Interesting read

[Matt2584]

naturalnews.com/049315_brai...

Since I was young and up to my late teens/early twenties, I used to drink a lot of diet coke. Diet coke contains aspartame, aspartame creates tumours and I had/have a brain tumour!

[Hidden]

A friend told me about aspartame many years ago, its dangers. Tried to read bits but so hard to know the truth when both sides of the argument produce 'research' which backs them up.

How can we KNOW?

I think (may be wrong) that it's banned in some countries, is that true?

Give me real sugar, real butter (mmm, nothing else comes close) and REAL food any time! And the occasional bit of junk/unhealthy food = all in the balance. I know real food is chemicals too but I'm very old fashioned and prefer to stick to tried/tested. Am I silly?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I forgot to say that at that time (was about 17 years ago, still now?) it was neurological damage they talked about, I think.

[Matt2584 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Muddled,

Both sides of the argument produce research?

I only know of one side and that is scientists/experts who delve into what goes into foods and drinks and can see what aspatame and these other dangerous chemicals can do.

The other side of the argument would be the government or coa cola or Monsanto (the company who produce these chemicals) saying it is perfectly fine to consume aspartame even though they know that is a blatent lie.

And the other side to how we would know is to look at how little food went around years ago. We mostly fed on natural resources and we got on fine.

After the wars, refined sugar started going around more freely and more food was being made and more cemicals and so on and that is when we see more and more health problems.

I don't know about aspertame being banned in other countries because diet coke is a global drink and diet coke contains aspertame.

You can get good, healthier sugar called xylatol. It comes from trees and not sugar cane. Refined sugar from sugar cane is cheaper to get hold of which is the main reason why it is in most food and drinks.

Butter is known for making you fat because it obviously contains fat but it is saturated fat. Saturated fat is good fat the body needs. Just don't consume too much saturated fat or you will put on weight.

It is trans fats and other fats you want to look out for. Trans fats are dangerous and cause heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.

I used to love my sugary foods, I have one hell of a sweet tooth but I have found that with the natural sugars from fruit, I would prefer to eat a bag of pitted dates rather than galaxy minstrels.

You are not silly to stick to real/proper food because those foods are less dangerous than processed foods you would find in the supermarkets.

[Kirk5w7]

What you have to remember is that most cancers are genetically linked, that gives individuals a predisposition to certain cancers, that's why some people develop lung cancers when they smoke and some don't.

Likewise the aspartame and other foodstuffs/ additives.

What is necessary is to be fully informed and then make up your own mind.

Janet x

[malalatete]

I'm with you, Matt. I always avoid aspartame, especially for my boys. The thing that annoys me most is squash (ok there are lots of things which annoy me way more than squash, but you know what I mean...) Every supermarket has shelves and shelves of the stuff with No Added Sugar plastered all over the label. Why? because they are dosed up to saturation point with aspartame and the other one the name of which I can't put my finger on right now. Only the occasional and often high end brands use only sugar - like it is something really dangerous. I know it isnt kind to teeth but surely that is what toothpaste is for

So in the spring and summer we make our own - elderflower cordial, strawberry and blackcurrant cordial. Fruit from the garden and lots and lots of East Anglian beet sugar. It may seem like going to extremes to some but I like to know as far as possible where what we eat comes from, so I try to work on the store cupboard principle - if a label has something on it I haven't got in my cupboard at home, or couldn't buy for myself, I probably don't want it. But then, as one friend ( rather unkindly I thought) pointed out, I dont have anything else to do!

[Matt2584 in reply to malalatete]

Hi Mal,

When it comes to supermarkets or newsagents... Etc, sugar is almost involved in all foods... Even savoury foods!

Refined sugar leads to obesity, health problems and eventually death... And like you say, it is not kind to your teeth.

Years ago when all these sugary foods came in, diabetes is on the rise... I wonder why.

I now wash my mouth out with coconut oil. It is called oil pulling because the oil pulls the bacteria between your teeth out.

I used to have sensitive teeth and I used to use Sensodyne toothpaste. That was ok at first but it didn't get rid of the whole problem.

