The trouble with sweeteners - aritificial sweeteners, the pancreas, and diabetes

Nutrition Health Review,  Spring, 2003  by H.J. Roberts

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In my opinion, those "negative studies" all require confirmation by corporate-neutral investigators using real-world products taken from market shelves that have been exposed to excessive temperatures or prolonged storage. Indeed, that is currently the subject of considerable interest by the European Parliament as to whether aspartame should be considered unsafe.

Q. What do you think will come about from that?

A. Ultimately, I think there will be no question--with the anecdotal information that has already been accrued--that aspartame products are found unsafe for many individuals. These products are being consumed by more than two thirds of the population. This is a very large number in terms of the many neurologic and neuropsychiatric problems, the allergic problems, the effects on patients with diabetes and hypoglycemia, and the long-term effects in pregnancy and infants ... along with numerous other problems, including the issue of brain tumors in humans.

Q. Should diabetic patients, in particular, be concerned about aspartame?

A. Yes. I believe that aspartame can aggravate diabetes and its complications, specially eye problems and neuropathy, or it can simulate the complications of diabetes. In other words, aspartame disease can simulate diabetic retinopathy or peripheral neuropathy. When patients discontinue these products, they usually get better.

In terms of aggravating diabetes, consuming aspartame either can bring out latent diabetes clinically or can lead to insulin resistance, which would require patients to take oral drugs to increase the amount of insulin required. The bottom line is that when people stop ingesting these products, the symptoms usually improve.

Q. Have there been cases in which people did not improve after discontinuing aspartame?

A. There are certain criteria for diagnosing aspartame disease ... similar to the Koch postulates for infection:

* Patients either took or increased the amount of aspartame products, such as drinking more presweetened iced tea in hot weather.

* Patients then experienced symptoms and realized that they might be related to aspartame.

* When the aspartame products were discontinued, these features either totally subsided or improved in a relatively short period of time.

* Finally, patients re-challenged themselves, either knowingly (saying it was just a coincidence) or inadvertently (with a prompt return of symptoms).

This sequence would happen five, ten, or twenty times, and the patients realized a cause-and-effect relationship.

These criteria hold true for many of the disorders related to aspartame. In most instances, there would be marked improvement. If there were severe ocular or other damage, especially in the nervous system, much of the harm might have already been done.

Q. How does aspartame affect the pancreas in diabetic patients?

A. There can be several outcomes. First, patients might be making too much insulin and can have severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) attacks. Aspartame can release almost as much insulin as glucose.