Your Diet for Treating Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

“Aspartame (NutraSweet) & Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), which stimulate pain receptors in the spinal cord”

Could you provide a reliable source for this information please? As we all know, there
is too much unsourced information of
dubious validity regarding food safety
floating around.

The underground gossip mill is currantly still operating and craving attention. Every coffee shop has one or two floating around giving “information” on any health subject.

http://www.blatmanpainclinic.com/blat_articles_12.htm

There is truth to this. I did a simple google search and here is one link discussing the issue.

I, myself, do not heed to a particular diet. After reading some of what you have here, i’m considering changing my mind and doing so.

Vabreeze:

>There is truth to this. I did a simple >google search and here is one link >discussing the issue.

Thanks for the link, which I looked at. To me this shows that all evidence points to aspartame being harmless. The abstract of the first paper mentioned in the aspartame section says “In no instance was there a detectable effect of the ingested aspartame. …. Similarly, side effects were equally distributed between asparatame and placebo.”

The other references give evidence for an increase in methanol after eating aspartame. In principle, this could be
harmful. However, note that according
to the FDA, one would need to consume approximately 1000 cans of soda in one sitting in order to obtain a harmful level of aspartame (source: Stegink LD, Filer LJ. Effects of aspartame ingestion on plasma aspartate, phenylalanine and methanol concentrations in potentially sensitive populations. In: Tschanz C, Butchko HH, Stargel WW, Kotsonis FN, eds. The clinical evaluation of a food additive. Assessment of aspartame. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1996: 87-113.)

Just to be clear, I don’t have any particular axe to grind regarding aspartame (am not involved in selling it
etc). I’m just concerned about a proliferation of dubious health information. If there is actually reliable information regarding the dangers of aspartame I would love to know about it.

Peter

Peter, I understand your desire to have references. I prefer referenced material myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t need references on this. I started having breathing problems related to Nutrasweet in 2002 but wasn’t able to link it to diet until much later. I switched to Splenda, and that worked for about 2 years. Now I can’t even get near Splenda without the exact same intense reaction (moderate shortness of breath) that takes hours or days to dissipate (depending on how much I’ve ingested). Even several sips will do it. I’m switching to Stevia (if anything) but try just to stay away from all sweeteners as well as ALL gluten and sugar.

I understand your concern also. I think one of the main issues here would be with chemical sensitivities. While in most instances the substance may not be a problem, but for those with sensitivities it can be harmful. Here is another link that might shed more light on the subject for you Peter. http://www.aspartamesafety.com/

Take care.

I am not chemically sensitive – perhaps mildly so – but I found in the early years that if I combined the wrong foods, I’d feel much sicker. For example, for me its chocolate and tomato foods – like eating a pizza then having chocolate ice cream as a snack soon after.

It took a long time to realize this. So I encourage folks to pay attention to what you eat particularly if you’re having a relapse. Keep a diary or journal of what you ate just preceding your flare.

Eventually you may see a pattern.

Nancy

Yes, I agree VaBreeze. As Peter mentions, the FDA does state there are no known concerns with these products, but the FDA is not reviewing tests done on chemically sensitive subjects. In ME/CFS/FMS there are sensitivities to so many chemicals and food substances. So, for our particular populations, clinical knowledge (from experts in the field) must suffice. And the clinical experts in ME/CFS/FMS have found these to be the food substances that produce adverse effects in our patient population.

Peter, I agree that our information must be based on research and evidence. I appreciate that you have no financial interests in this matter. I do know that several friends’ children (aged 7-16) are extremely sensitive to red food dye. One child was having terrorish nightmares until all substances with red coloring were completely eliminated from his diet. I feel about the FDA somewhat like I feel about the CDC. These organizations do not act quickly and swiftly unless it can be proven without a doubt that the substance is potentially harmful to a larger group of subjects. I’ve learned over the past 7 years that the CDC is typically the LAST on the bandwagon unless it is an entity from a well-known source that has great potential damage to the vast public. I have learned to simply try to eat as healthy as possible. I am trying to stay away from man-made chemical additives and substances. I don’t use bottled water – only a purifier. And I try to use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning rather than the toxic substances. I don’t buy fragrances for the house unless they are essential oils, and I don’t burn cheap candles anymore. Life just needs to be more simple and filled with joy. That’s my “treatment” for ME/CFS/FMS.

Thanks for engaging in conversation on this. I’m enjoying your thoughts.

If someone has found some particular diet that
works for them, that’s great. Also, I certainly
agree that certain subsets of people may be more
sensitive to food additives. But it’s also very
important to make a clear distinction between
what has been reliably demonstrated to be true
in controlled experiments, and what is anecdotal. Anecdotal information can still be
true, of course. The trouble with anecdotal
information is that if one pokes around on the web enough one can easily convince oneself that almost every food is potentially toxic. I think we all know what I mean.

If Aspartame is harmful to people with fibro/CFS this could be demonstrated in a placebo controlled study. As far as I know this hasn’t been done, and so evidence in this direction is anecdotal (again, this doesn’t mean it is false).

The background for my tirade is that I have spent the better part of the last year voraciously researching causes and treatments of fibromyalgia in order to help my wife. After having read all the research I now have a fairly clear idea about what treatments are potentially helpful, at least in my wife’s case. It’s also clear that there is a vast amount of misinformation out there, which I think is harming a lot of people.

The other thing that is clear is that if you trust your doctor to help you with one of these conditions you are taking a big risk. Most of them are ignorant of the recent research.

Apologies for the rant.

Peter

In Survey of Aspartame studies: correlation of outcome and funding sources, Ralph G. Walton surveyed 166 studies of aspartame in peer reviewed medical literature. 74 studies had Nutrasweet industry related funding and 92 were independently funded. 100% of the industry funded research attested to aspartame’s safety, whereas 92% of the independently funded research identified a problem.

I didn’t review the actual studies because there is an overwhelming amount of them out there. I found this particular paragraph (above) to be quite interesting. In studies done with mice (which are much more sensitive than humans) it was found to be a harmful product.

If you have found something that works well for your wife, that is wonderful. But with fibro and ME, each person suffers in different ways and it’s necessary for them to discover what works too. If one consumes large amounts of a substance and they have severe symptoms, it could be that deleting it from their diet may be helpful. I, too, read as much info. as I can get my hands on about fibro. I have yet to find what works for me. I do not jump on the bandwagon and purchase antedotes just because they are being toted as ‘relief’…but if something makes sense i’ll certainly give it a try.

I have yet to read anything that may cause damage to others. One has to pick and choose their methods of treatment and stick with those that work.

**Praying for the cure.**

I am VERY suspicious of Peter’s claim regarding not having “an axe to grind”.

The stuff is chemical … “ARTIFICIAL” … F-A-K-E, Peter. Would you put antifreeze in your coffee if it tasted good and the FDA said it was ok??