Use coconut oil and after a few weeks I noticed how my teeth did not feel so sensitive, it is much better than Sensodyne toothpaste and it is much healthier as it does not contain fluouride which is another chemical that can create cancer and even kill brain cells.

There are loads of uses for coconut oil. Look on wellnessmama.com for a list of 101 uses.

I still eat bad stuff at times but definitely not as much as I did.

I do a little shopping online and get natural groceries from Holland and Barrett and Ethical Superstore.

Glad to hear you do your bit to keep you and your family safe.

Everybody should want/need to know what they put in their mouths, a lot of foods/drinks/skin care products are laced with crap.

Look at the ingredients, find a ords you can hardly pronounce like 'so-an-so-methanol'. That would likely be a dangerous chemical.

I used to use Neutragena face wash. That seemed pretty good. I then got a couple of cheap bottles from the 99p store. Second or third use, I noticed my eyelids felt sore. I looked at ingredients. It said the active ingredient was Salicylic acid. I then read about salicylic acid, it is corrosive to the skin. So that was why my eyelids were sore, cos they were being eaten away!

I then dumped the cheap stuff down the drain. Looked at the store bought Neutragena, Salicylic acid was in that too but it was not an active ingredient, there were a lot more chemicals added likely to hide the damage it could cause.

Anyway, I dumped that too and moved onto natural stuff.

MJ

[iforget in reply to Matt2584]

Salicylic acid is an active ingredient in aspirin and it is specifically used in a compound to treat acne

[Matt2584 in reply to iforget]

I can kind of understand salicylic acid used to treat acne but in ageneral face wash, no way.

[iforget in reply to Matt2584]

I guess it would depend on ratios but I do see your point.

I have a policy of not eating anything I cannot pronounce and i avoid anything with more than five ingredients ...but toiletries etc are basically chemical compounds and as such a lot harder to fathom out. I try to only use simple things as I have a lot of allergies.

I love coconut oil ...it is a fantastic hair conditioner and leaves skin feeling smooth...In my youth used it in summer and always had a natural glow.

I heard about the oil pulling but it makes me gag ...I don't know if i will get round that... It is unpleasant for me.

We definitely owe it to ourselves to make the best choices we can in the best way we can

[Matt2584 in reply to iforget]

That is good of you to not eat foods with over 5 ingredients.

Toileteries etc also carry dangers. I already pointed out the salicylic acid. It isn't supposed to be there.

Why would you want a face wash that can burn your face away?

Well, I will admit it was the cheaper version of theNeutrogena face wash that burnt my skin as the acid was the active ingrdient.

In the more expensive Neutrogena, the store bought one, there are a lot more active ingredients but Salicylic acid is still one of those ingredients.

I know you pointed out that the acid is used to treat acne which I can understand but why is it in everyday face wash?

As I said before, I use a natural based face wash now. Sometimes my skin can feel a bi dry after washing my face but I think that is put down to all those years of acid.

I moisturise by putting Aloe Vera on my face. I used to use coconut oil for moisturising as well but just decided to use aloe instead.

The taste of coco oil isn't very pleasent is it.

The other thing I love about natural products is that one product could have many uses so it saves you more money than buying store bought, chemical-laced crap.

I use coco oil for oil pulling as well as moiturising my lips ( I get dry lips). I use Aloe Vera to moisturise my face and also to brush my teeth with.

Use the internet for more info.

[iforget in reply to Matt2584]

We are all different Matt... I cannot imagine brushing my teeth with aloe vera but if it works for you that's great.

The internet is so uncontrolled and is not necessarily always the best place for information... but like the aloe vera, if it works for you. Go for it.

[iforget]

You can drive yourself round the bend trying to make sense of all the conflicting reports and information out there. There are a lot of scare tactics used and the idea that diet coke is responsible for brain tumours is a bit far fetched...

