Joan wrote and Julie wrote:
>>"Joan" > wrote in message
.net...
>>
>>>Anybody here ever tried Stevia?
>>>It SEEMS to be a safer alternative than Aspertame and Splenda.
>>
>>
> "Julie Bove" > wrote in message
> ...
It seems safer? How?
>
> Joan:
> I've googled Stevia, Aspartame and Splenda.
> From what I've read, Stevia seems to be the safest of the three.
>
> Julie:
> It can't even be legally sold as a sweetener in this country
>
> Joan:
> The same can be said of many drugs and/or medical procedures that have been
> proven safe overseas for years, maybe even decades.
>
> Julie:
> and is banned in many others.
>
> Joan:
> MANY others? no.
Dennis writing now:
Are you obtuse or just a troll? Its is banned as a carcinogen in the
entire European Union. It can only be legally sold in the USA as a food
supplement, which are not subject to any regulation as to safety,
quality, or even if it is in the product, thanks to the supplement
industry buying the power of politicians like Senator Orrin Hatch.
Julie:
> Don't tell me you fell for the line
>>of crap about Aspartame spewed by Mad Betty!
>
> Joan:
> I do not know who Betty is.
>
Dennis again:
Betty Martini, who also pretends to be Nancy Markle, an alleged
scientist, so that she can imply that there are more than a few nut bars
that fall for this hoax. Almost all false claims relating to aspartame
can be traced to her web site,
www.dorway.com. Rich Murray is another
one of her accomplices. According to her, every disease known to man is
caused by aspartame, including MS. She caused the MS Society so much
trouble in 1999 that they had to issue press releases like the one
contained at:
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/hea...-aspartame.asp
and in the article below (apologies for the sloppy format from cut & paste):
__________________________________________________ ___________________
02:24 AM ET 01/29/99
Debunking Internet Health Alarms
Debunking Internet Health Alarms
By LAURAN NEERGAARD=
AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) _ An e-mail campaign attacking an artificial
sweetener was spreading fear fast: ``Could I have been
misdiagnosed? Will eliminating the aspartame in my diet eliminate
the MS symptoms?'' a panicked patient asked the Multiple Sclerosis
Foundation.
Absolutely not, the MS Foundation replied, furious that
whoever wrote the e-mail not only frightened vulnerable patients but
falsely used the group's name as part of the campaign.
``We've been completely inundated with calls about this,''
said the MS Foundation's Cliff Roer. ``It was very alarming.''
Welcome to the latest health scare on the Internet, where
e-mail or ``consumer alerts'' can suddenly spark panic by blaring about
``DEADLY POISONS.''
``I call them toxic terrorists,'' said Jeff Stier of the
American Council on Science and Health. He investigated after his
New York City group got calls from frightened Internet users last
week.
Consumer scares are nothing new, but the Internet lets rumors
spread faster and archives them forever, he said. ``It's so easy
to play on people's fears.''
The scare du jour is over claims that aspartame, sold under
such brand names as NutraSweet, causes MS or another disease, lupus.
For the record, the Food and Drug Administration says that is
false. MS and lupus have been around a lot longer than aspartame
has, and repeated scientific studies have found no connection
between the sweetener and such symptoms. An MS Foundation
neurologist also investigated and calls the allegations ``rabidly
inaccurate.''
But it is not the only scare.
Last fall, a ``Shampoo Alert'' claimed an ingredient that
helps the suds form in almost every shampoo is really an ``engine
degreaser'' that causes cancer. Today, Internet chat rooms still
show people asking if they should toss their shampoo. In fact, the
ingredient might irritate your eyes or your skin, but cancer
experts agree there is no sign it is carcinogenic.
``This is something we're going to see a lot more of,''
cautioned Dr. Randolph Wykoff of the FDA, which received more than
100 questions about the shampoo scare and dozens so far about
aspartame.
The Internet is full of important, even lifesaving, medical
information, Wykoff stressed. The quandary is one of consumer
savvy: How do you filter out the exaggerations, misinterpretations
or falsehoods?
For people searching for information on the Internet, it is
less of a problem: Just use Web sites operated by reputable groups such
as the National Institutes of Health or medical journals, and be
wary of cure-all claims.
The bigger question is what to believe when an alarming
e-mail shows up unsolicited, but with just enough science to sound
credible, and then snowballs into frightened discussions on
Internet bulletin boards.
Take aspartame, which long has been controversial.
Some people do say they are sensitive to it. But the FDA
insists that 20 years of research has not found evidence of serious side
effects, except in some people with the rare genetic disease PKU
or phenylketonuria, who cannot properly process an aspartame
component called phenylalinine.
The new scare, however, argues that aspartame causes MS and
lupus symptoms by breaking down into toxic methanol. Attempts to
find the e-mail's author have failed.
Very high doses of methanol can be toxic, but aspartame
causes only the same tiny amounts you would get from fruits or
vegetables such as tomatoes and tomato juice, which also produce
methanol during digestion, said FDA food safety expert Dr. David Hattan.
Both MS and lupus are diseases that wax and wane, so if a
person felt better or worse in connection with how much diet cola she
drank, it is pure coincidence, Wykoff added.
But how is a consumer to sort out such claims?
Call your doctor, check science books in libraries or on
science-based Web sites, or call reputable consumer groups.
Remember, ``if there's a breakthrough, they're not going to
read it in a secret message on the Internet,'' says Dr. John Renner of
the National Council for Reliable Health Information.
_____
EDITOR'S NOTE _ Lauran Neergaard covers health and medical
issues for The Associated Press in Washington.
__________________________________________________ ___________________
For a list of links detailing the aspartame hoax and
debunking it see this page at Urban Legends:
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp
__________________________________________________ ___________________
A thread appeared in the USENET newsgroup
alt.support.diabetes on Dec. 14/03 entitled "Objective
Post About A Touchy Subject" giving a point by point
rebuttal by a working chemist. You can read it
yourself on the newsgroup itself or at Google:
http://groups.google.ca/groups?q=a+t...ort.diabet es
__________________________________________________ ___________________
Most people are vulnerable when they are newly
diagnosed, and this creep preys on their fears for
her own sick reasons.
Dennis (Type 2)
__________________________________________________ ___________________
--
-- "We can't help it. We're men" The Red Green Show.