Am I the only one who is not particularly bothered about aspartame consumption in moderation?

[PearlNecklace]

Okay. There is plenty of talk about Aspartame on Mumsnet and in real life. And it strikes me that as a general rule, on Mumsnet, the majority of debates about topics tend to get met with demands for evidence. If someone makes a statement for instance that "home birth is dangerous", generally someone will demand to see the evidence, based on controlled studies and research, and statistics where appropriate, to prove that statement.

When it comes to food and what is safe or not, I generally like to use official, regulated sources for my information - for instance to research what I should or shouldn't have during pregnancy. I am no slave to government guidelines either, but I am aware that you have to take with a grain of salt the information you can see on the internet that is "unofficial" - i.e, anecdotal, based on uncontrolled studies, or just general opinion, speculation, or even personal theory. Whilst it shouldn't necessarily be instantly disregarded, as I do have an open mind, nor should it be swallowed at face value without further research and thought.

When I first heard things about Aspartame, I researched what it was, where it was found, and whether it was safe. I found plenty of information saying really quite scary things about it, that it causes MS, brain tumors, and many undesirable but less serious things. But I was unable to find any evidence based research to say it was unsafe. Official sources of information like the Food Standards Agency, WHO, and the GMO, all stated that it was safe.

Whilst I acknowledge that aspartame isn't "healthy" as such, I wouldn't say refined white sugar is either - but, like refined white sugar, if consumed in moderation as part of an otherwise balanced diet, I dont at this point see the problem with that.

I am yet to be convinced that aspartame is unsafe. To do so, I will need to see proper evidence based research that concludes that it is unsafe. Not conspiracy theories off the internet, not anecdotes from websites with names like "my wellness revolution" and "purelifestyle" etc, not anecdotes of loopy behaviour (this in itself makes an ingredient undesirable, but not unsafe).

IABU for not accepting this increasingly popular opinion without further evidence? Does anyone else feel the same way, and is anyone brave enough to admit it?

I don't care whether it's unhealthy or not, it's disgusting stuff. They sneak it into all sorts of things but I can always taste it. #shudder#

I don't know if aspartame is safe or not. I just know I feel mentally unsound after consuming it, so I attempt to avoid it.

I hear some people have the same experience after eating tomatoes, but I don't so am happy to continue eating tomatoes.

after reading on here actually about aspartine i changed our brand of squash to one that has no aspartine in it.
however if my todder was offered a drink with aspartine in it at someone elses house or party or something i wouldnt object.....
just thought if i could avoid it i would!!
i would rather he drank water all the time but sadly i failed there!!

Sorry, I meant to include this link as part of the OP

It is a food standards agency link on aspartame safety.

Also to say - I dont think anyone "should" consume it, if they dont like it or if it makes them feel unwell.

Same with tomatoes, of course! (I do know someone who can't eat tomatoes as it goes...gives them blinding headaches)

I agree. I feel the same way about Monosodium Glutamate, which is on the list of safe additives as well, but is frequently vilified in the press.

Each to their own but do remember just because 'scientific evidence/proof' doesn't exist at the moment, doesn't mean something isn't true.

"There is plenty of talk about Aspartame on Mumsnet and in real life "

..you need to change friends and/or toddler groups...

I feel the same Pearl. Fixation on statistically uproven dangers coupled with poor understanding of scientific evidence drives me bonkers. You can bet your bottom dollar that some of aspartame/ MSG/ wifi worriers are haring round the roads daily in their (statistically far riskier) cars/ doing DIY (wierdly risky) etc etc without worrying too much about those things.

I think for me this issue is this. People have been eating sugar for a very long time indeed. It is not particularly good for you, but we know tha damage it does, and we know how to counteract that damage. We can't say the same about aspartame. So on balance, I would rather my children consumed the known "unhealthy" thing hthan the unknown one.

I feel the same about butter and all the various spreads available.

"There is plenty of talk about Aspartame on Mumsnet and in real life "

..you need to change friends and/or toddler groups..."

Libra, you are damn right! I once saw a woman leap off the sofa and fly across the air, body slamming her 18 month old who was about to take a sip of another child's sugar free drink...

Fair point Seeker, but at 25 years of use throughout the world, at what point does it become "known"?

I know people who have used sugar for 25 years who haven't fared so well - diabetes mainly - but then again, they haven't probably used it in the moderation I speak of in the OP.

We avoid it because it's artificial, we also try to avoid anything else that's artificial.

The was I see it (and this is just my opinion) is our bodies are designed to break down natural sugar's in food/ drink. They are not designed to break down anything artificial, therefore we try to avoid anything artificial.

Has a side note, my brother drunk lots of diet coke. He had constant shakes, headaches, lack of concentration, unable to sleep and was really quite unwell for some time. After numerous tests and ruling out every medical reason they could think of, his doctors finally told him to switch to full fat coke if he wanted to drink anything. It took a little while to notice but the change in him is remarkable.

So there must be some truth in aspartame being bad for you if even doctors are telling people to avoid it.....

