NationStates Jolt Archive

I was BSing with my backcracker and he told me a story. He said in Chiropracter school, you hear all sorts of "evil medicine" stories. One he remember was a story about Aspartame being created as a chemical weapon. It was canceled and Rumsfeld later used his position to get it through the fda for public consumption as a sugar replacement.

At the time he said "yea what ever" then 7 years later he is channel surfing and on the 700 club(no he isn't a bible thumper), and there was a photo up Rumsfeld and the word Aspartame. He listened in and the story told was pretty close to the one he heard.

So? Tin foil theory?

http://www.newswithviews.com/NWVexclusive/exclusive15.htm

It's a myth.

Well I didn't see anything in that article about Aspartame being used as a weapon... As for rumsfeld being a crook and a liar who helped to push an unsafe food additive onto the general public - whats hard to beleive about that? Searle was bought up by Monsanto, pretty much the most evil/conspiracy company on the planet. These people are capable of anything...

Except that he doesn't have any sway in the regulatory agencies of other countries, yet Aspartame has been approved for use by the regulatory bodies of many other countries, including Canada and EU. Furthermore, he has no control over the results of studies, yet over 200 studies have been performed on aspartame and the conclusion has been that it is safe.

Your friend should be a lot more worried about the many studies showing chiropractic treatment to be no better than placebo than he should be worried about a food additive countless studies have proven safe.

its a stupid old myth.

aspartame IS a problem with people who have a certain genetic disease. thats why there is a warning on the label.

otherwise it has been on the market for 25 years. where is the big increase in aspartame caused diseases?

Except that he doesn't have any sway in the regulatory agencies of other countries, yet Aspartame has been approved for use by the regulatory bodies of many other countries, including Canada and EU. Furthermore, he has no control over the results of studies, yet over 200 studies have been performed on aspartame and the conclusion has been that it is safe.

Your friend should be a lot more worried about the many studies showing chiropractic treatment to be no better than placebo than he should be worried about a food additive countless studies have proven safe.

i watched a video apparently Rumesfield made connections with in the EU and Canada's regulatory bodies to force approval of Aspartame. And all the studies were conducted by big business.
*NOD* I mean how else can you explain Rumie shaking hands with leaders of Europe and stuff.

Your friend should be a lot more worried about the many studies showing chiropractic treatment to be no better than placebo than he should be worried about a food additive countless studies have proven safe.

Which studies are that? I can argue it has helped my migraines a great deal. I get far less of them after doing this. I have also seen my back problems go down too.

Some of those studies might be the pharmies who want to sell you pills for pain.....

its a stupid old myth.

aspartame IS a problem with people who have a certain genetic disease. thats why there is a warning on the label.

otherwise it has been on the market for 25 years. where is the big increase in aspartame caused diseases?

Wasn't sure as I don't use it. Not a soda drinker and I use the old teeth rotting sugar when I have a need.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld

Given that it was approved a year before he was a part of the Ford presidency....

Can we get even one reputable source for it being "a chemical weapon"?

What the hell is a 'backcracker'?

Try sucralose. It's only chlorinated sugar.

Or stevia. All natural and had been used in the rest of the world for a long time.

What the hell is a 'backcracker'?
Chiropractor, I would assume.

Chiropractor, I would assume.

Indeed. The term annoys my Chiropractor. ;)

Chiropractor, I would assume.

Oh a charlatan. I was worried it might be something that involved hot wax.

Try sucralose. It's only chlorinated sugar.

Or stevia. All natural and had been used in the rest of the world for a long time.

How 'bout lead? All natural and was used by many ancient cultures for a long time... :)

Good old "alternative medicine". Anything with a short name is "natural", safe and (if applicable) effective. Anything with a long name, the opposite.

Sugar - 5 letters, good
Aspartame - 9 letters, bad

aspartame caused Gulf War Syndrome!11!1! (http://www.rense.com/general/aspar.htm)

The Persian Gulf Syndrome is largely polychemical sensitivity from the massive NutraSweet exposure experienced by our men in combat units in the Persian Gulf. The first investigative reports of the Persian Gulf Syndrome noted these facts, only to be followed by reports that these Persian Gulf victims obviously could not have polychemical sensitivity syndrome because such a thing doesn't exist and nothing medicine was doing for them was helping. Therefore, they must be chronically unhappy people who you couldn't be made happy in any manner.

