Although FDA approved, numerous studies have shown that artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are harmful to our health. Studies performed for FDA approval, and in favor of artificial sweeteners are most likely to have been funded by corporations with vested interest in the products.

Aspartame is commercially known as NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel, and is an ingredient in many diet sodas.

Mr. James Schlatter, a scientist, while researching a drug for ulcers, accidentally discovered aspartame, a substance 180 times sweeter than sucrose. Aspartame is a dipeptide, a peptide composed of two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. The FDA approved aspartame for limited use in 1974 as a substitute for sugar, and for the sweetening certain foods, and later in 1983 for use in sodas, despite scientific studies that showed that aspartic acid caused holes in the brains of mice.

Many studies have been conducted since then, and the research has shown that aspartame and/or the components of aspartame may cause brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, headaches, migraines, panic attacks, dizziness, irritability, nausea, intestinal discomfort, skin rash, nervousness, depression and male infertility.