Buy Walking VideosSweet Misery Documentary: Is It True or Bogus?
I found this video on YouTube called Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World. You can see it in full here:
There are interviews with doctors, but the only proof that they bring to light is anecdotal. They show person after person who blames their problems on aspartame, but they don’t mention any peer reviewed studies.
One of the people being interviewed stated it clearly:
My doctors will NOT come out and absolutely put down in writing that this is caused by aspartame. They will NOT do it. They won’t put it in my record.
He goes on to say that they will give him an “aside” saying, “Thank god you’re off NutraSweet.” The reason why his doctors won’t put it in writing that his symptoms are caused by aspartame is because they don’t have the PROOF of it. Another interviewee stated that there was no real evidence that aspartame caused his brain tumor, but that it was only circumstantial, which might be enough to convict a murderer in a court of law, but science has a higher standard than law.
Their biggest arguments seem to hinge on the fact that the studies proving aspartame’s safety were all funded by Searle (the company who invented it). What these people don’t point out is that’s how ALL testing on new chemicals is funded. It’s the company’s responsibility to prove safety, whether the product is a food additive, drug, a new carpet fiber or a new mixture of gasoline.
When I worked at a research facility, we tested all of these sorts of products for safety and toxicity. The fact that the company funding the research wanted the new products to do well didn’t change the fact that sometimes the new carpet fiber caused horrible skin irritations or the new drug caused tumors. We were required to report all those findings otherwise the FDA or EPA would shut us down. The fact that NutraSweet research was funded by Searle isn’t an indication of wrongdoing. It’s the industry standard.
I’m not saying these people didn’t have an alleviation of symptoms when they stopped eating aspartame. I’m just saying that WE DON’T KNOW. Personally, I try to avoid the flavor of sweet, no matter what sweetener is used because I have a harder time avoiding bingeing when I’ve eaten sweet things, even if they are calorie-free.
Does aspartame cause brain tumors and other horrible neurological symptoms? The research available says no. Does it help you lose weight? The research on that ALSO says no, so the case for using artificial sweeteners isn’t very strong.
When I was a kid, I used to watch cartoons that promised that in the future, food would come to me in the form of a pill. I would be free from food and science would provide for my nutritional needs in one simple processed food patty. The older I get, the more I realize that I don’t WANT that promise. Real food hasn’t been chemically altered to please me as much as processed food, but it seems to fulfill me more. Should I eat food with aspartame in it? Maybe not. But I’m beginning to think that’s the case for ANY processed food.
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