I truly believe that common sense is the key. Personally I prepare meals from scratch using fresh ingredients - although obviously there is an element of processing that goes on in the preparation of meat, fish, dairy products and fruits and vegetables that are available for sale (I do not hunt and fish) and the basic ingredients I have in my cupboard/fridge such as flour, milk, butter etc have been manufactured (I am not a dairy farmer or a miller either) ... but I steer clear of processed ready made foods because for the most part they taste processed and the salt content is way too high for me.... and I generally steer clear of takeaway food, but its about personal choice.

I think everyone pretty much knows that junk food, sweets, fizzy drink and other processed stuff is not healthy fare...but if consumed occasionally and in moderation are unlikely to the average person any real lasting harm.

[Matt2584 in reply to iforget]

Fear is the best use to control, or so I have heard.

I think the real fear is what is in our foods, drinks, body care products and so on.

It might sound far fetched that a chemical in diet coke can cause brain tumours. I'm not saying a few bottles could do it though, I'm talking about practically living on diet coke.

When I speak of procesed foods, I am talking anout the ready meals you get from supermarkets. That's right, the ones packed with salt or/and sugars.

[iforget]

I get what you are saying (at least I think I do ) but I have to question the validity of the information we ( the public) have available to us ....especially when reports often of not always have some kind of bias and recent reports suggest we cannot trust the information food manufacturers are required by law to provide.

This is where I go back to the common sense and personal choice POV.

I was horrified to see the number of ingredients listed on a can of tomatoes.... I expected to see the word tomatoes.... Not the list of largely unpronounceable ingredients.... What to do?

I live in central London and do not have access to facilities to be self sufficient in food production...so common sense it is for me...and no ready meals thanks....

[Matt2584 in reply to iforget]

Well mainstream media, the news... etc, tend to bend the truth.

The internet has an abundance of information on it and can explain so much etter than I can. Not all of it is true but then again, not all of it is a lie either.

I would agree with the can of tomatoes and I would think many others would do. You would expect to see the word 'tomatoes' added but instead see a bunch of other twisted up words. What to do? Don't buy it.

[iforget]

As long as it comes in a tall glass served with ice, I will have a diet coke though

[Matt2584 in reply to iforget]

You and others can have diet coke if you/they want to, I am not saying people should quit it.

I'm saying there are things in it that has the potential to make you unwell so I choose not to drink it any more.

[malalatete]

I don't think the new allergy proof labelling regs help. I was surprised the other day to see that my packet of butter said 'contains milk' . Now that challenged the brain cells in a chicken-or-egg way for a while. I mean surely it used to be milk, (creamy bit of the milk, anyway) but it isn't any more 'cos it is butter now? Is butter still milk? Does it 'contain' milk or did the milk disappear when it was churned and ta-daa magically changed to butter....They say cheese is still milk too, and I am pretty sure that would be horrible in tea!

[Matt2584 in reply to malalatete]

That sounds to me vey weird. If a butter says it may contain milk in it, that tells me that the butter has most probably been put together using chemicals and they have added a little milk to male it seem more real/life-like.

As fa as I know, butter and cheese ARE milk that has been pasteurised or churned.

Makes me think when I next eat some cheese I can say "Come to me my former milk friend" :).

[Matt2584 in reply to Matt2584]

Even milkis not really good for you. Well, not like it used to be. Cows, chickens, pigs, cattle are mistreated and produce is virtually forced out of them. I've seen videos of it, it's quite disturbing really.

So we basically get crap produce.

That won't stop me eating bacon though :).

[Hidden]

milk is bad news cos off the lindane pesticide that the cows ingest and pass on, apparently the Japanese do not suffer from breast cancer because they ingest no dairy. Unfortunately they have a high incidence of stomach cancer due to a high fish diet and the subsequent toxins those have ingested. You just can't win against the corporate world.

[Matt2584 in reply to Hidden]

I have heard about most pesticides, if not all, are bad cos of a big chemical company called Monsanto which goverments, our gov, the American gov... etc favour.

I did not know about the Japanese and stomach cancer but saying that the answer would be because of the Fukushimi radiation leak I would have thought.

You can't exactly win against the corporate world but you sure can try.

A lot of people are doing that now.