This illustrates the highly significant feature of aspartame poisoning, that it is an extreme hypersensitization agent which is highly reactive with other chemicals, especially toxic ones like the nerve gas and nitrogen mustard gas our troops were exposed to in the gulf when our government tried to destroy the stockpiles of these gases they had previously supplied to Saddam Husseim. This is a very poignant part of the NutraSweet issue because those who had problems with Nutrasweet will now experience recurrences of those same problems when exposed to even the most minute doses of various toxic agents.

Good old "alternative medicine". Anything with a short name is "natural", safe and (if applicable) effective. Anything with a long name, the opposite.

Sugar - 5 letters, good
Aspartame - 9 letters, bad
Well, one of the byproducts of aspartame metabolism is methanol.

While table sugar just ends up as monosaccarids.

Well, one of the byproducts of aspartame metabolism is methanol.

While table sugar just ends up as monosaccarids.

Possibly a bad example, but don't you have to have tons of aspartame for any noticeable health effect? Or am I confusing it with a different sweetener?

Possibly a bad example, but don't you have to have tons of aspartame for any noticeable health effect?

Most likely yes.

I haven't really studied the issue much - that is: Come across a neutral study about aspartame, et al - because I try to stray away from artificial sweeteners (except for sugar alcohols like xylitol, mannitol or sorbitol) whenever I can: They're cheaper for the manufacturer but often cost more for the end user and, naturally (;)), taste worse. :)


Well, whattheheck...

~ Does some wiki-ing ~

Lessee Methanol:
Methanol is extremely toxic. If ingested, as little as 10ml can cause permanent blindness

Aspartame:
Approximately 10% of aspartame (by mass) is broken down into methanol in the small intestine.

So going by that...
- 10 ml of methanol weighs around 8 grams (source: wiki)
- 10 ml of methanol is therefore metabolized from 80 grams of aspartame

So, according to Wikipedia, unless you eat 50 or so grams of aspartame at one go you're probably safe from (the most dangerous of) the negative short term health effects.

I'm not going to assess the long term health impact of high levels of methanol - or more accurately: The metabolic byproducts of methanol - in the blood stream.

Looking at the numbers, though, I probably would personally avoid offering lots of aspartame products to young children because of their low body mass.

Idk about Chemical Weapon....But I have heard that in mass quantities it can cause Cancer...

Idk about Chemical Weapon...
Nowhere near toxic enough.

But I have heard that in mass quantities it can cause Cancer...
So do many other consumable products.

So do many other consumable products.

And yet the FDA just lets em go...I think thats a real problem with the way we do things...They should at least have to state it on the package, Tobacco products do...

And yet the FDA just lets em go...I think thats a real problem with the way we do things...They should at least have to state it on the package, Tobacco products do...

did you know burned meat increases risk to cancer. even the grill marks can do it.

While the FDA is here to ensure overall health. It is not our nanny.

did you know burned meat increases risk to cancer. even the grill marks can do it.

While the FDA is here to ensure overall health. It is not our nanny.

Actually, I didnt know that, do you have a source I could peruse, cause Im actually quite curious as to why that is?...

i watched a video apparently Rumesfield made connections with in the EU and Canada's regulatory bodies to force approval of Aspartame. And all the studies were conducted by big business.
*NOD* I mean how else can you explain Rumie shaking hands with leaders of Europe and stuff.

I suspect you meant to be facetious but I know that Health Canada are just as deeply in bed with Searle, now Monsanto as the FDA. Rumie does unfortunately have a lot of connections world wide so it's not at all hard to believe that he might have been able to influence someone at Health Canada, or morelikely higher up in the Canadian government. Consider who was running the country at the time - the right dishonorable prime minister Brian Mulroney. The most corrupt and widely hated prime minister in our entire history! That government was ridiculously corrupt anything could be had for a during those times.

I don't know much about the situation in Europe at the time but I believe that Helmut Kohl was chancellor of Germany at the time and he was good buddies with - guess who, Brian Mulroney! The were both allegedly involved in the airbus scandal which was a major factor in the 93 election which decimated the progressive conservative party...

I was BSing with my backcracker and he told me a story. He said in Chiropracter school, you hear all sorts of "evil medicine" stories. One he remember was a story about Aspartame being created as a chemical weapon. It was canceled and Rumsfeld later used his position to get it through the fda for public consumption as a sugar replacement.

