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Things You Should Know about Aspartame As A Causative Agent Of Migraines |
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If you were to go solely by the information about
aspartame that you can find on the internet, you might every well think
this product was created by the devil himself. Truly, the amount of web
space devoted to attacking aspartame and its brand name NutraSweet is
phenomenal. The product has been vilified like almost no other product
on the market, blamed for everything from memory loss to schizophrenia.
Although the jury is still out on aspartame’s culpability in relation to
many dangers, there is no getting around the fact that aspartame has
been linked to migraines in many studies.
Aspartame is used in NutraSweet, an artificial sweetener. But aspartame
isn’t really a sweetening agent. What aspartame does is release an amino
acid neurotransmitter in the brain called aspartame. In essence, though
approved by the FDA as a sweetener, aspartame is really a drug.
The New England Journal of Medicine, a world-renowned medical journal, has
conducted studies that have found a connection between heavy consumption
of diet drinks sweetened with aspartame and migraine headaches. One
study in particular seems heavily slanted toward finding a connection as
those taking part reported having headaches on 33% of the days in which
the study was conducted as opposed to the control group which reported
headaches on only 24% of the days.
One scientist who has conducted research came to the startling conclusion that 90% of all
migraines are caused by allergic reactions to food or food additives.
His findings also suggest that aspartame is the most common food
additive related to migraines. Another study came to an equally amazing
conclusion that 10% of all migraines are related to aspartame
consumption. A study conducted at the Univ. of Florida came to perhaps
the most jaw-dropping conclusion of them all, finding that aspartame
increased the frequency of migraine headaches in over fifty percent of
the patients who took part in the study.
Despite all these studies, however, no conclusion has yet been drawn which firmly
establishes what it is about aspartame that causes migraines in headache
sufferers. The prevailing theory has to do with a biochemical known as
seratonin. You may have heard that word before. Indeed, seratonin pops
up quite in medical stories as it seems play a part in conditions
ranging from appetite loss to mood alteration to sleep problems. When it
comes to migraines, seratonin is thought to play a part through the
lowering of levels of it in your body thanks to the effects of
aspartame, thereby exacerbating pre-existing conditions that cause
migraines. So it’s really no so much a case of aspartame being the cause
of migraines, but rather being a quick-drawing finger on the trigger.
Believe it or not, but there’s also a danger from ceasing your intake if
aspartame. Doesn’t that figure? If you are currently drinking a large
amount of diet sodas or using a lot of NutraSweet in your coffee or tea,
the one thing you don’t want to do is suddenly stop for a few months and
then go back. Many people report that they quit having headaches after
stopping their use of products containing aspartame. Then they resumed
their use of aspartame and were unfortunate enough to find that the
headaches returned and were far worse than before.
Naturally, the makers of NutraSweet dispute any connection existing between their
product and migraines. Then again, they dispute any connection between
aspartame and any health concern. The bottom line is that enough
complaints have been filed with the FDA and enough studies have been
conducted to establish at the very least a large amount of anecdotal
evidence suggesting a connection. And since even the big two soft drink
makers have products diet products that sweeten with Splenda—a sweetener
with no bitter aftertaste—there really isn’t any reason at all to take
the risk.
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