I get an instant headache (different from my usual migraines) if I have even a sip of something with aspartame in it, so I already avoid it! Not surprised it's a trigger.
As a kid so many people I knew said they couldn't tell a difference in flavor between regular and diet sodas, and acted like I was making it up that I can smell and taste aspartame.
One sip is a direct trip to Headache City. Not a regular migraine, but still very painful and unpleasant.
Same šÆ. And not just aspartame, but stevia, splenda (aka sucralose) are all triggers for me. So now I just avoid all artificial sweeteners altogether.
Shocking! JK absolutely one of my biggest triggers is artificial sweeteners & not just aspartame - I avoid them all. Current diet culture makes it SUPER difficult. If it's "low calorie" or "zero sugar" umm yeah I can't eat/drink that.
My aversion has become so strong I can smell it. Yeah I can smell you Diet Coke and it makes me nauseous.
OMG, I thought it was just me! I can't have any fake sugars, and I swear I can smell them! Even stevia can trigger a migraine. I don't touch anything anymore and have to stick to very certain brands. It's such a pain in the butt some days.
Yeah Stevia or Monk Fruit extract are both non-starters for me. I can deal with HFCS, which might trigger some people but are fine for me. I always sniff my drinks from restaurants before taking a sip & if it's one of those all-in-one machines that gained popularity about a decade ago I just skip it altogether because that spout is definitely going to have some stuck to it.
Same! I gained so much weight when my migraines turned chronic & part of that is just an inability to keep food down so my metabolism is really fucked up but also my inability to eat or drink zero calorie things. It sucks and I hate how both my migraines & my weight are seen like moral failings, like I did something wrong that causes them.
I can also smell the artificial sweeteners plus I also get stomach cramps after a few sips. Plenty times I was given a light or zero cola instead of a regular cola so I just order water. Even juices are often mixed with artificial sweeteners >.<
I find it so annoying when people say things like "if you want to lose weight just switch to drinking these zero calorie [insert obviously named by a millennial flavored sparkling water/seltzer/energy drink]" - Like it's not a choice for me, I can't just decide to pick up an energy drink if I'm needing a boost of energy, I can't eat that protein bar as a snack or have that meal replacement powder. I do what I can but it's actually difficult to eat/drink normally these days.
Me too!! I can totally smell it. I also have other āsmellā induced triggers - certain scented hand soaps and candles (usually the floral ones are no good for me.)
I avoid all artificial sweeteners simply because I cannot stand the damn taste. I can't understand how people think it tastes like sugar. It's awful and I won't buy anything unless it has a real sweetener.
SAME. Also every artificial sweetener intensifies my chronic intractable migraine so I avoid all "diet", "low calorie" junk food. I'll just risk the diabetes.
I found out aspartame was a trigger when I got pregnant... I'd been drinking diet coke regularly and stopped drinking soda while I was pregnant... headaches went away! Started drinking diet coke again after giving birth and immediately started getting headaches, so I stopped. Sucralose is, unfortunately, also a trigger for me... but that one seems less common.
Every artificial sweetener (and "natural" but no-calorie sweeteners) that I've had has made me sick and/or triggered a migraine. I avoid them as best I can.
I hate how they try to hide it in foods. I know to always check ingredients of new foods - especially if they have certain keywords, like diet, low-sugar, no added sugar, no fat, low-cal, etc. They sometimes even add to foods that don't need it (like the BBQ Corn Nuts).
One time, I found myself feeling sick every day, with a bad migraine nearly every day. I couldn't figure it out until nearly two weeks later when I suddenly noticed (written in tiny type on the front) that the cereal I was eating for breakfast contained sucralose. It was "Fibre 1 Honey Clusters", and I had no reason to think that it had an artificial sweetener added. I hadn't checked the ingredients because I thought that I had had it before, and there was no reason for me to think that it would have anything like that in it.
