Aspartame & Fibromyalgia

A couple of months ago I posted a review of a documentary about Aspartame, Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, and all the possible issues it may cause.

Aspartame is one of the 7 foods to avoid for those of us with Fibromyalgia. It’s stated that this is because it stimulates a pain receptor in the brain, which would obviously increase pain. 

With all the proof that there is of how bad Aspartame is it’s amazing that it’s still allowed to be used, yet it seems like it’s everyone. Have you tried to avoid it? It’s insane. If you want something remotely sweet and yet not extremely high in calories, it most likely has Aspartame in it. We eat a lot of yogurt around our house and you can’t find a “lite” yogurt that doesn’t have Aspartame. So, I’ve switched back to regular yogurt in an attempt to avoid the stuff.

On the upside, it does seem that more and more products are starting to move away from Aspartame or at least offer options, but you do have to read the labels carefully. Some products combine multiple sweeteners and may advertised that they are sweetened with one of the newly popular sweeteners like Stevia or Splenda but they may also contain Aspartame.

I can’t help but wonder if Fibromyalgia (and many other health issues) might be traced back to the “new” foods we eat. In our society’s constant effort to eat “light” on the go, are we just increasing our own pain and decreasing our lifespan and quality of life?

Related Articles:

• http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/fibromyalgia-the-diet-connection
• http://www.livestrong.com/article/82676-aspartame-fibromyalgia/
• http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2010/05/13/aspartame-fibromyalgiachronic-fatigue-syndrome.htm
• http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/recent.html
• http://blog.nutri-living.com/?p=375