Gum, part 2: chew on this!

I posted recently about giving up chewing gum a while back because I couldn't find any that didn't have nutrasweet. And nutrasweet, for me, is poison, causing migraines and other nervous system issues. Having it in the form of gum is like having a slow IV drip of poison all day long (because I tend to chew a piece of gum for a couple hours, then swap it for a new piece and chomp on that for a while).

Mind you, even without the nutrasweet, I don't advocate chewing gum all day long, because it can cause TMJ (jaw problems), but I do like to have some gum on plane trips, and I do like to have a piece of gum when I want something sweet, but don't want to send my blood sugar all over the place with a big dessert. And I'm not really one to give up easily.

Rather than give up gum for all of time, I did some research. Once upon a time (when we were kids), no gum had nutrasweet. And since there are warnings on all foods with nutrasweet, I figured there must be some alternatives out there for those phenylketonurics for whom consuming nutrasweet could mean having a seizure. If the food industry has alternatives for those eating sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and meat-free, I figured there must be something for nutrasweet-free out there, even if it's just a company who never changed from using sugar.

Here's what I found:

Spry gum, made with xylitol. I like the cinnamon, but of course that's my favorite gum flavor regardless of the sweetener.




SteviaDent. made with stevia. Haven't tried this yet.



Glee Gum, either with sugar (and no artificial ingredients!) or xylitol.








So, I have gum again. Chew responsibly don't get TMJ just because you can!

Happy New Year and happy chewing~

Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient

www.thesingingpatient.com tour dates, videos, CDs, books

www.bestpossibleme.com - health coaching- visit this site to get a free e book on nutrition! 

www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich- funny medical songs

http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book

Gum

My gum-chewing days are essentially over. And while that will probably save me from getting TMJ, I do miss having something to chomp on in place of dessert, or while I'm concentrating on writing, literally chewing on an idea. And especially on an airplane, popping my ears.

But I chew gum no more, because I can't find gum that does not contain nutrasweet.

What's wrong with nutrasweet. Let me get the list. Literally.

According to http://www.ethicalinvesting.com/monsanto/aspartame.shtml ,
some of the symptoms of aspartame poisoning include:

Headaches/Migraines, Dizziness, Seizures, Nausea, Numbness, Muscle spasms, Weight gain, Rashes, Depression, Fatigue, Irritability, Tachycardia, Insomnia, Vision Problems, Hearing Loss, Heart palpitations, Breathing difficulties, Anxiety attacks, Slurred Speech, Loss of taste, Tinnitus, Vertigo, Memory loss, Joint Pain. 

 Furthermore, it is implicated in worsening or even triggering these conditions:

Brain tumors, Arthritis, Multiple sclerosis, Epilepsy, Chronic faigue syndrome, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Mental retardation, Lymphoma, Birth defects, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes, Thyroid Disorders.

Every single one of these contains nutrasweet. Well, OK, not the batteries.

Nutrasweet, which I used to parttake of daily (mostly in the form of Diet Coke, but also gum), is an excitotoxin, and anyone with autoimmune issues should avoid all excitotoxins. In fact, everyone should avoid them, but those of us with a diagnosis of something serious will be especially better off if we keep them out of our diet.

On the day we finally see a "wanted" poster in the post office for aspartame, underneath its photo will be these known aliases: Nutrasweet, Amino Sweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Sweet One. Like a wanted murderer, perhaps they are changing the name again to avoid the bad press that nutrasweet is getting. This "food" should never have been allowed into the food supply, but if you've got deep pockets and know the right people, I do believe you can get the FDA to approve cyanide as safe for infant formula.

Don't just take my word for it. Read some of the many articles on wellsphere.com about aspartame poisoning:
http://www.wellsphere.com/wellpage/aspartame-banned

Or read this webpage:
http://sweetpoison.com/

Or this one:
http://www.naturalnews.com/034320_aspartame_sweetener_side_effects.html

Don't count on the government to protect you from unsafe foods. Take on that responsibility yourself. And if you're looking for hidden nutrasweet in food, just know this- if the label says "attention phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine" then it contains nutrasweet. And for me, that means it's not going in my mouth.

Nutrasweet for me means migraines and/ or diarrhea. Yeah, I just typed that publicly. I get diarrhea. TMI! Well, I don't, now. Because I don't poison myself anymore with soda and gum containing nutrasweet. I accidentally ate some nutrasweet recently when I bought some *regular* lifesavers (*not* sugarfree). I ate 3, then- 100-yard dash to the bathroom! WTH? The only unusual thing I had eaten that day was lifesavers. So, I went and read the package, and even though they were *not* sugar-free, they contained nutrasweet.