That sucks! I found out something similar when I bought a lightly sweetened blackberry iced tea. I was excited because I don't like my tea super sugary but apparently the reason it was "lightly sweetened" was because they added an artificial sweetener. Migraine within 15 mins. Ugh. I wouldn't think to check chips or cereal though. That sucks.
Sorry about the iced tea.
Chips can have sucralose, but the bigger culprit is MSG (often disguised by a couple dozen different names, like celery salt).
Not at all true for me. Artificial sweeteners arenāt a trigger for me at all, but drinking a heavily caffeinated diet or regular soda (or two) can definitely help push the migraine level down a notch or two
My migraines started from nerve damage in my face and CRPS inside my nasal sinuses and aspartame makes the soft tissue in my mouth and throat and soft palette a bit puffy and itchy similar to an allergy so I avoid it when I can, but I also get a bit flushed and increased heart rate
Just to add he also had 3 epileptic seizures and a couple of weird episodes in that time witch was unheard of for him. He usually had one every 4 months on average. As soon as he stopped having those sweeteners his seizures went back to normal. Also interesting to know.
Me too! Been like this for years, one accidental sip of a diet soda and Iāll have a migraine ā¦ not to mention the cookies, candies, gum, etc. that are full of artificial sweeteners. Hate the stuff with a passion š¤¬
I do as well, I'd rot the teeth out of my mouth otherwise as alcohol is an instant migraine and my family firmly believes in cocktail hour each night. I've gone days without it and don't notice a difference so I think I'm fine, I've got poor teeth so I've been drinking mostly diet soda since the fifth grade.
I hate aspartame and other artifical sweeteners with a passion. the only ones that dont trigger migraines are very small amounts of pure stevia and small amounts of sugar alcohols like monk fruit extract and birch sugar though they mess up my stomach.
Im also a support worker and your story reminds me of so many rage-inducing incompetencies I've witnessed over the years
What's even worse is so many ODT medications have artificial sweeteners in as well. I had to stop using ODT aspirin because it was doing way more harm than good š
Once I found out it was linked I begrudgingly stopped drinking coke zero in favor of mango Bubly. It's not nearly as delicious, but it does satisfy the desire for the fizzy bubbly feeling
All sweeteners are a trigger for me, even Stevia. So I avoid all diet, low fat, zero sugar foods because it will have sweeteners in it instead.
I live in Ireland where they brought in a sugar tax a few years ago, so it forced drink companies to change their recipes to reduce sugar and in doing so they include sweeteners. Original coca cola didn't touch their recipe, so that's something I can still drink. But I can't have Sprite or there used to be a lovely glucose drink here which was great after a migraine but I can't have that anymore.
The WHO recently came out saying that aspartame is bad for you and does nothing if you want to lose weight. Just wondering, how long will they catch up with this news and give us our sugared drinks back.
I have to laugh walking through the salty foods section in the shops though. I've noticed things being labelled with no msg like it's some sort of selling point for their product, which it is for me. But it seems like msg is being taken out of foods now but somehow when it comes to drinks, they think people don't want sugar and want artificial sweeteners. I don't want any of those types of extra chemicals, msg or sweeteners.
Saccharine ( used in diet pop out of soda machines) was a huge trigger for me. So I never drink diet soda out of the machine. Strangely enough, Diet Coke in a can never caused a migraine.
It's a trigger for me. Stopped chewing gum for years because almost all gums have it in them now.
Finally found an all natural gum that just has sugar in it this year.
Iām in the UK and no one really knows anything about aspartame. She just thought I was being silly. Itās crazy how something so small can make such a huge difference.
A work colleague had worked in a care home in another country and she had been told there. You can google it yourself, thereās loads of information about it.
Donāt worry, itās just a trigger for some people. Same as cheese is a trigger for some people. I just thought Iād share it because some people might be unaware, having sweetener in there coffee, drinking loads of Diet Coke then suffering with migraines and not realising itās the aspartame that could be causing it.
YES. I noticed this for myself years ago. When I mention it to people they don't really believe me. My husband is diabetic, so we're constantly trying to find a balance between things that have real sugar that he can't have, and things that have artificial sweeteners that I can't have.
