Sugar is bad for your health, right? Sugar is very high in calories and makes you gain weight! This Thanksgiving and holiday season, millions of Americans will reduce their consumption of pies, cookies, ice cream, and more. to avoid sugar. In a desperate attempt to avoid this excess sugar consumption, many Americans are instead eating foods containing artificial sweeteners. They found a sweet taste that did not make them gain weight. This is the scary thinking that supports the widespread use of artificial sweeteners. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay « Some 69 million Americans ages 18 and older now consume products containing aspartame, saccharin or a combination of the two, according to the Calorie Control Council, a trade group of food manufacturers and diet drinks. (Mullarkey 4) These "compounds" are usually sold under the traditional names of Equal (Nutrasweet) and Sweet n' Low. These chemical ingredients are found in all kinds of health foods, diet drinks, and even toothpaste! It is sprinkled in small sachets in coffee and tea. It is sold all over the world. "According to a 1998 survey by the Calorie Control Council, 144 million American adults regularly consume low-calorie, sugar-free products, such as soda and artificially sweetened desserts." (Mullarkey, 6) Approved in 1981, aspartame is considered about 200 times sweeter than sugar. It is commonly used in products such as breakfast cereals, gums, drinks, yogurts, wine coolers and multivitamins. “It contains no calories and when ingested and metabolized, it breaks down into three substances: phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid (40%) and methanol (10%).” (http://www.freediettips.com/diet_artificial_sweeteners.html) These ingredients may seem harmless, but they are anything but. "Phenyllanine is one of the amino acids needed to produce neurotransmitters essential for brain function. People with PKU Phenylketonuria, also known as phenylketonuria, lack the enzymes to break down this amino acid and can lead to rare forms of brain damage Phenylalanine is an essential nutrient for humans. However, when it reaches very high levels in bodily fluids, those who cannot metabolize it normally can suffer brain damage and. mental retardation. For sensitive individuals, phenylalanine will become “neurotoxic” and can cause seizures (Remington & Higa 29) “The second main ingredient in aspartame, aspartic acid, is known to cause brain damage. very high doses. Early studies in the 1970s showed that aspartic acid caused holes in the brains of mice. Monkeys fed aspartame died or The third ingredient, “methanol,” is an alcohol that converts to formaldehyde, a known toxic substance used, among other things, as an embalming fluid. (Roberts 23) According to researchers and doctors studying the side effects of aspartame, the following illnesses may be triggered or worsened by aspartame ingestion: brain tumors, sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndromes, Parkinson's disease , Alzheimer's metal retardation, congenital malformations, diabetes. , and the list goes on. From the early 1980s to the present, consumer complaints have flooded into theFDA regarding the use of aspartame. "Reported symptoms include: headache, mood swings, anxiety attacks, insomnia, blindness, muscle cramps, memory loss, violent episodes, mild to suicidal depression, increased appetite, heart disease skin, blurred vision, etc." (Remington and Higa, 31) There are five aspartame detox centers in the United States today. Betty Martini, founder of Mission Possible, an organization dedicated to spreading information about aspartame-related issues, discovered that methanol toxicity causes "metabolic acidosis" that mimics multiple sclerosis. (MS) She lists the following symptoms as aspartame illness: slurred speech, shooting pain, joint pain, and depression. According to his research, aspartame can trigger or mimic Epstein-Bar, hypothyroidism, ADD and post-polio syndrome. Fortunately, most of these symptoms are reversible and disappear once artificial sweeteners are stopped. Another common artificial sweetener, saccharin, is known as the "granddaddy" of all sugar substitutes. "It was used during both world wars to sweeten foods, helping to offset sugar shortages. It is 300 times sweeter than sugar." (http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1999/699_sugar.html) “Because saccharin has a good shelf life, it is widely used in fountain sodas and its high temperature stability makes it an option to sweeten. baked goods, unlike aspartame, which degrades when heated. (http://www.freediettips.com/diet_artificial_sweeteners.html) Saccharin is also favored economically because it can be manufactured more cheaply, unlike aspartame. Saccharin is an organic compound derived from petroleum. It was founded accidentally in 1879 by a chemistry research assistant named Constantine Fahlberg. Fahlberg was working on new food preservatives when he accidentally spilled some of the compound he had "synthesized" on his hands. When he returned home that evening and ate dinner, he noticed the intense sweetness of the compound from what was still left on his hand. He named the compound Saccharin after the Latin word “saccharum” which means sugar. He returned to the laboratory, following in his footsteps until he was able to synthesize saccharin in large quantities. Since the early 1900s, many questions have arisen about the role of saccharin in cancer in rats. Numerous studies have been carried out on this question for more than half a century. "In a letter to the NTP (National Toxicology Program), several scientists described numerous studies in rats and mice that found that saccharin caused cancer of the uterus, skin and several other organs. This research team also cited six human studies, including a large study from the National Cancer Institute, which found an association between consumption of artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer, particularly among heavy consumers of diet foods . " (Robert, 36 years old) Artificial sweeteners increase the appetite because when the sweet taste reaches the mouth, a message is sent to the body in which carbohydrates enter to be digested. Then the pancreas kicks in and sends insulin into the bloodstream. Since there will be no real carbohydrates, insulin will lower blood sugar levels and appetite will increase. In this way, artificial sweeteners can contribute to hypoglycemia. Although artificial sweeteners are beneficial for overweight people and those who want to monitor their,