Connection with AN and artificial sweeteners

[johnsli]

I just read that Mary Tyler Moore has just been diagnosed with Benign Meningioma.  She is a diabetic.
My Chiropractor told me to lay off diet soda and anything with artificial sweeteners, they don't know
exactly what it does to the body.  Does anyone on the forum use alot of artificial sweeterners?  Maybe
no connection, but, I was just curious to see how many of you guys have or still used alot of sweeteners.
I know I do.  Just to check to see a possible connection.

LOL
Laura

[kat]

Hi Laura

The answer to the use of artificial sweeteners in my case is Yes I have used them in various forms all my life mostly in diet drinks as well as in hot drinks .  I have a can of diet coke on my desk at the moment , should I worry ?

Regards Kat

[Kathleen_Mc]

There has indeed been studies done that link the use of sweeteners to the developement of AN, I had been a long time "user" but since finding this out I have gotten "the monkey off my back".
Of cource even without the use of sweeteners I cold have developed the AN but why chance another if that was the cause.
Kathleen

[Betsy]

Hi Laura,

In my case, I doubt artificial sweeteners had anything to do with my AN.  About 15 years ago I kept a migraine diary and discovered that injesting artificial sweeteners would bring on a migraine within 24 hours almost every time.  Even before that, I didn't use them often...the aftertaste wasn't very appealing.

However, if they discover a link between ANs and Lipton cold brew tea, I'll really be in trouble!

Betsy

[FlyersFan68]

I have been researching this lately. The artificial sweetener business is a BIG business (lots of money). My father in law (worked for EPA) thinks that these implied cancer risks is nonsense. I usually debate him. He insists that there will always be urban legends with some crackpot stirring up contraversy. I never ate or drank anything with artificial sweeteners until three weeks ago after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. My blood sugar was always a little high for years but since it always stayed on the high side my doctor thought it was time to control it with Actoplus along with exercise and better eating choices. Until recently I never used artificial sweeteners and I still managed to get an acoustic neuroma. Sugar was always labeled BAD. This has been well known for years. I feel it's all about moderation whether it's real sugar or artificial sweetener. I don't want to live with my head in the sand either while avoiding all my guilty pleasures. Here are some interesting links that go back and forth. No common ground. 

No Cancer Link

http://www.confectionerynews.com/news/ng.asp?id=75275-aspartame-sweeteners-cancer

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9611/18/nfm/

Cancer Link

http://www.newstarget.com/011804.html

[FlyersFan68]

Sorry,  (Controversy).  I type way to fast!

Anyway, I wanted to add something else regarding moderation. The human body does a great job of eliminating toxins at least toxins taken in within moderation. We know that asbestos can cause cancer however we inhale trace amounts on a daily basis just within the air we breathe. Too much asbestos can be deadly over time since these tiny fibers attach themselves to our lungs and never get broken down or removed yet a small amount usually poses no danger over ones entire life. Another example is radon. We are routinely exposed to low levels of radon and there are claims that too much exposure whether in the workplace or the home might lead to cancer. Then there's the water we drink which could contain high levels of arsenic, chlorine, mercury, lead, pesticides etc. The amounts are usually so small that our body handles them without problem. Our bodies need water for healthy cell activity so drinking water is essential everday if possiblle so we weigh the benefits against the risks. All we can do is have our water checked and add filters if needed. One last example is the pesticides that are on the fruit we eat. The amounts are so small that our body does a fantasic job flushing them out of our system while keeping all the essential "much needed" vitamins. These small amounts of pesticides pose no danger however others might argue this. There are reports that over exposure to pesticides could have serious side affects and elevate ones risk for cancer. There are so many risks of cancer and the actual threat varies from person to person as we often see how some smokers might smoke their entire lives and never get cancer while others that smoke for a shorter duration develop lung cancer at a young age. Then there is the whole second hand smoke debate. IMO, A lot depends on ones genes and avoiding to much of anything (moderation).

[Samantha n Adrian]

You know what is scary is that we were told this about a week before the MRI scans came back, but not from our doctor, from a friend who had heard about it.

