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Harms of sugar substitutes { September 7 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health_and_fitness/article/0,1299,DRMN_26_3164419,00.html http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health_and_fitness/article/0,1299,DRMN_26_3164419,00.html Harms, benefits of sugar substitutes questioned By Carolyn Susman, Cox News Service September 7, 2004 Aspartame. Nutrasweet. Equal. A sugar substitute by any other name can still cause controversy. In these diet-conscious times, artificial sweeteners, which is what the above are, are being consumed in tons. In diet drinks, in sugar-free foods, in granulated form, etc. Aspartame, the generic name for a particular brand of artificial sweetener, has been under attack for years. The National Cancer Institute Web site, www.nci.nih.gov, provides information about the Food and Drug Association's aspartame decision: "Aspartame was approved in 1981 by the FDA after tests showed that it did not cause cancer in laboratory animals, although not all of the laboratory experiments agreed. "Interest in aspartame was renewed by a 1996 report suggesting that an increase in the number of people with brain tumors between 1975 and 1992 might be associated with the introduction and use of this sweetener in the United States. However, an analysis of then-current NCI statistics showed that the overall incidence of brain and central nervous system cancers began to rise in 1973, eight years prior to the approval of aspartame. " . . . These and other data do not point to a clear link, based on animal or human studies, between the use of aspartame and the development of brain tumors. The FDA still considers aspartame safe." The idea that the FDA has "poisoned" America with aspartame's approval hasn't died. If you search for aspartame.com - instead of aspartame.org, the product's Web site - you get virulent writings against the artificial sweetener, one by Dr. Hyman J. Roberts, a West Palm Beach internist, calling aspartame an "imminent public health threat." So it started some people buzzing when a recent column called the People's Pharmacy referred to a study published in 1998 in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics that showed that "aspartame worked about as well as aspirin to relieve (arthritis) pain and inflammation" while not irritating the stomach. Most of us hadn't heard about the health benefits of aspartame, beyond its use as a sugar substitute. And a search of the Web sites - aspartame.org and Equal.com - failed to turn up this study. I was surprised that this good news was apparently buried, particularly when there has been so much debate over the sweetener's value. Yet Joe Graedon, co-author of the People's Pharmacy with his wife, Terry, says their column elicited only about 20 to 30 negative e-mails, a small number compared with their national syndication. And although he is familiar with all the arguments against aspartame, he says, "If there truly were an epidemic of 'fill in the blank' (diseases caused by aspartame) we should have seen it by now. Of all the risks we face, this stacks up pretty low." Is aspartame useful as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever? Is it harmful? Like so many questions, it comes down to what you feel comfortable believing. Diabetes center at Harvard The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Harvard Medical School have opened the JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School. JDRF (www.jdrf.org) was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with juvenile diabetes - a disease that strikes children suddenly, makes them insulin dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Copyright 2004, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.

Alzheimer america { August 19 2002 } Canned tuna has high mercury levels { June 6 2006 } Common chemical in breast milk { September 23 2003 } Epa says wasa violated lead law { April 2 2004 } Farm raised salmon high pcbs Fish farm no substitute natural stocks Fish farms feedlots { December 9 2002 } Government guidelines on mercury in fish { March 19 2004 } Grass fed products Harms of sugar substitutes { September 7 2004 } High pcb levels in farmed salmon { July 30 2003 } Hunting for chemicals we eat Mercury lurks in which fish Mercury tied to autism Organic foods fight disease { March 6 2003 } Organic People not warned mercury fish { July 30 2001 } Pesticides may be sickening school kids { July 26 2005 } Purdue says farmed fish safer Rackateering charges filed against nutrasweet { September 16 2004 } Rocket fuel lettuce { April 29 2003 } Study cites toxins in farmed salmon { January 9 2004 } Toxins 20 perc us food supply { October 14 2002 } Toxins in fish { June 26 2000 } Files Listed: 24

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