Before you reach for that diet soft drink, you may want to rethink what is in that beverage.  The sugar substitute aspartame, used in most diet soft drinks does not in fact help in weight loss and there is mounting evidence that it may actually cause weight gain.  More important to someone with rheumatoid arthritis, aspartame may cause inflammation and joint pain.

According to Woodrow C. Monte, PhD., Director of the Food Science and Nutrition Laboratory at Arizona State University, “when aspartmae is metabolized, it releases methyl alcohol (wood alcohol), a known toxin that is highly dangerous to humans.” Dr. Monte warns that “once in your cells, methyl alcohol converts to formaldehyde, a cancer-causing agent.  Recent studies in Europe suggest that aspartame consumption can result in the accumulation of formaldehyde in the brain damaging the central nervous system and the immune system.

Aspartame is found not only in diet products.  It can also be found in cough medicine, toothpaste and even some sports drinks and juice drinks.

Aspartame has been linked to several autoimmune diseases including lupus, fibromyalgia, multiple sclorosis and rheumatoid arthritis even at low doses.  It has been tied to migranes, chronic fatigue, asthma,  diabetes,tinnitis and depression.

According to the Aspartme Information Center, aspartame is approved by the US Food and Drug Adminstration and the Joint Expert Committe on Food Adititives of the World Health Organization. It is consumed in over 6,000 products and by 200 million people worldwide.  It is found in everything from cough medicine to soft drinks.

For me personally, I would rather err of the side of caution and avoid aspertame. My body has gone through enough turmoil. I want to nourish with food that will aid in healing and avoid ingesting anything that may potentially cause harm. You make up your own mind.