising to me. Aspartame is often thought to be dangerous, and cancer-causing, but I definetly don't expect to find it in huge amounts in oranges. Now it seems like all the food is unsafe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarak Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Aspartame and Saccharine have some side effects as documented by variuos toxicology and clinical studies.Can anyone through some light on what really is stopping Stevia which is supposed to be the safest natural sweeener from hitting the market in a big way.I have tasted stevia and except for its very negligible bitter flavor it works well.Pl link me to any scientific review on this subject..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleAl Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Aspartame is often thought to be dangerous, and cancer-causing, but I definetly don't expect to find it in huge amounts in oranges. Now it seems like all the food is unsafeThe reference is to equivalent methanol ingestion. Many fruit essences are esters, and many of those are methyl esters. If you take clarified butter with its obvious buttery scent (trace butanedione) and reflux it with methanol and a drop of acid, it rapidly turns into pineaapple (lots of methyl butyrate from transesterification of butterfat). The body normally produces trace amounts of formaldehyde (e.g, from heme degradation) and deals with it. The incremental formaldehyde production from any sort of imaginable aspartame ingestion (or fruit) is trivially small. Phenylalanine in aspartame is not a good idea to eat in large quantities. The hazard there is still small unless you are phenoketonuric and young. Chronic large scale ingestion of xenobiotics (for sensory pleasure!) is not a good idea on the face of it. The outstanding bad idea is sucralose, dichlorosucrose. It is an alkylating agent. It came up Officially clean in the usual broad panel of acute and chronic reproductive, mutagenic, and carcinogenic tests - in rats and mice. Yet there it is as an alkylating agent by its chemical structure, and folks are eating huge quantities of it, including children. Thalidomide is also demonstrated to be remarkably harmless - therapeutic dose vs. toxic dose - in all higher animals including man (except for pregnant women, and then only in the developing limb buds of a fetus). Can anyone through some light on what really is stopping Stevia which is supposed to be the safest natural sweeener from hitting the market in a big way 1) Expense - it must be grown, and then only as a minor constituent of the plant. 2) Aftertaste. Also, eoes it survive cooking and long term storage in strong acid - soft drinks? 3) It cannot be patented. 4) It must pass $500 million of biosafety tests. That is a mightly deep hole to profit out from, as in Olestra, especially if anybody can market it after your wallet proves it to be safe - if it is safe. C1ay, IrishEyes and Chacmool 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhealthy1 Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 I think it is rediculous that the FDA (theres the red flag)is trying so hard to keep people from using a natural plant leaf and steering them instead toward a chemical poison....with regards to the fact that there is so much contraversy out there about whether it is safe or not..as for me any time I ever ingested any artificial sweetner I felt ill to my stomach & disgusted. I found a web site where 100's of people replied to having horrible migraines and pain throughout thier bodies and all had been consuming a type of artificial sweetener. After all had cut all chemical sweeteners out of their diet their symptoms slowly diminished and then disappeared. These people were pissed that no one had warned them of the health risks, (not even their doctors...they said it was fine) but after removing the sweeteners the results speak for themselves....no more head or body aches. The website reminded me of the movie 'Erin Brochovich' where all these people are trying to find justice and tell everyone about the harmful substances available to all ages. It just amazed me that 80% of all complaints to the FDA are about aspartame or another artificial sweetner! An Italian scientist has been performing extensive research on aspartame and has been finding the same cancer causing results others have. Europe plans to ban aspartame when all results are in just as Japan has banned it. Did you know Japan has used Stevia for the last 30 years to sweeten their diet coke, with no side effects! WOW....and the FDA won't approve a natural plant leaf just because there is no money to be made from it...they would rather poison us and make money than help us be healthy. I have been living an all natural life for the last 2 years....no artificial chemicals, no prescriptions...I don't even take advil if I have a headache...which I rarely ever get! I eat my foods fresh from mother nature and have a treat every once in a while, I take organic plant based vitamins and I feel FABULOUS! I have been using stevia for the last 2 years and I love it....i can't have my blood sugar levels fluctuate, stevia actually helps balance blood sugar levels and has zero glycemic index, 0 calories, 0 carbs. You can cook and bake with it & it doesn't break down like the artificial ones. South America uses stevia to regulate diabetes, and in Paraguay, where most of it is grown, people have been using stevia for over 1500 years without any side effects. There have been over 1000 scientific studies done on the safety of stevia and many holistic doctors and dieticians swear by stevia and recommend it to all ages. I am just sick and tired of hearing all this bad info about a product I know to be safe