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FIBROMYALGIA DANGER: Equal is a brand name for aspartame, which has been linked with muscle problems. (Louise McCoy/The Epoch Times)
I’m no fan of the artificial sweetener aspartame. Not only is there no good evidence that artificial sweeteners aid weight control, but also there is evidence linking aspartame to adverse effects on health.
In the body, aspartame releases methanol (wood alcohol), which can be converted to formaldehyde. In the United States, formaldehyde has recently been added to the official list of cancer-causing chemicals. Animal studies show that aspartame at permitted levels increases the risk of several types of cancer.
I recently came across an article in the Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology journal published in December 2010 that describes aspartame’s ability to induce fibromyalgia. This condition is characterized by pain and tenderness in the muscles. The paper describes two case studies in which fibromyalgia appears to be caused by ingestion of aspartame.
The first of these concerns a 50-year-old woman whose symptoms of fibromyalgia of more than 10 years went away when she was on vacation and not consuming aspartame. The symptoms returned when she came home and resumed aspartame use but resolved again once the aspartame was stopped.
I have twice heard of similar experiences: Individuals with fibromyalgia reported that their symptoms resolved when they were on vacation. The first thing I think about is sunshine and vitamin D because vitamin D deficiency can cause muscle pain, and boosting vitamin D does have the ability to resolve this symptom.It is possible that in this woman’s case, sunlight and other factors had something to do with the resolution of her symptoms while abroad. However, the fact that her symptoms resolved on exclusion of aspartame strongly suggests this substance was the primary cause of her symptoms.
The second case described in the article was a 43-year-old man who had suffered with pain in his neck, forearms, wrists, and hands for three years. Removing aspartame from his diet resolved his symptoms.
Case studies such as these don’t prove that these individuals’ symptoms were due to aspartame. It is possible that their improvement was due to the placebo response and the recurrence of symptoms due to what is called the nocebo response (like the placebo response, but the response is negative rather than positive). However, observations such as these can be the start of advancement in our understanding of the effect of treatments and should not be dismissed.
Certainly, should I see an individual suffering from generalized pain and fibromyalgia in the future, I’ll be making doubly sure I ask about their consumption of aspartame and will be advising them to stop it as a matter of course.
Since there is no good evidence that aspartame has health benefits, such individuals will have nothing to lose by eliminating it other than perhaps being left with some unexplained symptoms.
Dr. John Briffa is a London-based physician and author with an interest in nutrition and natural medicine. His website is DrBriffa.com
