I wanted to make a post pointing a finger at the dangers of Aspartame and the questionable data out of the FDA concerning food safety in general.

No need to do that thanks to natalina from Extrodinary Intelligence.com. She did a much better job than I would have done because she adds her personal struggle with this addictive sugar substitute.

It's tough to admit the FDA dropped the ball here because then you have to ask yourself what else have they been incompetent about? I've never liked Aspartame, but I got a taste for the story behind the story once I started hearing how Donald Rumsfield pulled in political favors to get it pushed through the FDA.

In 1987 the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded that the food additive approval process had been followed within the law, but several people still report being "cured" when they cut it out of their diet. In my opinion the controversy is complicated by the fact that most people can handle the product in normal amounts.

Cori Brackett and J.T. Waldron made an informative documentary on the subject titled "Sweet Misery" which can be seen on Google video and Youtube or you can buy a copy at Amazon. I was impressed with the interviews with scientists and doctors and rational people who have suffered for years because they thought Aspartame was a safe product.

If you use Aspartame ask yourself "Do I feel 100 percent healthy and vital?" If the answer is anything less than 100 percent I recommend an experiment in the form of going without said product for 10 days. If you feel better after the experiment then replace that diet drink with some good old fashioned lemonaid or water.