Aspartame Poisoning Recovery
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener widely used as a sugar substitute and is sold under trade names such as NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel and AminoSweet. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the side effects and safety of aspartame.
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History
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Aspartame was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974, and since then the FDA says that more than 100 studies have confirmed that aspartame is safe for consumption, except for people with phenylketonuria (PKU), a hereditary condition.
Side Effects
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There have been more than 10,000 official complaints to the FDA regarding side effects and reactions to aspartame. These side effects include headaches, dizziness, hallucinations, mood alterations, vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue.
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Prevention/Solution
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The easiest way to recover from suspected aspartame poisoning is to stop using it.
If a physician was unable to find an explanation for your symptoms and you consume aspartame on a regular basis, try detoxing your body from all aspartame to see if your symptoms go away.
Getting aspartame out of your diet, just like with other allergens, will help you determine if the aspartame is causing or contributing to some or all of your symptoms.
Method
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Make a list of all your symptoms and rate their severity from 1 to 10, so that you have a record of how you were feeling before you start. Remove from your diet anything that includes the words aspartame or phenylalanine in the ingredients, including drinks, food, vitamins and medicine. In the European Union, aspartame is sometimes referred to as E number (additive code) E951, so look for this as well. Continue with this regimen for approximately 60 days, then take the list of your symptoms that you made before beginning this process and put a second rating next to the original rating.
Outcome
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If after 60 days your symptoms have decreased or disappeared completely, you may have had aspartame poisoning and it is best not to reintroduce aspartame into your diet. Healthy alternatives to aspartame include honey, maple syrup, rice and barley syrups, fruit juice concentrates and stevia.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit spoonful of sugar image by Brett Mulcahy from Fotolia.com
