Aspartame safety: how can we find the truth when big business doesn't want us to know?

(I value the truth above all else. Do you?)

Dec 07, 2024

For every knowledge speciality there’s a truth-teller who’s done the work, is unbribable; is non-partisan (they don’t take sides); they are not money hungry; they don’t crave power or prestige. Above all, they are just plain honest. It’s in their nature. In short, they value the truth above all else!

Contents, this article:-

Prologue: the easiest way to find truth is to identify the truth-tellers
Witness 1: “Aspartame harms” - the search result from Google
Witness 2: “Aspartame harms” - the search results from Yandex
Witness 3: A “FAERS” adverse reaction search
Witness 4: Amazon.com book search
Witness 5: Greenmed info
Witness 6: “Aspartame harms” - Pubmed search
Witness 7: Miscellaneous witnesses
Two witnesses regarding the sameness of Propanda and PR
Appendix: why listen to the witness you don’t like?

Prologue: the easiest way to find truth is to identify the truth-tellers

For every knowledge speciality, there is a truth-teller who’s done the work, is unbribable; is non-partisan (as in: they don’t take sides); they are not money hungry; they don’t crave power or prestige. Above all, they are just plain honest. It’s in their nature. In short, they value the truth above all else.

(It also helps if they are good teachers!)

How do you know when you’ve found a truth-teller? - Answer: They’ve done the hard yards which I define in the article below!…

Please read this article because if you don’t, you’ll never find the truth, and you’ll never be free (The Bible: John 8:32: "…you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”).

Article recommendation: Is Aspartame bad for you, by Truth Teller Dr Axe.

Picture: Aspartame looks like sugar and is two hundred times sweeter (source: Is Aspartame bad for you

Be “calm as a judge” - because you’ll never find the truth when you’re angry!
“Listen to two or three witnesses” - an oft-forgotten tenet of the Judeo-Christian law - the law that shaped our Western civilisation, read: The Importance of Multiple Witnesses: A Look at Deuteronomy 19:15)
“Listen especially hard to the witness you don’t like!” - see appendix 2 at the end of this post.

Finding the truth is an easy skill to learn and a hard one to apply. The motivation is the tricky part - you’ve got to want the truth, to find the truth!..

I value the truth above anything else. Do you?

Introduction: why we should due diligence on the aspartame question

In the past, safety questions have been raised with the FDA about Aspartame safety, so it’s important that we do our own due dilgence.

Witness 1: “Aspartame harms” - the search result from Google

I report the top three results below.

(a) WHO: Aspartame hazard and risk assessment results released

https://www.who.int/news/item/14-07-2023-aspartame-hazard-and-risk-assessment-results-released

Citing “limited evidence” for carcinogenicity in humans, IARC classified aspartame as possibly carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 2B) and JECFA reaffirmed the acceptable daily intake of 40 mg/kg body weight.

(b) What to Know About Aspartame

https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-to-know-about-aspartame

“Although it is considered safe in small amounts, aspartame does have a few possible risks and side effects to consider. If you eat a lot of aspartame, you have a greater chance of the following…”

[a long list of “possible adverse effects follows - unfortunately there are no links to support the assertions made, so this cannot be regarded as a reliable source of information”

(c) The Truth About Aspartame Side Effects

https://www.healthline.com/health/aspartame-side-effects

An article that assumes that regulatory authorities are always reliable; therefore, it is pro aspartame safety

(But as previously discussed, due to politics and corruption of the regulators, this cannot be safely assumed).

A search via an alternative search engine shows that you can no longer trust Google’s health-related search results. It shows us, e.g. that-

Google has merged with Big Pharma to become its own pharmaceutical company
Google Manipulates Search Suggestions To Promote Pharma, Discredit Natural Health

Therefore, if we are to arrive at health-related truth, alternative witnesses to Google must be found (some of these now follow).

Witness 2: “Aspartame harms” - the search results from Yandex

Yandex is a full-service internet search engine, the only one I know of that’s genuinely independent from Google. It therefore qualifies as “a second or third witness” - indeed the only one on the internet that can reliably balance out Google’s opinions and choices .
You can find Yandex here.

Three Yandex results:-

(a) Aspartame: Decades of science point to serious health risks

https://usrtk.org/sweeteners/aspartame_health_risks/#cancer

”Dozens of studies have linked the popular artificial sweetener aspartame to serious health problems”

These are discussed and reported in detail, and many links to research and research reviews are provided. Therefore, this article seems authoritative and trustworthy.

(b) What is aspartame?

https://www.health.com/aspartame-7563748

“High consumption of aspartame-containing products, such as diet soda, has been linked to several health concerns. However, the research is still ongoing…”
The article has short paragraphs with the following headings:- May Harm the Microbiome; May Negatively Impact Blood Sugar Control; May Negatively Impact Brain Health; May Harm Heart Health”.