After reviewing the things we ate we realized EVERYTHING that states it is "Sugar Free" or even "No Sugar Added" has either aspartame (Splenda) or sucralose (Sweet & Low) added to it to make up for the lack of sugar! Here we thought we were doing good by avoiding sugar when in all actuality we were just trading one evil for another. 

There is a natural sweetener out there called Stevia that we recently purchased and tried but the after taste to me is horrible. I tried it in my coffee and didn't like it. So for now I am just using small amounts of raw sugar.

Granted I do not have an AN but Adrian’s symptoms started to occur shortly after we decided to stop consuming sugar.  And when he stopped using artifical sweeteners after only one week clean his symptoms decreased drastically.
Coincidence?

This I thought was an interesting clinical report. Look at the survey percentages for Headaches, Dizziness and Memory Loss!

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/suffer.faq

Sam~

[FlyersFan68]

Thanks for that report Sam. I've been looking for something like this.

[Lamsue23]

As were on this food thing, I can't drink decaf coffee because the chemicals they use to decaf the coffee gives me migraines.  That's what the doctor told me.....They do not grow decaf coffee beans......I do think that a lot of this is also part of the genes.....I don't have migraines any more since I drink only the very good coffee.....Mine is black, no sugar......

Sue

[Rc Moser]

I didn't have any effect on me. I can't stand the taste of the stuff. If I had to only drink Diet soda, I'd just drink water. I can't stand diet anything in soda the after taste makes me want to ____.  . Beside, IMO it's only less calories not no calories.

[mykey]

Laura,

WOW!
That is definetly me! I use to make my sweet tea, that I drink constantly. Have been for about 12 yrs. or so.
Maybe I'll go back to good old sugar.
HUH?

Mykey

[Patch]

             HI, MY NAME IS MARK. I WAS JUST TOLD THAT I HAVE A 1.2 CM AN. I WAS SEEN BY A NEURO SURGEON WHO REFERED ME TO A RADIATION DR FOR TREATMENT DUE TO THE TUMOR BEING SMALL AND THEY SAID THIS WE BE A GOOD ROUTE TO GO.

             LAST FRIDAY I FINISHED MY 6 LOSE DOSE TREATMENTS OF RATIOATION, WHICH WAS FOR 2 WEEKS, 3 TIMES A WEEK. I HAVE A FOLLOW UP IN 3 MONTH WITH DR. AND 3 MONTH AFTER THAT, WILL HAVE ANOTHER MRI TO CHECK ON PROGRESS.

             HAS ANYONE HAD A SIMILIAR TREATMENT PLAN OR KNOW OF ANYONE. THIS IS ALL NEW TO ME AND SCARY.  SO FAR I FEEL OK AND CONTINUE TO HAVE EPISODES OF BALANCE ISSUES WHICH LAST A FEW MINUTES ONCE I RELAX MYSELF. 90 % OF THE TIME, I FEEL GOOD.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW ANY INFORMATION YOU HAVE. I CURRENTLY LIVE IN COLUMBUS, OHIO AREA.

THANKS  MARK

[Patch]

BRUCE


       THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO WRITE BACK. I'M STILL TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO POST A MESSAGE. ANY TIPS?

[Larry]

Mark, I'll let Bruce address your issue and don't worry, there is plenty of info here.

I did want to write on this aspertame issue. Be very, very careful how you interpret so called studies on these products. Quickly, I don't think any artificial product is going to be terribly good for you if you pile it down your gullet in vast quantities. As for causing AN's - well, who knows because at present, the jury is out on about 20 different possible causes including analog mobile phones to a faulty gene.

Anyway, back to the aspertame, you will find that there has never been any study published in any renowned medical journal about this stuff and its effects. The studies have been conducted by "interest groups" sort of like the cigarrette studies and the effects on lung cancer were all funded by tobacco companies - no wonder they manipulated the results acordingly for so long.

One question to ALWAYS ask with any study like the one posted by Samantha is - for all those conditions and percentages, what are the results of the same quantity of randomly selected people. This way, you have a benchmark.

I'm not saying that study was wrong, just be careful what you read and how you interpret information. There is so much out there, you just have to decipher the useful from the useless without accepting everything on face value.

cheers Laz