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Millions of people drink aspartame each day in their diet sodas and other sugar-free foods, though there are
many other sweetener options to
choose from. The brand name artificial sweeteners made with aspartame include Equal and Nutra-Sweet. In the
past, study results have suggested that there might be a
link between aspartame consumption and increased risk of some types of cancer, particularly when aspartame
consumption was unusually high. Virtually all of these previous studies were in groups of rats, not people,
and the amount of aspartame given to rats was up to several times their body weight - a feat which might be physically
impossibly to do via diet cola consumption.
A new federal study
has looked at people, not rodents, and shows that there was no increased cancer risk from aspartame consumption. The
researchers in the study looked at over 500,000 American diets to draw their conclusions. The study has been praised by
consumer groups and was presented to the American Association of Cancer research earlier this week. (Our sister blog -
The Cancer Blog - is also talking about this
study.)
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4-07-2006 @9:04AM Rachael said... I drank diet sodas before the study and I will continue to drink diet sodas after the study. For those of you who are terribly bothered by artificial sweeteners, I think you need to take a look at all of the foods and drinks which are bad for us to consume. Anything consumed in large quantities is bound to have adverse side affects. Quit being so negative...life is too short to be so critical. Live while you can and enjoy life while you can, even if it means drinking diet sodas.
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4-07-2006 @9:05AM Larry Giles said... All the information you'll Ever need about this subject and Health is in a book called, Curing Illness backed by over 500 Scientific Studies! Take a look if you Value your Life and Health.
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4-07-2006 @9:07AM Dee said... Are you all kidding? Have we all forgotten, SODA is bad for us, whether it be diet or with sugar! I personally drink the diet, and mine is Pepsi, I too switched to diet and no longer like regular soda. To the one who gets the tiny pus filled bumps, thats Excema and she should see a Dermatologist, it's usually caused by an allergic reaction! We all should be drinking Milk or Water or even Tea, we all know what we should be doing, but we all make our own educated decisions and drink soda, coffee, we smoke we drink alcohol, if you truly want to be healthy don't do any of this, but at the same time hope you don't get sick cause of some hereditary problem that runs in your family and there isn't anything you can do about it. People just have nothing better to do with their lives but find the next thing to complain about!!!!
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4-07-2006 @9:07AM Angie said... I think all of you just drink too much soda diet or whatever! No one should ever drink more than 12oz per day.
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4-07-2006 @9:08AM Tina said... I agree with #20! Diet Coke is GREAT and now, with Splenda, it's even better. Being diabetic, there was no choice, but diet drinks, and believe me, after you have drank diet for very long, if someone tries to slip a "real coke" in on you, it is SOOO BAD that you can't drink it. Try it for one week and make yourself, (which is what my doctor told me) and you will not want real coke again. Some people DO just have to be negative. I've been drinking diet for over 20 years and do not have any of the problems the others listed. Guess what, people get sick, for many reasons, and it just happens. It's been happening for years and LONG before there were diet drinks. Or even tests on rats.
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4-07-2006 @9:08AM Lauren S said... I gave up Diet Coke for Lent...it has been 33 days, and not one "symptom" or pain or ailment that I thought would go away because of the aspartame has left me. I am still the same, aging 42 year old that I was before. Bring on the Diet Coke!
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4-07-2006 @9:08AM Lee said... I'm violently allegic to many "natural" things. Fish, pollen, dust mites, bee stings... I could go on. I am forced to take remedies with "unatural' chemical substances to counteract potential life-threatening responses to these God created things. Who's to say that these "remedies won't one day result in outcomes worse than drinking a diet beverage?????
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4-07-2006 @9:10AM Kristy said... My husband and I have done a lot of research on the effects of aspertame, and everything we have read says that it does increase your risk of cancer and other diseases of the body. Such as Multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons, MD, Autism, and other cripiling diseases. So, you can't prove to me that it is safe for human not to mention animal consumption. It is toxic waste in a can of perfectly good cola. They really need to come up with a better way to sweeten our drinks, food, and medicines. Good luck on that though.
