Aspartame

The Truth About Aspartame http://aspartame.mercola.com/ (for more in depth info.)
Aspartame {most commonly known as "NutraSweet" or "Equal"} is a widely used artificial sweetener consumed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It is found in more than 6,000 products, including soft drinks, chewing gum, candy, yogurt, tabletop sweeteners, and some pharmaceuticals such as vitamins and sugar-free cough drops. The average aspartame daily intake in the general population ranges from 2 to 3 mg/kg body weight.

In humans, aspartame is metabolized into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. Methanol is then metabolized into formaldehyde.

Methanol = methyl alcohol = wood alcohol, is a poisonous liquid used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and was used by the Egyptians for embalming. Methanol is metabolized into formaldehyde, and formaldehyde is metabolized into formic acid. Methanol, formaldehyde, and formic acid are all extremely toxic especially to fetal tissues. Methanol, formaldehyde, and formic acid cause symptoms such as headache, dizziness, nausea, lack of coordination, confusion, and drowsiness. In lab experiments utilizing rats, methanol administered in drinking water increased the incidence of lymphomas and leukemias in female rats.

Aspartic acid, or aspartate, is an excitatory neurotransmitter and an excitotoxin or neurotoxin. It can enter the brain through holes in the blood brain barrier at the hypothalamus. Damage to the hypothalamus might cause fluid retention and reduced ability to control appetite, both of which are related to weight gain. This suggests that individuals using NutraSweet or Equal to control weight may actually experience weight gain. Seizures, blindness, sexual dysfunction, obesity, testicular, mammary and brain tumors and death, plus dozens of other dread diseases might arise from the consumption of this neurotoxin.

Another study suggests that there is evidence that aspartame causes behavioral reactions in children, headaches, seizures, and can adversely affect non-insulin dependent diabetics.

Personally, I don't care that the FDA says that aspartame is "safe." Where politics and greed are concerned, science can be conveniently ignored. I chose NOT to chance my one precious brain to exposure to a neurotoxin.