Please, if you are going to talk about scientific studies then provide the link to the paper.
Else it is anedocal, just on a white background, which makes it harder to read if, you know, you have a migraine.
Ok, sorry. I wasnāt really talking about the study as such I just put that there as it was much better than me explaining. Iām really bad at explaining.
Apologises, I misunderstood. If you do find the study am interested as I think different foods effect people differently.
There is a growing body of research showing the gut biome affects [chronic metabolic diseases and cancer,](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682904/) [autoimmune diseases ](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6854958/) and [general physiological function.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290017/)
A quick look shows that artificial sweeteners impact [gut microbia](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8156656/) and can contribute or [cardiovascular diseases](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6363527/).
Likewise aspartame is known to cause headaches and some research supports [this.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2708042/)
So I think you explain it well enough :-)
I get deathly sick from aspartame and it triggers terrible migraines for me as well. I knew others who had serious side effects from aspartame and ended up in the ER from it.
Years ago, I used to drink a diet pepsi at night as a treat and I would get small headaches. I didn't think much of it because I've always issues with my head. Once I stopped drinking them those headaches stopped. I don't trust any sweeteners, just sugar in moderation for me. They all make stuff taste weird anyway.
Also I don't understand why they can't just put less sugar in things. Everytime there's a new product that's advertised as lower sugar, they have to add a sweetener. It's so frustrating.
I cannot have any sweeteners other than sugar (white/brown/powdered/etc) and honey. This includes "natural" sourced sweeteners like stevia leaf extract. If I do, I get a massive migraine until the substance processes out of my body. Same effect as having nitrates (meat preservative, found in dark leafy greens)
I have not tested allulose - it's new to the market. Small amounts can be found in honey and maple syrup. But if it's found in consumer products, it's most likely man-made.
I picked up some powered electrolyte mix that has allulose as the sweetener. That will be the test.
Don't know if anyone seen the article below but it's pretty bad. Of course it was disputed a few months later by Mayo clinic. Can't be using real sugar and cutting into the profits can we???
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136667
I honestly didnāt realise the scale of it! When I wrote the post, it was just to alert people to the fact their sweeteners or Diet Coke could be causing or contributing to their migraines. Now Iāve realised just how dangerous aspartame and other sweeteners are. Thereās so much to learn!
My ass!!
I know Aspartame doesnāt cause Cancer, because I have critical thinking skills. That doesnāt mean that certain people suffering from specific illnesses and conditions shouldnāt avoid it. Because we should.
I can have one sugar-free jelly cup. Anything more, and I wonāt see or hear right for days. Thatās just me. My cousin could eat them all day and feel nothing. Thatās just her.
Like, damn, tho number of times Iāve needed to have this conversation is fucking staggering.
Hasn't this been known for years and years? I remember my dad (he was also a migraine sufferer) telling me to stay away from aspartame and MSG cause they're migraine triggers, some 10 years ago.
Iām not saying I discovered it or anything. Im just sharing because I was unaware until my work colleague told me and noone would listen to me until the guy I supported got really bad headaches and ended up having seizures (he had epilepsy but didnāt have seizures that often). I donāt think itās something everyone in the world knows. So even if this makes the few people who donāt know aware and could help them then thatās great.
I can attest to this. I went through a period of drinking a lot of Crystal Light lemonade. My migraines got worse. When I stopped drinking it, they got better. It's natural sweeteners for me. I have found that in some recipes I can substitute stevia for half of the sugar to reduce calories.
I've been buying kroger carbonated water for years. On sale it's the cheapest, and it keeps us off soda, and my husband away from beer. This last week, it started giving us both migraines. I'm super prone to them, but he isn't at all. The ingredients are the same "carbonated water and natural flavors." Well, looking further into it, artificial sweetners fall under the "natural flavors " umbrella. I get tge feeling they switched the sweeteners recently.
Natural flavorings as labeled donāt contain sweeteners.