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4-07-2006 @9:11AM Mr. & Mrs. L said... I have a trio of comments.
First, both my husband and myself are sensitive to aspartame. When we switched to diet sodas to aid in weight loss, we were both nearly crippled from joint pain. I could not walk without a severe limp. I was scared and nobody knew what was going on. A friend who had seen one of the articles on aspartame suggested we both drop the diet soda. Within days we were both pain free.
Second,the study was strictly for cancer research. Not allergic reaction. If your allergic or have unusual symptoms from aspartame, don't consume it. Very simple. If your afraid of possible future problems, don't consume it.
Third, regarding migraines. I suffered debilitating migraines for almost 20 years, some so severe it would trigger seizures and even hospitalization. My trigger? Real cheese. A supposedly healthy food and I am allergic to it. So no number of studies can prove any food safe. Every human being is different and God made us all that way. So share your opinion, but don't get paranoid about it.
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4-07-2006 @9:12AM Holly said... This study is a bunch of bull and they are using it to get the sale of diet sodas back up. My husband IS DEAD due to the use of aspartame. He was a diabetic for years and drank this poison. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor that he should not have had (I was told this by several doctors). He died 2 years later from this very same brain tumor and left three kids and myself behind. The first studies they did proved it caused brain tumors and canser what happened to those studies?? Its all about the almighty buck isn't it??? Well I don't have the almighty buck and now I don't have my hisband either. So don't give me your bull and finally tell the public the truth.
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4-07-2006 @9:12AM Matt said... This is for Mrs. Clark and Heidi,
Mrs. Clark, you can't be suggesting that diseases such as cancer are caused by a lack of faith in Jesus can you? If so you belong in medeival Europe (or actually I guess you fit in well with modern day America). Heidi...chemicals aren't unnatural. The universe is made of chemicals.
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4-07-2006 @9:14AM angela said... i'm sad to clue you all in....but unfortunately most of what u put in your mouth these days is chemical laden....from the produce that we put on our tables(the fertilizer that was used comes from cows that eat grain that has chemical and possible steroids and antibiotics so that the animals don't get sick) and that brings you to the meats that you eat and the grains and breads......all, unless you grow your own wheat and harvest and process it like in the olden days, all have preservatives and additives to give it shelf life and better taste.....unfortunately we are in a chemical based society where you can mass produce anything with chemicals.....so don't just be afraid of diet cokes beware of everything....even our purified drinking water has had some studies that would scare you......have a great day!!!!!!CHEERS!!!
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4-07-2006 @9:14AM Jason M said... All I have to say is (GOT ORGANIC)I believe That what ever man made its to copy or replace what is natural. is it just the fake sweetener or is it all the other fake food we eat! I know cuze I dont eat fake food (or drink any soda none!) and I have no allergies or migraines and I dont smoke so what dose that say. I say that all soda and all fake food is bad! So go ORGANIC and be real!!!
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4-07-2006 @9:16AM Susan said... The simple minded creatures always seem to make an appearance when something like this comes out. They are not saying that aspartame is healthy for you, they are saying their study found it does not raise the risk of cancer. Get your facts straight, like they did, before you protest. The caffeine alone could be the cause of problems for people who drink caffeinated beverages on a regular basis. A general rule of thumb is consuming these things in moderation. I love diet coke and was personally relieved when I read the results of the study. 20 years down the road when they will probably discover some other bad effect it has on the body is when I won't care. Until then, be happy and live life to the fullest rather than spending so much time worrying about what is bad for you. It will probably be good for you tomorrow!
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4-07-2006 @9:17AM rae said... hey Tom? Is anecdotal your word of the day? You used it in every sentence of your remark.
