Monday, April 15, 2013

Aspartame--Why I won't Eat it.

Aspartame is one of my migraine triggers...Here's Why:



Why you shouldn't have it or anything containing aspartame


by Chris Wheeler
Several weeks ago the Wrigley's Corporation mailed me a sample of their latest product, X.Cite - "40 sugarfree crunch pearls in a resealable package". Its on TV ads and supermarket checkout counters with Airwaves and Extra gum. The artificial sweetener, they all contain, aspartame, has been described as "a Pandora's box of chameleon-like toxins and tumour agents that have 92 FDA (the US food regulatory body) acknowledged ways to ruin your life, death being one of them".
Aspartame is 180 times as sweet as sugar, with fewer calories and it's a 100 per cent certain bet that most New Zealand dieters and diabetics are consuming aspartame in some form with the full approval of their doctors and local diabetic club.
Animals and insects have a lot more natural intelligence than human beings when it comes down to food and they all avoid aspartame - cockroaches won't eat it, cats and dogs won't eat it, ants won't eat it and flies won't eat it - but politicians and food regulators worldwide consider it safe enough for us.
Aspartame, that synthetic, genetically engineered sweetener, is now found in everything from Coke and Pepsi diet drinks, Wrigley's sugarless chewing gum and Weight Watchers products to common drugs and dietary supplements available at your local pharmacy and "health food" shop. Labelled as additive 951 it has been available to the Western diet as a sweetener since 1981 under various brand names - Nutrasweet, Equal, Spoonful, Benevia or Equal Measure.
On food items in New Zealand, usually the only mention of aspartame you'll get is that the item "contains additive 951" or the warning label "PHENYLKETONURICS: Contains phenylalanine", which has to be included for the sake of a small population group of people who suffer permanent brain damage if exposed to any excess phenylalanine in their diet. Medicines do not have to be labelled.
Aspartame is a chemical combination of wood alcohol, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Wood alcohol chemical name methanol is a cousin of ethanol, the alcohol in alcoholic drinks. Methanol, a very poisonous clear liquid, is mixed with a purple dye to make methylated spirits, used as a cleaner or fuel. In their natural, non-synthetic form both aspartic acid and phenylalanine are present in the human body in minute amounts as essential amino-acids involved in vital body functions. Their presence in these vital functions is carefully monitored by the body's self-correcting mechanisms.
Guzzling Diet Coke or chewing Wrigley's sugarless gum, however, releases excess amounts of these critical chemicals. At temperatures reached in sunbaked drinks seen outside service stations or in the human body, aspartame breaks down into its hazardous components that further degrade into even more dangerous byproducts. Methanol produces poisonous, carcinogenic formaldehyde (embalming fluid) and formic acid (ant sting poison). Phenylalanine converts to diketopiperazine (DKP), a tumour agent. Aspartic acid, though essential to normal brain function, in excess stimulates nerve cells to death, ultimately making holes in the brain.
Most aspartame poisoning victims go on for years getting gradually sicker and plaguing their doctors with symptoms which imitate a host of more easily named conditions. Hardly anyone thinks to query an additive approved by government, regulators and health authorities.
The supporters of aspartame safety including our Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA now called Food Standards Australia New Zealand FSANZ) admit to the 10% methanol content, but state that fruit has more methanol, which is untrue. Recent studies (e.g. Monte [l984] and Nisperos-Carriedo and Shaw [l990]) using gas chromatography demonstrate that methanol concentrations in fruit are extremely low and are outweighed by an abundance of ethanol, the natural antidote.  Aspartame has no ethanol to counter its methanol toxicity.
Ah, but what's the evidence for all these assertions I hear you say?
Aspartame has been one of the most widely investigated food poisons in the past 50 years.  It outranks monosodium glutamate (MSG), another popular food additive, in the sheer volume of adverse reactions listed in the over 100 scientific papers now listing aspartame health problems. In a recent survey of aspartame research the pro-aspartame group of scientists - who all asserted aspartame's safety - were all connected with Monsanto or Nutrasweet Corporation either by direct employment or as contractors or consultants.
Aspartame has been documented as causing headaches, numbness, fatigue, blurred vision and blindness, heart palpitations, brain lesions and tumours, memory loss, dizziness, muscle spasms, miscarriages, sexual dysfunction, irritability, anxiety attacks, vertigo, epileptic seizures, rashes, tachycardia, tinnitus, joint pain, nausea, mood alterations and depression, hearing loss, slurred speech, loss of taste, and insomnia, as well as eroding intelligence and short-term memory.  It also helps trigger multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, Epstein Barr, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, mental retardation, lymphoma, and birth defects.
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Wednesday, April 3, 2013

A Special Place in My Heart


I have a special place in my heart for Insanity.  Insanity is where my fitness journey began.  I've gone to the gym plenty of times and done plenty of workout videos in the past, but I have never worked out so hard with Insanity.  It's intense, but I could do it! Sure I had to take breaks and do things at my own pace, but I could do it! With Shakeology and Insanity, I lost 10 pounds the first month.  That is when I decided to start coaching because it completely changed my life.  This was the first time in my life, I was not getting migraines 2-3 times per week, I had more energy and I LOST 10 POUNDS!  I initially started this journey of health to lose weight, I didn't realize I would be getting off of daily migraine medication, having more energy and being happier would also be part of that.   Not a bad bonus:)
I have done Turbo Fire and Brazil Butt Lift---both I LOVE, but I think Insanity will be coming back to my DVD player again very shortly since it's almost SUMMER!
Watch this short video and see WHY Insanity works so good and why you see results so much faster than just going to the gym.


Insanity has NEVER gone on sale before! They just announced that during the month of April, Insanity will be on sale! The Challenge Pack is $25 off, plus it saves over $70 if bought separately. 

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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies


  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1/3 cup plain soy milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 ripe banana, cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or other favorite nut
  • 1/3 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips (such as Tropical Source) or Dark Chocolate Chips
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Whisk together oil, soy milk, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients; stir to combine. Fold in banana, walnuts, and chocolate chips.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop dough onto pan with a small ice-cream scoop. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown, turning baking sheet halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.
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