Customer Reviews

Sweet Poison: How the World's Most Popular Artificial Sweetener Is Killing Us - My Story

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I fully agree with the central premise of this book: that aspartame is dangerous and should be avoided. The author's case study of how she traced her case of Graves' disease to aspartame toxicity makes for interesting reading. However, her description of the biochemistry and neuroscience involved in the effects of aspartame is full of inaccuracies. For instance, she states that the "methanol component" of aspartame binds the two amino acids (phenylalanine and aspartic acid) together. This is simply false; in fact, aspartame is composed of a phenylalanine residue bonded to an aspartic acid residue via a peptide bond identical to what you find in proteins; the phenylalanine residue is modified by the addition of a methyl group on its C-terminus (so COOH becomes COOCH3). Methanol is not a "part" of aspartame, but is formed when aspartame is digested. The author's description of the blood-brain barrier "squeezing out toxins" is particularly absurd. I wish she had asked a biochemist to proofread the book, because the mistakes weaken her credibility substantially. That's a shame, because the point she makes about the hazards of aspartame is an important one.

What is important about Janet's book is not whether or not she is a great writer (as a very long life of obsessive reading, I can tell you, there are very few) or whether she made mistakes about the minutea of science. What is important, is that she is right. I know. I've been there.

About four years ago, my mother told me that she saw a segment on the news about the adverse effects of aspartame (weight gain, headaches, hair loss, etc.) and told me because she knew that I drank diet drinks. At that point, I was drinking one can of Diet Coke, Monday through Friday, in the afternoon at work because that was what was available. At home, I was drinking Diet Rite which uses Splenda. I was not using any other diet products and still don't. So, I thought it was no big deal to just drink the regular Coke with sugar for a week to see if I noticed any difference.

At that point, my feet were in such increasing pain from "arthritis," I felt I was fast on my way to using a wheelchair. The condition had gotten increasing worse for more than ten years. I came home one Friday night and was not even sure I could walk the few feet to the bathroom. I had spent a fortune on extremely expensive doctors, shoes, inserts, etc.

Within four days of not drinking aspartame, I was able to walk up and down stairs for the first time in many years. About 90 percent of the pain was gone. The balance of the pain went away over a period of months, and today (even though I am four years older), I am in no pain at all, and take a great deal of delight in buying really cheap shoes.

My brother-in-law gets migranes from aspartame (obviously, he is not genetically-related to me). My mother has had two cans of diet drinks in her life; the first sent her to bed with a severe headache, and the second one made her feel like she was high on drugs. None of the three of us ever talked about it until after my dramatic experience. That's not coincidence.

Mind you I was drinking five cans a week. People that are drinking a lot more and not making the connection (as I didn't) are being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, lupus, etc. This is not a small cost to what we laughingly call our "health care system." We are all paying big time for this in cold hard cash not to mention the loss of productive workers.

Aspartame is a neuro-toxin. In retrospect, it makes absolute sense that I had such pain in my feet because there are so many nerve endings in the feet. It was developed by G. D. Searle in Skokie, Illinois (which was bought out by Monsanto). The CEO of G.D. Searle who pushed aspartame through the FDA was Donald Rumsfeld after Reagan became President. He was adamant about getting this approved despite the fact that the animal studies that Searle did killed some of the monkeys. This is a fact, not as one reviewer stated, in the same category as belief in UFO's.

Given the recent revelelations about the FDA, can anyone seriously think that they are protecting us? They are bought and sold by the drug companies. Period. As individuals, we cannot take anything that they say seriously. We have to do as much homework as we can and keep ourselves as healthy as we can.

There is no excuse for this product being in our food supply in any way, shape, or form. It is completely unnecessary (we're talking about diet products). It is presently in more than 8000 products, no-sugar candy, no-sugar gum, no-sugar yogurt, Crystal Lite, sugar-free Kool-Aid, etc. Please read the labels! And, please, please, don't give these products to children! This is also especially cruel to diabetics who have no idea that other health issues are being caused by the very products that they are using to control their sugar intake.

I presently drink Diet Rite which uses Splenda, and Coke and Pepsi are both introducing drinks with Splenda this year after pooh-poohing decades of complaints, although apparently being on a slow-learning curve, Coke is introducing a drink using aspartame and Splenda. Duh. Diet Rite, by the way, until this month was owned by a British company (not American) Cadbury Schwepps.

