--> More than a dozen animal tests over the last thirty years have demonstrated the carcinogenic effects of saccharin in the bladder and other sites, particularly female reproductive organs, and in some instances at doses as low as the equivalent of one to two bottles of diet pop daily. | | Sweeteners
The three primary artificial sweeteners currently in use are saccharin (Sweet'N Low), aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), and sucralose (Splenda). These sweeteners are among the most controversial of food additives. Advocates argue that the benefits provided outweigh the potential negative health effects. The perception is that consumption of these sweeteners will lead to a reduction in calories consumed. This, in turn, will lead to weight loss or prevention in weight gain. |  They substitute saccharin for sugar only to hear that some research has found an association with bladder cancer, while others do not.'3
Dr James le Fanu insists the social theory is to blame by simultaneously managing to overemphasize the role of illness in people's lives while at the same time trivializing it. 'It generates the myth that the practice of medicine is futile,' he says, 'because the allegedly important factors in health are outside its control.'4
What the social theory does, in fact, is take medicine out of a purely professional context. | | Like saccharin, these food additives have caused cancers in rats. However, there are other studies showing that these antioxidants actually protect against the development of cancers. In fact, many so-called experts in life extension have recommended that these substances be taken as a food supplement at very high doses, such as 2 grams per day. |  Whether it's saccharin (Sweet'n Low), aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, Spoonful), sucralose (Splenda), Acesulfame K (Sunette, Sweet One), each of them is shrouded in controversy and reports of adverse reactions ranging from seizures to headaches to asthma attacks, to liver and kidney damage, and even weight gain. I have personally worked with a number of people who have been relieved of both depression and anxiety by going off diet soda that contains aspartame. None of these are food, they are all synthetic chemicals that have no business in your body. | | Although sucralose appears safer than either aspartame or saccharin, our top choice for a noncalorie sweetener is stevia, a natural sweetener extracted from the Stevia rebaudiana plant.
Stevia contains a molecule known as stevio-side that is three hundred times sweeter than sugar and has an excellent safety profile. Stevia is used around the world for its incredible sweetening properties. Preliminary studies in animal models show that stevia lowers blood glucose levels and blood pressure—two effects of prime importance in dealing with diabetes. |  Acesulfame-K (Sunette) is in the same family as saccharin but isn't widely available in the States.
• Sucralose (Splenda) is the most promising of all. It is basically a slightly chemically altered version of sucrose (sugar) and is six hundred times sweeter. The chemical alteration prevents the digestive system from "recognizing" it and absorbing it, so it doesn't cause the rise in blood sugar and insulin associated with sucrose, unless of course it turns out to cause an insulin rise through a conditioned response mechanism. | | However, if saccharin poses no benefit to health, as studies have shown, and there is a cloud of doubt that hangs over its safety, why should it be used?
Aspartame is composed of aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Aspartame was approved for food use by the FDA in 1981, despite the final recommendation of the FDA Advisory Panel on aspartame that no approval be granted until safety issues could be resolved. Richard Wurtman, M.D. |  You may have heard of some:
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• Aminotriazole (herbicide used on cranberry crops, causing the "cranberry scare'" of 1959)
• DDT (widely known after Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring)
• Nitrites (a meat preservative and color and flavor enhancer used in hot dogs and bacon)
• Red Dye Number 2
• Artificial sweeteners (including cyclamates and saccharin)
• Dioxin (a contaminant of industrial processes and of Agent Orange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam War)
• Anatoxin (a fungal toxin found on moldy peanuts and corn)
I know these unsavory chemicals quite well. |  Although the FDA proposed and nearly enacted a ban on saccharin after studies suggested a link between it and bladder tumors in rats, it was saved by public demand, to be left on the market. Federal regulations do require, however, that products containing saccharin be labeled. Do not use it if you are pregnant or nursing, and do not give it to a child.
SORBITOL, MANNITOL, AND XYLITOL
These are naturally occurring sugar alcohols. When used in large quantities, they can cause diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. |  Cyclamates and saccharin have become controversial because there is some evidence that they may be teratogenic and carcinogenic. Stevia is used in Japan but has been banned as a sweetener in the USA. Another natural sweetener is the miracle fruit or miraculous berry (Synsepalum dukificum), which contains a glycoprotein (miraculin) that affects the taste buds so that salty and sour foods taste sweet.
