Aspartame: Fact or Fiction?

Ok, in case you haven't heard by now, there is much controversy over the concept of "Aspartame Poisoning". If you read my post from Saturday, you know that a friend of mine had some similar symptoms as I did and her nutritionist told her to stop drinking sodas/Crystal Light, etc. with Aspartame (aka "NutraSweet"). My friend told me that after she stopped drinking her diet soda she felt better. She even gave me a few links to check out. One of the links claimed that Aspartame was the cause of over 92 symptoms.

So, I had my Dr. Appointment today and I decided to ask her about this. Could it be that I had Aspartame Poisoning??? Do you know what she told me? "That's a load of crap. There is no such thing as Aspartame Poisoning." Wow. But there are soooo many websites that claim otherwise... hmmm.

She went on to further explain. She stated that the whole Aspartame "issue" began around 1995 as internet hoaxes and email scams began to surge. She stated that the only thing medical science proves is that for people with OTHER conditions, Aspartame may exacerbate certain symptoms, but in and of itself does not cause those symptoms or illnesses. She went on to say that unfortunately, many dietitians, nutritionists and herbologists (?) have hopped on the bandwagon and they are making all sorts of money on this. She also stated that the sad thing is, people often are misguided to think they have Aspartame Poisoning, so they stop the diet drinks and all of a sudden feel better. Unfortunately, it isn't lasting, because really, the illness they do have is still there, festering inside their body, and eventually, will still manifest itself later down the road. Finally, she said that "aspartame poisoning" is a "catch-all"-- a "band-aid" if you will; when they don't know what else it could be, they say it is Aspartame.

Oh, and here's another thing. My Dr. stated that many of those "92 symptoms" are also a result of dehydration. And when people replace their diet sodas with WATER, they HYDRATE the body, so of COURSE they are going to feel BETTER. Then she actually said, "Duh!" Tee hee.

Wow. Very interesting, I thought. So, Aspartame "poisoning" is currently not recognized by the medical field nor the FDA.

What do you think? What have you heard?

Cuz, I don't know about you... but I really dig my Crystal Light Lemonade in the summer. :)