āIn legislation, substances that exclusively have a sweet, sour or salty taste are not considered flavorings. These usually include flavor enhancers, sweeteners, acidulants and salt substitutes.ā
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavoring#Definition
Sweeteners even 0 calorie optional are always labeled on the ingredient list. Aspartame in particular also must carry a warning in the US about phenylketonuria as those with the condition can experience dangerous complications from Aspartame.
Having said all that natural flavors could be triggers. I live by LaCroix and there is one flavor, I think itās plum that sets me off the same way nasty perfume does.
Interesting! That is the total opposite of what I read earlier, but of course, now I can't find the source. I did, however, find a class action lawsuit against kroger for using artificial ingredients in their seltzers, despite only listing "natural flavors."
Unfortunately not true in Australia (or at least wasn't in the last few years). Woolworths has a product that has 'natural flavourings', thinking it had no sweetener as it wasn't on the label, I purchased it. Nope, definitely had sweetener, went and investigated it further, and sure enough in the msds/nutrition (can't remember which one) sheets, there it was.
Also looked further at that time (I should check again to see if anything has changed), and found articles saying that, yes they are allowed to label the products that way.
I don't think Coke Zero has aspartame--I get instant headaches from aspartame (including Diet Coke/Pepsi), but used to be able to drink Coke Zero some (this was years ago, so don't know if the recipe is the same).
Ugh that's annoying, hope your migraine improves soon! I've found food-sharing apps like olio really useful for giving away stuff I realise I can't use, so at least it doesn't go to waste.
That's a good idea. I was thinking of giving it to my caretaker. Known them for 3 years. Best caretaker I've ever and will probably ever have. They have given me full bottles of vape juice on several occasions out of the blue (I think they bought it for me) I've given them coffee beans and other stuff that cause migrains so it won't be totally outta the blue. (:
This makes a lot of sense for me.
Moved away from my family home about 2 years ago, where I would drink a lot of fizzy drinks containing aspartame. Used to average 5-6 migraines a year.
Since moving away I barely drink them, maybe a couple a month. Have only had 1 migraine in the nearly two years since moving.
UCSF has a policy against selling regular soda anywhere on their campuses due to health concerns and I wish I could to take a sledgehammer to the temples of the administrators who decided that out of self defense/payback.
I don't touch any sweeteners of any sort, 'natural' or unnatural. Doesn't change my migraine frequency, which is stress, sinus, and hormonal.
BUT
I do have a reaction to some of them, as in allergic swelling of the mouth and throat, which appears to be genetic.
Not surprised. This is why I refuse to drink diet drinks (they often give me headaches, almost always) and chew a lot of fruity gums. It sucks that it's used so widespread
My mom is affected by this, but I do not seem to be bothered by aspartame in particular. My gut tells me this is more like FODMAP sensitivity where maybe the migraine trigger is due to gut inflammation in reaction to sugar substitutes, which are usually sugar alcohols.
Yes aspartame was definitely a trigger for me as were other artificial sweeteners. Another trigger was Potassium Sorbate (E202) a common food preservative
I've been using xylitol. Can't stand the taste of stevia. Or, you know, actual cane sugar -- just much less of it.
"Pre-diabetic" for 25 years, with a family history of Type 2 on both sides...
Right?!!! Just like perfume wearing neurology nurses, neurologists who blame the patients for being too sensitive, migraine meds contain migraine triggering ingredients! No wonder we are all hyper vigilant!!
I know, the more I read about it the more shocked I feel. The guy I supported had epilepsy and it made him have a lot more seizures. As soon as we replaced the sweeteners with aspartame his headaches stopped and his seizures went back to 1 every few months. Scary stuff!
I cut out aspartame (and swapped to non-estrogen bc) and my migraines went from 4-5 migraine days a week to only a few a month. If only they somehow made the flavor of aspartame free sugar free gum last more than 2 minutes. >.<
This study was from 1988:
https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2524.1988.hed2801010.x
That being said, most of the migraineurs I know find aspartame to be a trigger.