I don't like it because if DS2 has any he bites his hand until it bleeds.

I think that put me off a bit.
But I don't care if you want to have it.

That's an interesting point regarding "artificial" lifeas - do you consider refined white sugar to be "artificial" or "natural"?

You will be aware, of course that the body responds very differently to refined white sugar as it does to the sugars that are naturally occuring in the quantities and combinations that nature dictates in fruit, milk, etc?

"So there must be some truth in aspartame being bad for you if even doctors are telling people to avoid it"

Not necessarily. A savvy GP will ask about diet and ask you to eliminate foods or substances that they believe may be the cause of intolerance, whether it is as artificial as aspartame or as natural as whole grain wheat.

Having said that, it doesn't sound particularly like your brother was observing "moderation" if he was drinking "lots" of diet coke.

Having said that, I have no doubt that there will be people who are sensitive to aspartame - as there are to more "natural" foods or additives - it doesn't conclude their lack of safety, in my opinion.

I am laid back to the point of horizontal re food and eat any old nonsense, however I am pretty evangelical about avoiding aspartame.

I used to drink shedloads of diet coke - really cans and cans a day. It did have an affect - weight gain, strange mood swings, reakky feeling low. I have quite severe depression anyway so never linked it to aspartame.

I cut it out. It made a huge difference. I wouldn't say all symptoms disappeared but there was a marked and immediate improvement.

I just replaced it with coffee (so still have lot of caffeine, which I couldn't care less about frankly) as I loathe the taste of real coke, and replaced all low cal squashes, youghurts etc with full sugar ones.

Makes DS1 crazy if he has any more than a sip. Absolutely bounce off the walls aggressive crazy. So his total exposure is the occasional sip of my diet coke.

DD1 has dyspraxia and she has muscle spasms from it. Any aspartame makes it hella worse. I completely avoid it at all costs for this reason.

FindingMyMojo - you can't really live your life based on "just because 'scientific evidence/proof' doesn't exist at the moment, doesn't mean something isn't true" or you would be paralysed by fear and confusion. My mother tried this line on me when she came up with the brilliant suggestion that my laptop is probably irradiating my ovaries and she might not get any DGC .

op yanbu i drink things in with it, not excessively but im not too bothered.
i dont let my dc have coke or that kind of thing anyway whether diet coke or the normal one, so does not really apply to them

Well pearlnecklace, my brother is a 19yr old teenager who isn't at all bothered about eating/drinking stuff that's bad for him. Lol.

I don't buy refined White sugar, when I do buy sugar (which is only for me as I use it in coffee) I buy the un-refined sugar (the co-op do a nice fairtrade one)

Like I said, we try to avoid anything artificial, obviously it's not always easy but I do try to stick to food/ drinks that only contain naturally occuring sugars, like jam for example.

I don't go crazy about it, I don't stand in the supermarket for 5 hours inspecting every ingredient on every product but where I can avoid it, I will.

breatheswlowly well you could live your life by it if you wanted to - but I don't.

But my point is OP says she's looked for evidence & it's not there. But there are lots of people who will tell you of their negative experiences with aspartame - add this all up & it is a form of evidence of issues with a product/medicine/poisoned water etc. It is evidence of certain peoples reaction/experiences of using a certain product. Just because its not proven beyond doubt to cause XY & Z doesn't mean it doesn't cause XY&Z - just that it's not proven to.

We're all free to choose & to make choices for our kids. I choose not to live in fear. PEARLNECKLANCE chooses to believe it doesn't do any harm to consume aspartame.

It certainly goes against the teaching/beliefs of naturopathy to consume such a product - any each year more and more of the 'unscientific' beliefs of naturopathy are being scientifically proven and then make the headlines as 'news' - nitrates anyone?

re the FSA link, if these are harmless substances, don't you ask yourself why are they so tightly regulated if they are harmless?

You can't trust the govt to know or to guide you. They are "tightly regulating" aspartame, whilst allowing tobacco companies to pump their products full of very harmful and totally unnecessary additives.

Tobacco is clearly harmful, (of course at one time there was no scientific evidence to support his either - I watch mad Men you know! ) yet it's not really regulated as such beyond being taxed, so don't think the government is going to look out for your health.

"But there are lots of people who will tell you of their negative experiences with aspartame - add this all up & it is a form of evidence of issues with a product/medicine/poisoned water etc"

Absolutely, I dont discount that it is a product that is perhaps an "irritant" - I tend to think of wheat in the same catetory, and yeast, a product that commonly causes problems in otherwise healthy, normal people.

I dont, however, feel that it warrants considering it unsafe and cutting out its use unless those side effects are ones that I or my family experience first hand.

It was the same with the MMR vaccine, to be honest. I'd heard things, some people would swear blind certain things. But there was no evidence. I chose to ignore other people's anecdotes, and go with the evidence. The things I'd heard happen to some people didn't happen to my children. This validated my decision. I would have had to accept otherwise if things had gone wrong, of course, it goes both ways.

oh my god - you've mentioned M M AAAAAARGH!