Sweet Poison. Janet Starr Hull
went on I began to realize that there were reasons for symptoms. These children did not have a Ritalin deficiency or a lack of penicillin. They were being poisoned by air, water and food, and their immune systems were failing. My wake-up call came when I realized that almost all hyper children (now labeled ADD) were low in magnesium, essential fatty acids and some B vitamins. They were often needlessly treated with antibiotics for virus infections. That changed their gut flora. We had to start all over.
Just a brief review of standard medical literature indicated that our topsoil was disappearing and with the processing of food, nothing was left in our store-bought food but sugar, starch, flavors and trans-fats (the bad kind). Store-bought food leads to store-bought diseases. When I made sure that children got whole foods plus some vital minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids, many of their symptoms disappeared. They were not depressed. They were less sick. They would concentrate in school. I began to ask the right questions.
“Is your child a Jekyll and Hyde type?” Alternating between good and bad behavior is a give-away clue for hypoglycemia due to sugar ingestion or food sensitivities.
“Did your child have ear infections as an infant?” Ear infections mean cow milk has produced mucus in the ear tubes.
“Is your child restless and hyper-alert?” When the teacher complains about the child’s inability to sit still in the classroom, it usually means that he is low in magnesium.
And so it goes. I was realizing that for almost every symptom that the parents complained to me about their child, there was a nutritional component involved. Ben Feingold discovered that many unruly children had reactions when they ate foods containing salicylate. MSG was a problem to many. We began to question everything that was not organic, or pesticide-free.
When aspartame came on the market, the incidence of reactions to food shot up. People were passing out, becoming depressed, having seizures, and developing symptoms of thyroid imbalance (Read about Jan in this book). Deaths have even been reported. When the FDA is asked about these reactions, they have two clever answers: (1) Research indicates that it is safe, and (2) Aspartame is considered food, so the FDA does not have to take note of these reactions.
The mixture of these potentially toxic substances in aspartame is about 160 times as sweet as plain sugar. What a concept. People who need their food and coffee to taste sweet would not get the unwanted calories. But look at what happens in the body. When this sweet taste hits the tongue, the message goes to the hypothalamus in the lower brain and states, “Incoming sugar!” This nerve center sends a message to the pancreas to squirt out some insulin in preparation for the sugary calories. But no sugar arrives. The insulin lowers the blood sugar, and, in some people, it could drop to a point where the brain cannot function. Pilots pass out at the controls in the cockpit. Some folks will have seizures. An occasional child will become hyperactive. Some people will get pounding headaches. Many are depressed when they swallow this stuff. Mary Stoddard, founder of Aspartame Consumer Safety Network, got eosinophilia myalgia. Janet got a diagnosable illness: Graves’ disease.
How many doctors ask the question, “What are you eating and drinking?” Even if the patient asks if it could be aspartame, the doctor reassures the patient with, “Nah. You’re depressed. Let’s try some Prozac.” If treating a wild and hyper child, the doctor might say, “He needs Ritalin.”
Janet Hull has been through all these hassles. You will not have to do the same. Even if you do not have any reportable symptoms, you will be amazed at how much better you feel and sleep after two weeks of being off the stuff. That may be the hardest trick: to eat without inadvertently getting some of it in your diet.
Janet has put up one more flag to tell us that we must be as organic as possible.
Dr. Lendon H. Smith
June 1998
To all who are just beginning a healing journey—may this book help open doors.
To Chad—what would life be without you? Your help with the book (and everything!) is invaluable to me. I love you so much.
To Gwenn Zylla, the greatest reader in the universe. Only you know how to put the finishing touches on my work! I couldn’t submit a page without you. You were always there to support me through this very long and tedious process. May we have many writing projects ahead of us.
To the Trophy Club volunteer firefighters, paramedics, and EMS team—the good energy each of you puts into the world by caring for others gives me hope for the future. I am proud to have been part of the team and will remember all of you forever.
To my Dad—you taught me to believe in myself and to never give up what I know is right. Thanks to you, I stayed with this project for over seven years. Thanks for believing in me. You always have.
Sweet Poison has undergone many transformations. Initially, I was simply keeping a journal about a strange disease that appeared out of nowhere. No one knew the cause of my life-threatening case of Graves’ disease, and I was concerned that the proposed drastic solutions might not be the right ones for me. Before I agreed to them, I wanted to know why I was sick. I thought writing down my experiences would help me decide my fate. Indeed, it has done just that!
When I discovered the chemical sweetener aspartame caused my illness, my personal journal shaped Sweet Poison. As I became more involved in the aspartame issue, however, I uncovered hundreds of documents contradicting the NutraSweet Company’s claim of product safety. I unearthed research showing marked danger to pregnant women, to unborn fetuses, and to children. I was outraged to learn that as early as the 1960s, FDA and government officials were aware of this research and the challenges to the safety and long term effects of aspartame.
Sweet Poison transformed into a quest to help others with similar experiences conquer the deadly effects of chemical sweeteners.
I believe it’s time to step back and re-evaluate the FDA approval process; to acknowledge the power behind advertising dollars and media sponsorship vs. responsible journalism; to monitor sincerity within the American Medical Association information networks; to critique the quality of contemporary nutrition offered at American medical schools (or lack of); to challenge the bullying behind the approval of other alternative sweeteners; to reexamine the safety of saccharin; and to expose the media’s “information blackout” concerning topics such as aspartame safety.
The Aspartame Consumer Safety Network (ACSN), along with many journalists, pilots, lawyers, and independent researchers, has tried to reach the public with the truth behind aspartame. It has been a long struggle.
Thanks to my pioneering literary agents, Jeff and Deborah Herman, and my enterprising publisher, Dr. Joan Dunphy, readers around the world now have the opportunity to know the truth about aspartame.
The lack of available information exposing the dangerous side effects of aspartame forced me to dig for hidden truths while I was recovering from a deadly disease. I not only stood firmly against my doctor’s advice, but wearily breached the unknown and stood my ground against the threat of death. All I endured can be sourced to one thing, the lack of information about aspartame—the absence of truth.
If telling of my experience helps others, it will give meaning to the suffering I have endured.
Flames roar over my head. “Get down! Get down” Lieutenant Skinner yells. “It’ going to flash over!” As I crawled along the narrow hallway of the burning trailer home, my left fire boot slid off.
Damn it! How can I fight a fire if my boot won’t stay on my foot?
I can’t see a thing! I can’t wear my contact lenses because they’ll melt in my eyes,