Why would they do that? Because nutrasweet is 16 times sweeter than sugar, and cheaper to manufacture. So, they can use less sugar and increase their profits.

Apparently, nutrasweet (aspartame) is also an effective preservative, which I assume is why they use it in that stuff they give people before a colonoscopy, and in prescriptions like cellcept. (Which may be why I couldn't tolerate high doses of cellcept. Boy was I mad when I read the pamphlet and saw nutrasweet in the ingredient list- I gave up Diet Coke, my favorite drink, and I also gave up chewing gum, because of the nutrasweet, and now my prescriptions were sneaking it into my system - and I didn't even get the enjoyment of a gut-rotting fizzy treat?).

 So, if you are avoiding nutrasweet, assume nothing and read all labels. Simply look for the warning (always in bold letters) "attention phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine." If you're looking for a gum without nutrasweet, I'll save you some time: there isn't any. It ALL has nutrasweet in it, unless you go find some natural gum at the health food store (like "Glee" gum).

Looks innocent, right? Big Red! I chewed that as a kid, nothing but sugar and whatever gum is made of (rubber?).

Not health food by any stretch, but also not something that was going to cause migraines and diarrhea. (Oh, that's that word again. How many times can I put that disgusting thought into one article? Hopefully as many as it takes to  make nutrasweet seem like the non-food that it is).
And now, chew on this (actually, don't chew on this):

Always read the label!

Read the labels and if you're having health problems, consider eliminating this "food" from your diet.

Well wishes, my friends.

Carla Ubrich, The Singing Patient and Health Coach

www.thesingingpatient.com

www.bestpossibleme.com - health coaching- visit this site to get a free e book on nutrition!

www.youtube.com/user/carlaulbrich- funny medical songs

http://tinyurl.com/348hroc - Carla's book

Nutrasweet hiding in regular food

A pack of regular gum. Big Red. Looks innocent enough. I mean, it's not health food by any stretch of the imagination but I was taking several airplane flights and just wanted to chomp on some gum during the landing process. I specifically bought *regular* gum, not sugar-free gum, because I am avoiding nutrasweet (a.k.a. asparatame, a.k.a. "sweet poison"). Nutrasweet has been implicated in all sorts of health problems. I personally avoid it because I don't like to spend large portions of my evenings in the bathroom. At least not involuntarily.

Well imagine my surprise when I, on a hunch, as I was chomping on a hot cinnamon-y stick of Big Red, perused the ingredient list on the box only to see this:

Aspartame. There it is on the 2nd line. Who put this crap in my crap?

I spit the gum out (into the paper of course).
This is the second time in a month I bought something that was NOT sugar free but still contained nutrasweet. The first time I bought a bag of lifesavers. I ate 3 and my stomach got all wonky. So I checked the wrapper and yup- nutrasweet.

I can't believe I used to drink diet soda all day every day, knowing now that 3 tainted lifesavers can ruin my evening. Good Lord- no wonder I got deathly ill.

Apparently nutrasweet is 16 times sweeter than sugar and cheaper to produce/ use than sugar, so manufacturers can reduce the amount of sugar (or corn syrup) they use if they mix in some nutrasweet.

The lesson here? Read the labels, assume nothing (I assumed buying regular meant no aspartame- wrong!), and if you're having weird symptoms, ask yourself if it might be something you ate or drank.

I was trying to consume candy and gum in moderation- a small piece or 2 a day. Maybe the lesson to me is to just completely stop eating crap.

Carla Ulbrich, The Singing Patient,
is the author of "How Can You *Not* Laugh at a Time Like This?"
Get Carla's Book at Amazon.com
www.thesingingpatient.com

PS- went to the grocery store today and on my trip went looking for some "safe" gum (no artificial sweeteners, not that sugar is good for your teeth, but anyway...) I looked at some Freedent and WOW! It not only has sugar and corn syrup but also sorbitol AND aspartame (nutrasweet). A hat trick!

Also, I went by the sushi area and the *sushi* at the grocery store has aspartame in it! Know what else does? Cellcept! One of the reasons I decided to wean off of it (in addition the possible "side effects" of lymphoma and fatal brain infection). I only wish whoever was poisoning people with aspartame would consume enough of it to suffer the consequences, and have an Ebenezer Scrooge "everything I'm doing is WRONG" moment...

aspartame

some great articles on this blog about just how toxic nutrasweet (Equal, aspartame) is:
http://maintainwealth.blogspot.com/2008/08/aspartame-murders-infants.html