Deadly Bananas!
Ok, I’m getting fed up with this Aspartame Bull-Sh*t hype. Every now and then it resurfaces through stupid email chain letters or blogs from people who don’t know anything about the facts! It’s always the same…they say Aspartame causes a multitude of physical harms to your body like cancer, hair loss, depression, methanol & formaldehyde poisoning and obesity. It irritates me that people’s ignorance spreads fear like this, so I’m going to lay it out for anyone that is interested in learning the truth. I know I’m not reaching a lot of people through my little blog, but it gives me peace of mind to rant about it; and who knows, maybe that the 5 people who read this might tell 5 other people and so on. I’ll start my own chain letter.
I have a degree in chemistry, but it doesn’t take one to figure this out. Aspartame is simply a methyl ester dipeptide of two naturally occurring amino acids L-phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid. When metabolized by our bodies it breaks down into L-phenylalanine, L-aspartic acid, and methanol. Uh oh…methanol can then further break down into formaldehyde!! People see these two chemicals and freak out, but they are jumping to big conclusions. Yes, methanol and formaldehyde are poisonous, but only at extremely higher levels than anything you could possibly ingest containing Aspartame. Aspartame is about 200 times sweeter than sucrose, so its’ concentration in food and beverages is miniscule. The fact is that a BANANA naturally contains more methanol than your body would get from a can of diet soda sweetened with Aspartame. I say we all stop eating bananas because they are obviously DEADLY!
The FDA approved Aspartame way back in 1974 and has undertaken several intensive inquiries over the years since then. They all come back with the same results affirming the initial approval. People also say that the evil Monsanto Corporation was influencing the FDA and the scientific studies done on the effects of Aspartame, but it wasn’t until 1985 when Monsanto bought the aspartame business and created NutraSweet.; 11 years after FDA approval. It’s all lies…wake up people! Don’t believe everything you read…including this blog. Do some research and see for yourself. The facts are out there, but ignorance and laziness spread lies.
August 19, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Interesting, thanks. I am with you on not believing everything you read…too much of that happening.
August 19, 2009 at 12:43 pm
omg thank you for posting this…i get so sick of people saying they’d rather drink soda and use regular sugar and complain about their weight instead of using an artificial sweeteneer because the so-called effects
people give me **** all the time because i loooove splenda and use it in all my drinks…saying im gonna get cancer and stuff..so annoying
August 19, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I wonder what is on the agenda of the alarmists who put out info about the dangers of aspartame and other artificial ingredients.
What’s in it for them?
Not that I expect you to know
But I’ve always wondered about that.
August 19, 2009 at 2:35 pm
That’s a good question…I was wondering how it all got started in the first place. There were supposedely studies in the 70s that tried to link it to cancer in rats…but the results were questionable and unfounded. Maybe it comes from the sugar companies. "Our sugar will make you fat, but their chemicals will give you cancer"! haha
August 19, 2009 at 4:31 pm
While the FDA approval may signal the green light for safe consumption, 85 percent of all complaints registered with the FDA are for adverse reactions to aspartame, including five reported deaths. A closer look at the unscientific studies, suspicious approval methods, and its harmful ingredients, reveal the hidden dangers of this artificial sweetener. In reality, aspartame poses a public health threat…
…because Aspartame is in SO many food products now, we are ingesting much more of it than ever before!
But I agree, everyone needs to do their own research on it!
August 19, 2009 at 4:33 pm
..oh, and your abs are looking good btw
August 19, 2009 at 5:35 pm
That could very well be!
August 20, 2009 at 10:09 am
Armd, thanks fot the compliment!
I’m sure the reason there are so many complaints is due to the mass paranoia from all of the fearmongering on the web. Are any of these claims or deaths substantiated with medical or scientific evidence? The answer of course is no; if there was evidence the FDA would pull it from the market just like they did with Ephedrine products. If someone drinks a six pack of diet coke every day and has a sudden heart attack it doesn’t mean aspartame was the cause. Until hard evidence can be provided to the contrary, all these claims will remain speculation.
September 10, 2009 at 12:55 am
OK, you said it yourself, there are people out there drinking 6+ packs of soda sweetened with aspartame A DAY… How maybe people are out their consuming 6+ "deadly" bananas a day?
September 10, 2009 at 12:56 am
P.S. You’re a genious.
September 10, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Ok smart ass…you asked for it!
The FDA set a Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for Aspartame of 50mg/kg of body weight per day over a lifetime without risk. This means a 150 lb person would have to drink a little more than 18 twelve oz. cans of diet coke every day to equal the ADI. And the ADI that the FDA sets is 100 times less than the No Observable Effect Level (NOEL) to ensure public safety. As far as the bananas, it comes to about 16 a day…and I haven’t heard of any monkeys overdosing, so we’re probably ok.
Oh, and thanks for the compliment honey!
September 10, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Thanks for posting this, I have often wondered but haven’t been proactive about finding out..
September 10, 2009 at 1:46 pm
You’re welcome SEXY!
September 10, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Temps rising??
September 10, 2009 at 1:55 pm
wow you are doing a great job with your transformation!
September 10, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Agh! You suck Cory! You’re a D O U C H E!
No, Led, no temps rising… he’s my husband and I’m just giving him crap! But he keeps changing everything I say cuz he sucks ass!
September 11, 2009 at 8:00 am
Stop calling me names…it hurts my feelings.