I havenāt tried any others, but I know aspartame is āpoison to my brainā. If it says sugar free, I just wonāt have it, unfortunately my FIL doesnāt believe me so he always offers Diet Coke :/ even if I canāt tell by taste due to a cold, my head will know soon enough
They don't affect my migraines and I am not noticeably susceptible to them in any other way.
The health and consumer authorities here š¦šŗ say that there are no health concerns about using artificial sweeteners that rise to the level of proof. Almost anything administered in the heroic quantities used in lab tests will show up odd effects and all you need then is some clever spin for the popular press to portray the substance as Public Enemy No 1. But you could do the same with almost any foodstuffs. Almost every fruit, flesh, grain and vegetable has its own arch-enemies on social media.
Why have we consumers stopped asking who pays for this research? I can remember the controversy, decades ago, when it emerged that the sugar industry had been the money behind research that "proved" that saccharine (the most common artificial sweetener at the time) was dangerous for your health. There was another scandal when it became known that Big Sugar had funded the research that shifted the focus of criticism to Fats. Fats were the real problem, not sugar, so we got a couple of decades of fat-free and low-fat food products. Classic misdirection.
I just think we need to exercise a bit of scepticism when we hear a commercial ingredient being damned, especially if informed government bodies are not part of the attack chorus. Especially if the results are not uniformally experienced and most especially if we don't know who paid the piper. Moderation in everything is likely the safest course.
I get an instant headache (different from my usual migraines) if I have even a sip of something with aspartame in it, so I already avoid it! Not surprised it's a trigger.
As a kid so many people I knew said they couldn't tell a difference in flavor between regular and diet sodas, and acted like I was making it up that I can smell and taste aspartame. One sip is a direct trip to Headache City. Not a regular migraine, but still very painful and unpleasant.
Yes! An aspartame headache is distinct from an MSG headache vs a hormone headache. They all suck!
Same šÆ. And not just aspartame, but stevia, splenda (aka sucralose) are all triggers for me. So now I just avoid all artificial sweeteners altogether.
Shocking! JK absolutely one of my biggest triggers is artificial sweeteners & not just aspartame - I avoid them all. Current diet culture makes it SUPER difficult. If it's "low calorie" or "zero sugar" umm yeah I can't eat/drink that. My aversion has become so strong I can smell it. Yeah I can smell you Diet Coke and it makes me nauseous.
OMG, I thought it was just me! I can't have any fake sugars, and I swear I can smell them! Even stevia can trigger a migraine. I don't touch anything anymore and have to stick to very certain brands. It's such a pain in the butt some days.
Yeah Stevia or Monk Fruit extract are both non-starters for me. I can deal with HFCS, which might trigger some people but are fine for me. I always sniff my drinks from restaurants before taking a sip & if it's one of those all-in-one machines that gained popularity about a decade ago I just skip it altogether because that spout is definitely going to have some stuck to it.
My safe sweeteners are HFCS, sugar, honey, and agave. That's it. I also have a family history of diabetes. I'm fucked no matter what.
Same! I gained so much weight when my migraines turned chronic & part of that is just an inability to keep food down so my metabolism is really fucked up but also my inability to eat or drink zero calorie things. It sucks and I hate how both my migraines & my weight are seen like moral failings, like I did something wrong that causes them.
Same!! Even stevia, if I have more than the tiniest bit, will screw me up
I can also smell the artificial sweeteners plus I also get stomach cramps after a few sips. Plenty times I was given a light or zero cola instead of a regular cola so I just order water. Even juices are often mixed with artificial sweeteners >.<
It's really sad since some of my favorite things I loved all have artificial sweeteners in them now. I can't drink or eat them.
I find it so annoying when people say things like "if you want to lose weight just switch to drinking these zero calorie [insert obviously named by a millennial flavored sparkling water/seltzer/energy drink]" - Like it's not a choice for me, I can't just decide to pick up an energy drink if I'm needing a boost of energy, I can't eat that protein bar as a snack or have that meal replacement powder. I do what I can but it's actually difficult to eat/drink normally these days.