Syzygium aromaticum clove description An evergreen tree of up to 12 m in height, with glossy leaves in opposite pairs and small, white flowers bearing numerous stamens. |  The quinine-substitute search dares from the 1830s, dyestuffs from the 1850s, explosives from the 1860s, saccharin,
1892, aspirin, 1904, viscose from the 1910s, synthetic rubber and petroleum from the 1920s, pvc, nylon, sulfa drugs from the 1930s. All through the voyage cf discovery, the pathway was involved, circuitous, often futile; as in the physical "discovery" of the world by Europeans, there were rar more disappointments, mostly forgotten, than successes; as in the physical voyages, it was often the by-product that proved to be more significant than the stated aim of the pioneer. |  Consider the case of saccharin, an artificial chemical sweetener in use since 1879. In 1977, researchers demonstrated that saccharin caused cancer in laboratory animals. The FDA responded by announcing a ban on the use of the substance in foods and beverages. In the six months following the FDA announcement, industry lobbyists such as the Calorie Control Council spent over $1 million fighting the ban. Asa result of their efforts, people from all over the country bombarded their congressional representatives with requests to keep saccharin on the market. |  Soon, it surpassed saccharin in sales. In fact, NutraSweet® played a large role in making the soft drink business one of the fastest growing businesses in what had been a stagnant enterprise. Americans were guzzling diet colas under the mistaken belief that sugar consumption was the primary cause of obesity. But they were unaware of the serious health effects of excess aspartate consumption. | | Artificial sweeteners (aspartame, cyclamate and saccharin) have remained popular despite scientific scrutiny and controversy over the last few decades relating to possible links with cancer. Natural, sugar-free sweeteners such as liquorice root and stevia leaf are therefore preferred, but even they are claimed to present a health risk, especially when used indiscriminately. The most sensible way to satisfy a sweet tooth is to eat dry fruits (raisins, dried figs, dates, apples, apricots, peaches, pears, prunes and others). | | She defends saccharin and receives money from Coca-Cola, Pepsi, NutraSweet and the National Soft Drink Association.
John Stauber, Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
Despite all the spin efforts, it is generally recognized that soft drinks are unhealthy and certainly not "wholesome beverages" as claimed by soft drink makers. Yet, every time a lawmaker attempts to ban soft drinks in schools, for example, or pass new "junk food taxes" that would help dissuade consumers from buying so many soft drinks, they are steamrolled by a seemingly unstoppable political influence machine. | | By simply "redefining" saccharin, the FDA, which once sought to ban this chemical, has essentially proclaimed the ingredient to be perfectly safe!
Avoid all chemical sweeteners and use stevia instead
Looking at all of these chemical sweeteners, you may think I'm just the bringer of bad news. It turns out none of these chemical sweeteners have been proven safe for widespread, long-term human consumption. And most have been sufficiently researched to raise important, serious questions about whether they actually contribute to health disorders. |  Nonnutritive Sweeteners
• saccharin. The body doesn't metabolize saccharin, which is 300 times sweeter than sucrose. The kidneys excrete it unchanged, so it has zero calories. Although some studies have shown saccharin causes bladder cancer in animals, it's considered safe at human levels of consumption.
Smart Shopper
Feel baffled by all the food claims you see in ads and on food packaging? You are not alone. Most consumers ignore these claims or guess at their true meaning. Let your diabetes motivate you to sharpen your food-shopping techniques. | | At about the same time, there were widely publicized government debates about whether food additives were safe, and whether saccharin caused cancer.
PLAYING MY PART
In the late 1970s I found myself in the middle of this rapidly changing environment. By 1975 my program in the Philippines had ended, and I was well into my experimental laboratory work here in the United States, after having accepted a full professorship with tenure at Cornell University. |  Saccharin, an artificial sweetener found in Sweet'n Low, many toothpastes, and many dietetic and "sugarless" products.
• Salicylates, chemicals used as food flavorings and preservatives.
• Soaps, including laundry soap.
• Shampoo.
• Sulfites, chemicals used as food preservatives and in the production of dried fruits such as raisins.
• Tartrazine, a food dye and an ingredient in Alka-Seltzer.
• Thiamine hydrochloride, an ingredient in some cough medicines.
