Aspartame........FREAKING OUT!

[TeacupTempest]

Um just read on another thread about a connection between aspartame and miscarriage. Just googled and found some debate about links with birth defects too.

Freaking out now as I have sweetner in tea and coffee (decaff at the minute) and the bloody stuff is in almost everything it seems.

Am I/ have I hurt my baby?

no

I've never heard that but even if there is a LINK it does not men it will happen, just maybe people need to be aware? Honestly, if you take note of every study done on pregnancy, you'd never eat anything!

no. i have been consuming diet pop and i am now 31 weeks. dont worry

There's no evidence whatsoever that aspartame will harm your baby. It's just another story someone has dreamt up to scare the shit out of pregnant women... as if they don't have enough real issues to deal with.

ok sorry (and breathe) guilty of jumping on a mass hysteria band wagon there perhaps? Bloody internet searches frightening me again. Tsk!

The wikipedia articles says it is one of the most tested food additives there is and that it has been ruled as safe in tonnes of countries.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame

However I'm avoiding diet drinks on the basis that all sweetners are chemicals, and therefore better off not in my system. Although, I have to say I am avoiding practically ALL the foods that are on the NHS guidelines even where the risk is tiny and I am aware that I am in the minority! I've come in for a lot of flak on here before for my decision, but my view is that if I can eliminate any worries during my pregnancy then that is the option I want to take.

So to cut through my waffle!!! If it is going to stress you out with worrying, I would cut it out. However, I think statistically/scientifically you are probably fine

PS avoid reading too much on the internet too. I have now read so much about MSG I don't think I'll ever dare have another chinese takeaway again!!!!!

actually aspartame has been banned in various countries because of the compelling evidence suggesting it is carcinogenic (among other things)

the makers of Aspartame are also changing its name. why would a big company with a well known brand change the name? they WILL lose money from doing so.
they have negative connotations to avoid that's why, and they don't want people to realise they are consuming aspartame

If you've read up on it, and decided there is no risk and you are happy to consume it then fair enough. that's an informed decision
personally I steer clear of artificial sweetners.

I always ask myself if I would feel comfortable giving something to my 18 months old DS and if the answer is no then i won't eat it during pregnancy. Obviously the main exception to that is salt as I need a LOT of salty things in pregnancy. But I wouldn't give DS anything with artificial sweetners in so don't want to give them to my baby either. I have been craving diet Coke all pregnancy so it had been hard to resist but I think its worth it to reduce any possible risk that there might be.

I practically lived off the stuff as I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my pregnancies so I had diet coke, sweetener in tea, sweetener all I've my strawberrys, no sugar custard with sweetener.

I have beve heard any of it even from my dietician who was helping me with GD when pregnant

step away from the web searches... apparentally all food is evil when pregnant.

Whilst pregnant with my daughter, I lived on Robinson's no sugar orange squash. Went through bottles of the stuff. Had a healthy pregnancy and DD is a perfectly healthy little girl now.

read this

In the wikipedia link someone has posted abive, scroll down to the Internet hoax conspiracy theory and that will explain alot.

I've had 4 miscarriages, and after my second I also got sucked in by this BS circulating the internet. I seriously thought I had bought it upon myself. It's all untrue.

Like any other food, in moderation everything is fine. It's like saying don't ever eat almonds because they have traces of arsenic in them, or don't eat apple pips because they contain cyanide. Even natural foods contain small amounts of poison, but you can't stop eating because of that.

Hard as it is, try not to google things. You'll be fine.

Despite numerous scare websites making claims about the carcinogenic properties of aspartame there is, in fact, no evidence that it is. Don't believe me? How about believing the National Cancer Institute?

The book "what to expect when you're expecting" says that research on artificial sweetners, and in particular on pregnant women, is inadequate and suggests that you should be cautious in their use.

Aspartame - it says experts suggest that until more studies are done pregnant women "should be cautious in their use of this sweetner".
Saccharin - animal studies have shown increased risk of cancer so it is "sensible to avoid saccharin".
Acesulfame-K - "particularly wise to avoid this sweetner when you're expecting"
Sorbitol, Mannitol -" safe in moderate amounts"
Lactose - safe.

Nocake, that website says this about aspartame:

"In 2005, a laboratory study found more lymphomas and leukemias in rats fed very high doses of aspartame (equivalent to drinking 8 to 2,083 cans of diet soda daily) (1). However, there were some inconsistencies in the findings."

Although these studies don't prove any link isn't it worth avoiding it just in case? Personally, I don't think that it is a huge hardship to avoid artificial sweetners for the potential health of your baby. It took years and years for there to be a proven link between smoking and cancer.

Can I just recommend Splenda as a good sweetener in hot drinks? It's made with sucralose and has none of the bitter/artificial taste of lots of others. And (so far as I know) there has been no adverse publicity about it

To further quote the website - Subsequently, NCI examined human data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study of over half a million retirees. Increasing consumption of aspartame-containing beverages was not associated with the development of lymphoma, leukemia, or brain cancer

They're not stupid. They've done their research and aren't worried about aspartame.

Oh yes I missed that one off, the book says that "studies have shown it to be safe" (Sucralose) and that it is approved for us by diabetics.

But there are no studies as to the effect on a developing foetus.

that page is 2 years old.

do you have anything updated? because last I heard the USA were putting warnings on all food items containing aspartame?

and their references are 5-6 years old too

and stop with the anecdotes already... many anecdotes do not equal data

i know a 70-something who has smoked every day and never had cancer

doesn't mean that smoking doesn't cause cancer does it

There is very little research on a lot of things where pregnant women are concerned because it's almost impossible to get permission to run randomized trials - for obvious ethical reasons. Thus data tends to be collected retrospectively from people who have accidentally taken whatever it was they are interested in looking at. This generally leads to very poor quality data.

As someone who works on large scale clinical trials, my advice would be to step away from the internet. It is full of shite. Particularly where things like this are concerned. :)

i avoid aspartane and acesulfame K.
Have avoid it long before expecting and will NOT have it while pregnant.

i refuse to buy anything containing it. Give me sugar anyday.

Will not be giving it to baby / toddler / children either..... and it makes me cross when it appears in things like yogurts and crisps and "full sugar" squashes like robinsons.... it used to only be in 'diet' stuff but not anymore

I have made an informed choice not to take it or risk taking it, regardless of how small or non existant the "risk" is.

thisisyesterday - which countries have banned aspartame? And can you link to something factual (official) that says about the USA warnings?