At the time he said "yea what ever" then 7 years later he is channel surfing and on the 700 club(no he isn't a bible thumper), and there was a photo up Rumsfeld and the word Aspartame. He listened in and the story told was pretty close to the one he heard.

So? Tin foil theory?

http://www.newswithviews.com/NWVexclusive/exclusive15.htm
I haven't thoroughly read the story (just skimmed over it) but I see nothing about aspartame being a chemical weapon; only about Donald Rumsfeld supporting it. Guilt by association much? Why should we think less of a product because of who promoted it? That's like saying exercise is bad for you because Hitler promoted it.

It just sounds irrational for people to be so much more worried about aspartame than about refined sugar. People talk about how sugar is "natural"; but it's not like "natural" substances have a rock-solid track record either, some plants are poisonous too. I remember during a meeting with a doctor, a nurse, and a dietitian, (part of my type 1 diabetes treatment) they gave me a sheet about artificial sweeteners, describing a ratio of aspartame intake to body mass; I forget what the ratio was, but according to it, the amount of aspartame in a dozen cans of diet soda was safe to take daily for me, and I weigh about 150 pounds. Ironically, things like KFC popcorn chicken have several times the recommended limit of trans fat per serving and they don't seem to face near as much controversy.

To say it George Carlin style: "We live in a society where tobacco kills hundreds of thousands of people a year and they ban artificial sweeteners because a rat died."

What the hell is a 'backcracker'?
no idea. I figure it's a euphenism for a gay sex-partner.

Wasn't sure as I don't use it. Not a soda drinker and I use the old teeth rotting sugar when I have a need.....
Hopefully you actually buy stuff that uses Sucrose, rather than destroying your health with HFCS. That stuff is truly evil.

Snopes on Aspartame (http://snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp)

Which studies are that? I can argue it has helped my migraines a great deal. I get far less of them after doing this. I have also seen my back problems go down too.

Some of those studies might be the pharmies who want to sell you pills for pain.....

Look it up. They are all over the internet too, not just in medical journals.

Sure, it helped your migraines, but so would a sugar pill if you were led to believe it would. Why is it everyone seems to think they are they are the only ones completely immune to the placebo effect?


I certainly wouldn't rely on this as my only source, but if you really want to research this topic it's a great place to start and provides quite a few useful links:
http://skepdic.com/chiro.html

How 'bout lead? All natural and was used by many ancient cultures for a long time... :)

Hemlock is all natural too :tongue:

Look it up. They are all over the internet too, not just in medical journals.

Sure, it helped your migraines, but so would a sugar pill if you were led to believe it would. Why is it everyone seems to think they are they are the only ones completely immune to the placebo effect?


I certainly wouldn't rely on this as my only source, but if you really want to research this topic it's a great place to start and provides quite a few useful links:
http://skepdic.com/chiro.html

You might want to study migraines. Placebos don't work on them.

Guess what? A doctor diagnosed me as a migraine suffer. Why would he prescribe me heavy duty drugs if it was only in my head?

Doctors are motivated by things as well. Many doctors are in bed with the pharmies.....

It works for me and that's all that matters. My use of pills has gone way down. So either the doc who is a migraine guy was wrong or it probably works....

Snopes on Aspartame (http://snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp)

Damn. I forgot to look there! :)

Actually, I didnt know that, do you have a source I could peruse, cause Im actually quite curious as to why that is?...

It's the evil PAH compounds!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycyclic_aromatic_hydrocarbon

Also, for example, overweight by itself is a "carcinogen"

Damn. I forgot to look there! :)
Snopes is good - As long as people remember that it's Snopes agenda to be, let's say, excessively skeptical.

Snopes on Aspartame (http://snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp)
Low long before the anti-aspartame hysterics accuse them of being paid off by aspartame companies? <.<

I know that wine has a lot of methanol in it. Probably more than aspartame.

I know that wine has a lot of methanol in it. Probably more than aspartame.

Hopefully less than 0.1%. Now ethanol....

I know that wine has a lot of methanol in it. Probably more than aspartame.

Of course, the ethanol in wine basically guarantees all of the methanol will pass through the body without processing. One of the initial measures for methanol poisoning is to give the person alcoholic drinks due to how ethanol slows or stops processing of methanol by the body.