Don't believe me, and don't believe the skeptics. Do what I did, go without aspartame for a week and see if you see any difference and believe your own reactions. I had no idea in the world that the excruciating pain in my feet had any connection at all to diet drinks and was stunned and thrilled by the dramatic difference. By the way, I think my hair is a little thicker, and I am much less prone to depression. Don't try aspartame, you'll like it.

You go, Janet!

For the past 2 years or so I had been feeling worse and worse as time went on. Headaches, neurological symptoms such as losing feeling in my arm and face, and the scariest of all, I was having trouble thinking straight. I really was beginning to feel like a different person and there were times that I felt like I was going insane.

Am I exaggerating?? I really wish I was, but sadly that was not the case. After speaking with my primary care doctor several times and having had tests done, I noticed that my symptoms improved at times, but nothing significant. I tried to put my finger on what the problem was, and one day while doing a search online, I found that some people who chewed Orbit gum were complaining of symptoms similar to mine. I had been chewing sugarless gum for years, and I never thought twice that what I was chewing could be hurting my body, potentially for the long term. After reading more, I immediately stopped using all products with aspartame/Nutrasweet/Equal and within a few short weeks I started feeling better.

During my initial research regarding the link between aspartame and the symptoms I was experiencing, I stumbled upon the book "Sweet Poison" by Janet Starr Hull, the story of how she found out that aspartame was the cause of her very own health problems and her research behind how this original ulcer drug got into nearly every type of food we eat every day.

Hull's story is very interesting, and anyone that wants to find out more about the story of how aspartame got into the United States food supply would be able to probably pick some bit of relevant information from this text, but I would be remiss if I didn't point out how sloppy the writing is. It's really a shame, because you get the point that the author really does care about educating the masses, but she would have been so better off if she had more people edit this book before it was published.

My favorite parts of this book relate to the story of the shady way in which aspartame got on the shelves of supermarkets around the country and how it probably should have been stopped long, long ago. It's just a sad realization that the corporations control America and it's not a new trend. The original fights to get aspartame FDA approved date back to the 1970s, and through loopholes and political tricks that is exactly what happened in the 1980s.

If you want to learn more about the history of aspartame and the story of an individual that had an adverse reaction to this drug, this is a nice read but it's very sloppy. Sometimes you will get done reading a paragraph and just say to yourself that the writing is outright POOR.

Some people will read this book and just say it's a bunch of hogwash and they have never had a bad reaction to a diet soda, but I can tell you from personal experience that this chemical CAN cause major problems so buyer beware.

In the battle between calories and chemicals, I'll take the calories, at least I can pronounce sugar more easily than many of the chemicals you see when you turn the label over of far too many foods that are purchased every single day.

*** RECOMMENDED

I was having thryoid problems after my second daughter was born. I was drinking Diet Dr. Pepper for an energy boost every day. This book caught my attention because of the author's thryoid disfunction. I read the book and stopped using aspartame.

My hair is no longer falling out, and my engergy and thryoid levels are back to normal.

My 3 year old daughter is epileptic, and several months before reading this book her seizures took a sudden turn for the worst. She started having 15-30 seizures a day, and even had 2 grand mal seizures. I was terrified by the increase in seizure activity and wondered what had caused the change.

Reading about how aspartame can cause seizures/grand mal seizures, I checked the vitamins I was giving my daughter.

Because it was fall, and I wanted her to be healthy during cold and flu season,I had started giving her several fruit flavored vitamin c chewables and 1 chewable multi vitamin. Checking the labels I discovered they all had aspartame as an ingredient.

It was hardly coincidence when I realized the increase in seizures was around the same time I started these vitamins. I threw out both bottles. It has been 6 months and my daughter has not had another grand mal seizure, and her seizures dropped from 15-30 a day down to 0-3 on a typical day. I was also able to drop 2 of her 3 seizure medications.

Aspartame is very dangerous, I had no idea.

Janet Starr Hall's doctors expected her to die, but she defied them and lived to tell her story in Sweet Poison: How the World's Most Popular Artificial Sweetener is Killing Us--My Story. Rather than suffering from Graves' Disease, a deadly thyroid disease, Hull had been poisoned by the food and soft drinks she had consumed.

A working mother with little time, Hull relied on prepared foods. She counted on diet drinks to help control her weight. She didn't realize how much aspartame (Nutrasweet) she was consuming, and she didn't know until almost too late that it was toxic to her system. After her recovery, she devoted her spare time to researching the history of aspartame in food products. Her book is the result of those years of research.