Since each paragraph summarises a bona fide research paper and links to it, this article also seems authoritative and trustworthy.

(c) Aspartame and cancer – new evidence for causation

https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-021-00725-y

These new findings confirm that aspartame is a chemical carcinogen in rodents.

Since the authors were subjected to intense criticism, they went back and meticulously checked and rechecked their work. They are not wrong! - Therefore, this witness also seems reliable.

Overall, when it comes to covering the topic of Aspartame harm, Yandex does a much better job than Google; this is what I usually find when researching controversial science and health topics. Why? - I can only assume that Yandex is less vulnerable than Google when it comes to interference from Western corporations, governments, and bureaucracies.

Witness 3: A “FAERS” adverse reaction search

The American FDA’s Food Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) receives more adverse reaction reports for Aspartame than for all other sweeteners.

Screenshot of the FAERS report for Aspartame adverse events:-

(You can search the FAERS database here).

I list my FAERS search findings for 5 artificial sweeteners below:-

Aspartame: 147 adverse reactions
Saccharin: 48 adverse reactions
Xylitol: 29 adverse reactions
Acesulfame: 4 adverse reactions
Stevia: 1 adverse reactions

A question for you!-
Did you or your doctor know that a food adverse reporting system exists? If nobody knows about it, how many reports get reported? – The answer must be “close to zero”! Nevertheless, FAERS helps compare products for the frequency and types of adverse reactions, which enables a degree of informed choice).

Witness 4: Amazon.com book search

Here is the search at Amazon.com

Here are three book results (I suggest you click on the links and read the descriptions and reviews):-

Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic

by H. J. Roberts | May 1, 2001 | 5.0 out of 5 stars

Aspartame: The King of Toxins

by Reigh Parker-Burch | Mar 31, 2016 | 5.0 out of 5 stars

The Truth About Aspartame, MSG and Excitotoxins

by Mike Adams | Jul 2, 2010 |4.5 out of 5 stars

Witness 5: Green-Med Info

This article search at GreenmedInfo provides a list of easy-to-read articles that are well-referenced. (e.g. this one)

This Abstracts search at GreenMedInfo brings up a list of 101 references on Aspartame.

Witness 6: “Aspartame harms” - Pubmed search

This search reveals 28 research reports

This search reveals 422 reports

Witness 7: Videos and podcasts

There is truth-telling simply for the love of truth and there is “public relations” which works first and foremost on your emotions and is therefore (always) for some manipulative or dishonest purpose. The purpose might be well meaning, but its’ still dishonest if it appeals first to our emotions and second to our logic (our desire for truth). So you have to be able to spot the difference between truth telling and propaganda. (refer: article about Aristotle’s art of persuasion).

Videos and podcasts are useful if:-

They are created by truth tellers who want truth above all else
You have the time to listen to them slowly and carefully (so that you have time to tell truthful logic from emotional “hacking”)

Videos and posdcasts are not useful (and might infact be dangerous) if they":-

Deploy propaganda/public relations “tricks” - These tricks being now so powerful that - with the help of AI and machine learning - the experts correctly assert that they can bypass the human ability to discern the truth refer: “…humans are hackable animals…” by Noval Harari.

Two witnesses regarding the sameness of Propanda and PR

Google (the owner of Youtube the world's largest digital advertiser) denies that “propaganda and PR are the same…” Google says,“No, propaganda and public relations are not the same thing”. Google goes on to quote PR firms who all deny that their work is that nasty thing called “propaganda” (well they would wouldn’t they?). Relevant is, global PR firms deploy millions of advertising dollars through Google (and other media), and Google will not want to turn that business away.

A Yandex search (Yandex does not receive millions of dollars from American PR firms - recent developments in its ownership are discussed here) provides a more balanced discussion based upon historical analysis (History often leads me to say “aha so that’s why that is!” - does it do the same for you?)

Here is a quote I found (from here):-

“Public relations and propaganda have the main agenda of convincing the public. [Firstly]… Public relations and propaganda employ heavy use of persuasion techniques so that the public can buy into their ideas. Secondly, the methods used to convey propaganda and public relations are same”.

So Propaganda and public relations are the same in what they want to achieve, and the methods they use. The only difference in the emotional labelling (the connotation): “propaganda is evil, but public relations is good”.

Bottom line

With videos on health related matters you have to be good at spotting the difference between propaganda and truth.

(Extra: find out about subliminal messaging here):-

Appendix: Why listen to a witness that you don’t like?

(1) Because when you listen to people, they heal!

(2) Because it’s… …possible that [you’re] wrong! (Compressorman)

(3) Engaging with opposing viewpoints is… …an act of intellectual integrity. It helps to reveal your stance's strengths and weaknesses and… …advances critical thinking… (Julian_Presto)

(4) …Hearing another person’s idea can challenge our own, so we examine our own [idea] more carefully… (Sharpest_Edge84)