Ask A Healer Holistic Wellbeing Series

If you use aspartame, you may want to read about the impact of excitotoxins in your food supply
© Neva J Howell, All Rights Reserved

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener added to a wide range of foods today. Sometimes, this ingredient is called Equal or phenylalanine on labels.

Aspartame is also an excitotoxin and is at the heart of a health controversy. Studies have been done which link the use of this sweetener with weight gain. For example, a report published by Purdue University showed significant weight gain in rats fed aspartame over rats given foods that did not contain it but a natural sweetener instead.

A lot of the evidence against aspartame is ancedotal, which means people using it noticed an adverse affect and reported it or documented it in some way. Among the toxicity symptoms reported by users of aspertamethe most common symptom is a headache.

Additional User-Reported Symptoms from Aspartame:
Dizziness
Swelling
Numbness
Tingling
Hives
Sleep Problems
Seizures
Breathing Problems
Fatique
Itching
Heart Rate Changes

This is just a partial list. Please research further for the long, long, long list of aspartame-related complaints reported on various websites online.


Is Aspartame Safe? Many people use aspartame as a sugar substitute, including those who want to lose weight and those with blood sugar issues or diabetes, but is aspartame a safe option?

Well, is poison safe?

Is Organic Better? ~*~ Monosodium Glutamate

Health Care Disclaimer: Healthy options for sweetening your foods include stevia and my personal favorite, which is organic agave nectar. The FDA still maintains that consumption of aspartame does not present a health threat. Do your homework and see what you think.