She "uncovered hundreds of documents contradicting the NutraSweet Company's claim of product safety." She quotes statistics from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) indicating that "aspartame accounts for over 85% of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA." Those reactions include headaches, depression, dizziness, seizures, and weight gain. Several deaths have been reported. There is also evidence that aspartame contributes to birth defects.

Her book details how the FDA first determined that aspartame was unsafe for humans, then later reversed itself. She obtained documents revealing the chemicals that constitute aspartame and how those chemicals behave in the human body.

Sweet Poison is a must-read for anyone consuming food or drinks containing aspartame. At the least, it will open your eyes to what you're putting in your body. It might even save your life.

I changed over to diet Coke and diet Dr. Pepper about a year ago to try and loose weight.

At first I continued to loose weight and all was well...

But then my weight loss stopped, and I started having a hard time concentrating. I thought I was just getting older when I started having trouble seeing at night. Then I noticed I started dropping things and bumping into walls etc. And I started having headaches.

I didn't think it could have anything to do with the aspartame in the soft drinks I was consuming even though I was up to about two liters of soda a day.

Then I talked with our Pastors wife who had almost died from aspartame poisioning and she said you need to stop right away.

I felt really bad the first two days of not drinking or consuming any aspartame products. Plus I wasn't consuming any cafeeine either. I was going to bed and sleeping for 16 hours.

But in the next three days I started feeling clearer headed and just better all around. My night vision is coming back every day and I no longer drop things.

Everyone should read this book and understand the dangers of aspertame. It is far worse than people realize. I have stopped using any foods or drinks with it in, and I know I feel better, and have less headaches. A book for everyone!

Shorty after going on a high protein low carb diet, I began to experience health problems such as joint pain and severe vertigo. I ran into this book by accident in a used book store in Manhattan and I am so greatful I did. I found many of my symptoms in the book and immediately discontinued my use of all diet products, while continuing my diet. Within a couple of weeks most of my symptoms were gone. I attempted to incorporate some diet soft drinks into my diets shortly after, thinking that perhaps just a little would do no harm. Again, within a few days I was plagued with dizzy spells and general malaise.
I do not know much about bio chemistry, however I do know that my symptoms were depicted in the book and that they ceased whenever I discontinued my use of diet foods and drinks.
I found the book informative, well written and easy to read. I would recommend it to anyone who consumes any diet products.

I am convinced ASPARTAME in Coke Zero and any diet drinks causes kidney disease and cancer.
why?
My husband had Always had blood pressure of 120/80 at the highest even while weighing 250 lb. He never got flu or colds, he never had all the 1950's diseases like whooping cough, measles, mumps or chicken pox.
Twenty years ago he started drinking Diet Coke (just like Tammy Faye Bakker) to 'keep my weight down.' Gradually over the years he drank more and more until for the past five years he was drinking Coke Zero , five to six cans per day. He weighs 265 now.
He never lost an ounce. He never felt sick. Until 3 months ago at age 68. He started feeling nauseated. And tired. After a few weeks of this he went to the ER. They gave him a chest cat scan and abdominal cat. They took a lot of blood. A urinalysis.
"You have Renal Cell Carcinoma" the loud, blunt, rude ER doctor said. I said, "kidney cancer." "that kidney must come out within 48 hours", he said, "and it's big." But no, the urologist said, "oh, it's been growing for ten years; it can wait until January."
So he is having a kidney removed the first week of January. He has been nauseated and vomiting and napping for months now.
***ASPARTAME KILLS*** ***IT WON'T KEEP YOU THIN***
Here is a man who Hates beer and alcohol. If he had been drinking beer, he'd be well. I truly believe that. TAKE THIS BOOK SERIOUSLY.

One of my friends has changed her eating habits after reading this book so I thought it might be interesting to find out more about it. I am no doctor or scientist so I can not vouch for the accuacy of the information but even if it is not completely correct do you really want to bet on your health unnecessaraly? I never made it a habit to eat sugar free stuff because I do not like the idea of replacing chemicals for natural ingredients. This book solidified my opinion.
Overall though, I did not really enjoy reading the book. I thought that since it was not wrote by a doctor it might be more interesting and perhaps easier to read but that was not the case. I found the writing style poor and distracting. When she was discusing scientific information it was choppy and skipped around a lot.
So in my opinion, this is not the best book out there but I found the information interesting and important. It is worth checking out from the library.