Sweetener Linked to Autoimmune Diseases
This NB looks at the disturbing link between a popular sweetener and studies that show it’s linked to autoimmune symptoms and disease.
Which sweetener are we talking about?
Aspartame – brand name Nutrasweet, Equal, Sugar Twin.
Aspartame is a very popular, pervasive additive, particularly in the diet-food industry. That is because it acts as a zero-calorie sweetener.
It is about 200 times sweeter than regular sugar. That means much less is required to sweeten products, and there’s no uncertainty with crops and markets, like there is with naturally grown sugars.
As you probably know, it’s used in many “sugar-free” medicines too such as cough syrups and chewable tablets. It’s also a very common ingredient in diet products, especially soda pop.
The problem is, Aspartame is a type of excitotoxin. Excitotoxins are a category of chemicals (commonly amino acids) that overstimulate our neuron receptors and taste buds.
Fact is, your body doesn’t process this type of artificial ingredient very well, and it may trigger an immune reaction leading to inflammation and ultimately to autoimmune issues.
In the last ten years or so, many studies have shown aspartame’s adverse health effects. The FDA, however, has continued to approve the substance, citing over a hundred studies that say it is safe under certain conditions.
However, for every study saying that aspartame is safe, there are many more that show it is not.
An article in MDLinx recently reported many of aspartame’s negative effects on mood and headaches — particularly for those suffering from migraines.
It has also been linked to stroke and cardiovascular issues, as well as an increased risk of dementia and epilepsy.
When aspartame is broken down in the body, some of it produces methanol. In recent years, aspartame has become the biggest source of methanol in the American diet.
Small amounts of methanol are harmless and are even produced when we eat fruit and vegetables, but larger amounts are toxic because methanol degrades into formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen and neurotoxin.
There is a dangerous link between aspartame and autoimmune disease.
While causes of auto-immune diseases are many and multi-faceted, studies such as this one have found a link between diet soda (containing aspartame), metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.
In fact, daily consumption of diet soda has been associated with a 36% higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome and a 67% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
In animal studies, aspartame has been shown to lead to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease where the immune system systematically destroys the thyroid gland, causing it to eventually fail.
There was even a case of a woman whose Hashimoto’s disease was brought on by excessive consumption of artificially sweetened beverages.
Once the sugar substitutes were eliminated from her diet, her antibodies returned to normal levels and the thyroiditis resolved. Possibly anecdotal, but significant!
To see the list of references to these studies and stories…
And to discover 22 MORE toxic threats in your food…
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