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4-07-2006 @9:20AM valerie said... to the person who talked about fibromyalgia and migraines: please have your mother email me: arethusa82395@aol.com. they do all these studies to cut the rats up and see if they have cancer, but they never ask the rats "how are you feeling today?" i have PROFOUND fibromyalgia, with trigeminal neuralgia (severe, blinding facial pain) and migraines. i had to retire at 39 from my job due to the medicines required to control my pain. i had gained 40 pounds from inactivity over five years since then, and was in the hospital monthly if not weekly from uncontrolled pain breakthrough. i had neurologist after neurologist just increasing my pain meds and trying all kinds of anti seizure meds (i also had extremely elevated epileptic brain activity on eeg, with no obvious seizure activity). i was drinking 2 liters a day or more, of diet soda with aspertame to counteract the tiring effects of the medicines. it didnt matter which brand. last september, i quit all aspertame. i switched to sucralose sugar substitues, which are real sugar, not an unnatural chemical. (these can have a laxitive effect in large amounts, but no serious damaging effects that i know of so far) in november, i was able to wean myself off of ALL pain meds for the first time in five years. i have not been to an emergency room for pain medicine since. i no longer have uncontrolled pain in my trigeminal area. i only have an occasional migraine around my menstruation. NEVER once did any of my fancy neurologists in New York City tell me to quit this product. I lost five years of my life to uncontrolled pain due to the fact that aspertame "doesnt cause cancer". I had cancer too. (from HPV not aspertame) i have been drinking this crap since they invented it. i have felt the best i have ever felt in my adult life since i stopped using it. i do not know if it caused my fibromyalgia. i did have a bad brain injury at 17, but i do know that the aspertame DID make the fibromyalgia and other pain 1000 times worse. Show this to your mother and tell her to STOP USING THIS STUFF. if she is addicted to caffiene, tell her to try the sucrolose based diet sodas. Coke's is excellent tasting and Pepsi's is good too. if people would buy them, they will continue to make them. Also for anyone on a low carb diet... aspertame will make you insulin resistant and the diet not work. why does anyone still use this stuff????
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4-07-2006 @9:21AM jennifer y said... I am a diabetic so i have to drink diet cola.I go with pepsi produtes.But any way i have drunk diet pop for 8 yrs,and i am fine.All i can say trust in the good lord aboVE he made this body,he can take care of this body.One day when he heals me i want have to worry anyway.I just want to leave everybody with this.JESUS IS COMEING BACK.ARE YOU READY TO MEET HIM?EVERY EYE WILL BEHOLD JESUS.BUT THE PURE IN HEART WILL SEE GOD.NOBODY NOWS WHEN HE IS COMEING SO PLEASE JUST BE READY.MAY GOD BLESS AND KEEP EACH ONE OF YOU.
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4-07-2006 @9:24AM Andrea said... I consumed diet drinks like crazy for the past 12 years and have had two autoimmune diseases already and I'm just 30. The latest is MS. I blame a stressful lifestyle on it as well as chemicals. No more diet pop and all organic foods from now on! Do you really think people want to tango with companies promoting these chemicals? It is a huge money making market. Look how long it took for cigarette companies to take a punch! Don’t listen to everything in the news and please start eating organic foods and exercising! I look at my grandparents – they lived into their 80s and never had Cancer or any neurological disorders. They didn’t drink diet pop and most everything was natural they consumed. Heart attacks ran rampant from all the red meat they consumed. Just think about it – you are what you eat!
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4-07-2006 @9:24AM ROSE said... I have been drinking Diet Coke since 1980 and I have not tried anything else I love it and for migranes it does give me some trouble but not just the diet coke, it is caffiene, as told by 2 doctors, I quit diet coke as a challenge for 6 months, and I went back on after that this was June of 2004, I have a good health record, except for high blood pressure, and diet coke does not do that family history does, so if someone tells you it causes cancer bull to that fact.
I am living proof it doesn't hurt you and I am 53 years old.
thanks rose
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4-07-2006 @9:25AM herbal said... snort coke dont drink it
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