and delicious. So please do some of your own research and look into things yourself and don't just trust a huge busines who only has a goal to profit off you! A book I've been reading lately is 'Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About' by Kevin Trudeau.....very interesting! Good Luck...Peace to all. The reference is to equivalent methanol ingestion. Many fruit essences are esters, and many of those are methyl esters. If you take clarified butter with its obvious buttery scent (trace butanedione) and reflux it with methanol and a drop of acid, it rapidly turns into pineaapple (lots of methyl butyrate from transesterification of butterfat). The body normally produces trace amounts of formaldehyde (e.g, from heme degradation) and deals with it. The incremental formaldehyde production from any sort of imaginable aspartame ingestion (or fruit) is trivially small. Phenylalanine in aspartame is not a good idea to eat in large quantities. The hazard there is still small unless you are phenoketonuric and young. Chronic large scale ingestion of xenobiotics (for sensory pleasure!) is not a good idea on the face of it. The outstanding bad idea is sucralose, dichlorosucrose. It is an alkylating agent. It came up Officially clean in the usual broad panel of acute and chronic reproductive, mutagenic, and carcinogenic tests - in rats and mice. Yet there it is as an alkylating agent by its chemical structure, and folks are eating huge quantities of it, including children. Thalidomide is also demonstrated to be remarkably harmless - therapeutic dose vs. toxic dose - in all higher animals including man (except for pregnant women, and then only in the developing limb buds of a fetus). 1) Expense - it must be grown, and then only as a minor constituent of the plant. 2) Aftertaste. Also, eoes it survive cooking and long term storage in strong acid - soft drinks? 3) It cannot be patented. 4) It must pass $500 million of biosafety tests. That is a mightly deep hole to profit out from, as in Olestra, especially if anybody can market it after your wallet proves it to be safe - if it is safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racoon Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 As a general rule of thumb, I don't really buy into the FDA. :evil: They work with HMO's to keep Hospitals full, and people on Medication.Not saying they're ALL bad. Just extremely well paid. They ban Ephedra, Ma Huang, 'cuz 18 people or so died from Misusing the stuff(over several years)8,000 people die a year from Aspirin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhealthy1 Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 It really is sad how the FDA and pharmacuetical companies work...but knowledge is power! so pass it on! At least we can inform our friends and loved ones about what we believe to be true. Peace! As a general rule of thumb, I don't really buy into the FDA. ;) They work with HMO's to keep Hospitals full, and people on Medication.Not saying they're ALL bad. Just extremely well paid. They ban Ephedra, Ma Huang, 'cuz 18 people or so died from Misusing the stuff(over several years)8,000 people die a year from Aspirin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biochemist Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 As a general rule of thumb, I don't really buy into the FDA. :lol: They work with HMO's to keep Hospitals full, and people on Medication.Not saying they're ALL bad. Just extremely well paid.This is a little disingenuous. The FDA has its flaws, but the main role of the "D" part of the FDA (there are others) is to limit the risk exposire that the public encounters from commercial products. The FDA does not to anything to promote anything. All they to is stop a subset of things that are dangerous. And the FDA has nothing to do with HMOs or hospitals, and has almost nothing to do with patients, except those that are engaged in clinical trials. Tormod 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illionis Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Hi! I am kind of new to this world of artificial sweeteners as was compelled to enquire about it after my dad was identified having high sugar levels in the blood, now not considering the FDA or anyone else i just came to know that these artificial sweeteners actually contain the same properties as the sugar, which has made me confused, so any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drip Curl Magic Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 8,000 people die a year from Aspirin. That stuff is cancerous if taken too often, isn't it? well, either way, I try to avoid taking pills. Especially pain killers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 ...these artificial sweeteners actually contain the same properties as the sugar, which has made me confused, so any ideas?Well, if absolutely nothing else, they are perceived as sweet when they stimulate our taste buds... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetener Anyway, welcome aboard illionis. :naughty: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelangelica Posted April 27, 2006 Report Share Posted April 27, 2006 Quote:Can anyone through some light on what really is stopping Stevia which is supposed to be the safest natural sweeener from hitting the market in a big way I have grown stevia for a few years. Its leaves are very,very sweet.I think there is at least one variety that has a bitter aftertaste.I have never found it in my plant It is interesting that it is the only sweetner (other than sugar) that is legal in Japan Stevia has lots of medicinal uses tooGoogle it you will find many web-sites devoted to itm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.