Other hives-provoking substances are being identified with increasing frequency. |  An attempt was made to withdraw saccharin too, but the FDA bowed to public opinion and allowed it to be sold, albeit with a warning label about its cancer-producing potential. saccharin is available but cyclamates are not, even though the evidence against saccharin, such as it is, is more convincing, theoretically, than that against cyclamates! (Aspartame has never been implicated in bladder cancer, even remotely.) Because tea and coffee are diuretics and make you "go" more frequently, a possible carcinogenic effect on the urinary bladder has been suggested. |  Other Dietary Interventions
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is a very special version of a more generalized approach that has been used with some success for a number of digestive and gastrointestinal problems. Joe Brasco, M.D., a gastroenterologist with a decidedly holistic and nutritional bent, puts all his patients on a foundational program that is a basic "caveman"-type diet: lean meats, fish, poultry, vegetables and vegetable juices, stocks, and traditionally fermented foods like sauerkraut. He also recommends coconut oil because of its high content of lauric acid, a natural antimicrobial. |  Formaldehyde, mineral oil, PVP, and saccharin are all classified as carcinogens or suspected carcinogens, as is flouride, which has been banned in many European countries and is the subject of concern with regard to thyroid problems.
Indeed, studies in recent years have shown that fluoride does not reduce cavities, and now scientists are linking fluoride to dental deformity and crippling bone disease. A recent report by the Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility reviews studies showing that fluoride interferes with brain function in young animals and in children, reducing IQ. |  Some people have been reported to develop a photosensitivity reaction to the artificial sweetener, saccharin.2
Lifestyle changes that may be helpful
People with photosensitivity need to protect themselves from the sun by using sunscreen, wearing protective clothing (such as long-sleeved shirts), and avoiding excess exposure to the sun.
Nutritional supplements that may be helpful
Years ago, researchers theorized that beta-carotene (page 469) in skin might help protect against sensitivity to ulttaviolet light from the sun. |  This same drug company also created saccharin, the artificial chemical sweetener.
Drug giant Merck pioneered the commercial manufacture of morphine from opium and was a heavy pusher and marketer of cocaine. Merck also patented MDMA (Ecstasy, the rave drug). After World War II, Merck also began producing pesticides and food preservatives.
*•* Even today, one of the most commonly abused drug by children is Ritalin, which is ground into a powder and snorted to create a "high" similar to a cocaine high.
In 2004 the Royal College of General Practitioners in the U.K. |  It means avoiding all chemical additives such as saccharin, aspartame, monosodium glutamate and artificial colors.
It means turning to whole food sources such as whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, seeds, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and superfoods. When you choose these as your food sources, you are fortifying your body with the vitamins, minerals, healthy oils, fiber and other nutrients it needs to boost its immune system function and fight off the flu.
To see articles and recommendations on superfoods, visit: http://www.WebSeed.com/Superfoods.html. |  Most often caused by drugs and chemicals, salicylate, saccharin, sulfa drugs, benzoate preservatives, yellow dye #5 tartrazine (in Tang and candy com, etc.); chocolate or strawberry ingestion; sunlight, cold, dust, molds, Candida yeast, from insect bite, eating certain (shell) fish; reflex irritation, exercise, sweating, and/or stress; deficiencies in Selenium, Vitamin A/Beta-Carotene, Vitamin C; or Vitamin B-12 (take injections). Can be fatal from mast basophil cells' Histamine-release response swelling and tightening the larynx and air passage. |  Even multinational giants like Coca-Cola and Beatrice Foods use stevia extracts to sweeten foods (as a replacement for NutraSweet™ and saccharin) for sale in Japan, Brazil, and other countries where it is approved as a food additive. Not so in the United States, however, where stevia is specifically prohibited from use as a sweetener or as a food additive. Why? | | An attempt was made to withdraw saccharin too, but the FDA bowed to public opinion and allowed it to be sold, albeit with a warning label about its cancer-producing potential. saccharin is available but cyclamates are not, even though the evidence against saccharin, such as it is, is more convincing, theoretically, than that against cyclamates! (Aspartame has never been implicated in bladder cancer, even remotely.) Because tea and coffee are diuretics and make you "go" more frequently, a possible carcinogenic effect on the urinary bladder has been suggested. | |
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