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

That's inflammatory! Part One: Diet soda

What not to eat if you have autoimmune disease: part one

I know for a fact that lupus is characterized by inflammation. I can only imagine other autoimmune diseases also have inflammation as a characteristic. So wouldn't it behoove us to avoid behaviors and situations that increase inflammation? There are many irritants out there that trigger an immune response.

I can't control the fact that planes fly over my house and pollute the air, or that corporations dump poisons in our water.
And I can't control the fact that much of our food supply is garbage. But I can control what I put in my mouth. I don't have to eat the garbage- that is a choice (though not always an easy one!). And some of the things that are touted as being good for you are actually garbage.

Have you tried to find something healthy to eat in your typical restaurant? Something *not* fried, or laden with fatty sauces, sugar, MSG, salt? I end up defaulting to what I call the "typical girl special": chicken caesar salad with the dressing on the side. To be a true "typical girl special," that would come with a large diet coke. But I have ended my decades- long romance with diet sodas. I tell you, it's like quitting cigarettes. I honestly can't tell you how many times I quit drinking diet soda before I finally succeeded, and I still live in fear I'll fall off the wagon. I just tell myself every time I look at a cold dripping tempting bottle of diet something, "poison." Some sources say that aspartame (a.k.a. "nutrasweet," a.k.a. "Equal," in the blue packet) turns into formaldehyde when it gets into your body. Some say it turns into formaldehyde *before* it enters the body, if the temperature is warm enough. Hawaii tried to ban aspartame (a.k.a nutrasweet) from its food supply, and the US federal government wouldn't let them! (Can you imagine how angry Americans would be if they got to paradise and there was no Diet Coke? "What kind of hellhole is this??! Honey take me home!") There are efforts in other countries to get this stuff out of their food supplies as well, including Ireland and New Zealand. Some theorize that it is a major contributor to Gulf War Syndrome. Others say it causes to birth defects in our children and, in a trial, an 86% *death* rate in monkeys. (http://maintainwealth.blogspot.com/2008/08/aspartame-murders-infants.html ). This "food" has no place in our diets, in our fridges, in our food chain, or in our stores.

I do believe this: there are no casual diet soda drinkers. People either don't drink it, or they chain-drink it like a crack addict, waking up with their first thought being "I gotta have me a hit of diet soda." i have ridden my bicycle to the store in my pajamas to get a diet coke before i would do anything else. It was ruling my day, every day.

I find that getting a monkey off your back is a little more doable if you can find some kind of replacement. I mean I wasn't going to go *caffeine* free on top of ditching the tyrannical nutrasweet. One vice at a time. So, about 9 months after giving up the junk, i am still doing fine drinking filtered or water green tea (which I brew at home) with stevia, a natural sweetener. If I really feel like partying, I have a regular Coke. But I don't do that too often, because it is made with high fructose corn syrup, which is genetically modified (and fattening). I may not be Elle MacPherson, but I am not ready to have my genes modified. And something tells me consuming genetically modified foods is not going to get me any closer to looking like Elle. I hear Mexican Coca Cola is still made with sugar, and there are some natural sodas out there as well, made with juice. And there's seltzer, which is great plain or with a splash of organic juice (read the seltzer bottle- some of it has nutrasweet!!). Of course mankind did pretty well for several eons without sodas to drink.

Many of us with a lupus diagnosis feel like we're being randomly attacked by some mysterious force. But there are some things we can do to limit the likelihood of attack, and one of them is to stop eating garbage.

read more about nutrasweet's dangers:
http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-information.html

coming in part 2: sodium nitrate, vegan diets