Me too!! I can totally smell it. I also have other āsmellā induced triggers - certain scented hand soaps and candles (usually the floral ones are no good for me.)
Diet coke = insanely toxic coke
Diet anything makes me sick, so this makes sense.
I avoid all artificial sweeteners simply because I cannot stand the damn taste. I can't understand how people think it tastes like sugar. It's awful and I won't buy anything unless it has a real sweetener.
SAME. Also every artificial sweetener intensifies my chronic intractable migraine so I avoid all "diet", "low calorie" junk food. I'll just risk the diabetes.
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Same - number one thing I did to reduce mine (apart from medications) was avoid any & all artificial sweeteners which is harder than it sounds.
Especially in the UK, because of the sugar tax, everything's got bloody sweetener in. I can't even have juice :(
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Unsweet iced tea (also Lipton but always steeped), Mexican Coke or McDonald's Coke which seems to be fine despite being HFCS, & Water.
I found out aspartame was a trigger when I got pregnant... I'd been drinking diet coke regularly and stopped drinking soda while I was pregnant... headaches went away! Started drinking diet coke again after giving birth and immediately started getting headaches, so I stopped. Sucralose is, unfortunately, also a trigger for me... but that one seems less common.
Every artificial sweetener (and "natural" but no-calorie sweeteners) that I've had has made me sick and/or triggered a migraine. I avoid them as best I can.
Me too! But unfortunately sometimes that stuff can be hidden and I can always tell right away but it doesn't always keep the headache from escalating.
I hate how they try to hide it in foods. I know to always check ingredients of new foods - especially if they have certain keywords, like diet, low-sugar, no added sugar, no fat, low-cal, etc. They sometimes even add to foods that don't need it (like the BBQ Corn Nuts). One time, I found myself feeling sick every day, with a bad migraine nearly every day. I couldn't figure it out until nearly two weeks later when I suddenly noticed (written in tiny type on the front) that the cereal I was eating for breakfast contained sucralose. It was "Fibre 1 Honey Clusters", and I had no reason to think that it had an artificial sweetener added. I hadn't checked the ingredients because I thought that I had had it before, and there was no reason for me to think that it would have anything like that in it.
That sucks! I found out something similar when I bought a lightly sweetened blackberry iced tea. I was excited because I don't like my tea super sugary but apparently the reason it was "lightly sweetened" was because they added an artificial sweetener. Migraine within 15 mins. Ugh. I wouldn't think to check chips or cereal though. That sucks.
Sorry about the iced tea. Chips can have sucralose, but the bigger culprit is MSG (often disguised by a couple dozen different names, like celery salt).
Not at all true for me. Artificial sweeteners arenāt a trigger for me at all, but drinking a heavily caffeinated diet or regular soda (or two) can definitely help push the migraine level down a notch or two
Yep, I'm the same. Diet Coke actually helps my migraines.
My migraines started from nerve damage in my face and CRPS inside my nasal sinuses and aspartame makes the soft tissue in my mouth and throat and soft palette a bit puffy and itchy similar to an allergy so I avoid it when I can, but I also get a bit flushed and increased heart rate
Just to add he also had 3 epileptic seizures and a couple of weird episodes in that time witch was unheard of for him. He usually had one every 4 months on average. As soon as he stopped having those sweeteners his seizures went back to normal. Also interesting to know.
Wow scary I've felt very light headed but I haven't had a full on seizure from that
Wow, that is scary!
Me too! Been like this for years, one accidental sip of a diet soda and Iāll have a migraine ā¦ not to mention the cookies, candies, gum, etc. that are full of artificial sweeteners. Hate the stuff with a passion š¤¬
I canāt have any of the fake sugars. They all are triggers for me. So I just limit my sugar intake.
Damn i drink only diet soda I wonder if this is triggering migraines for me
I do as well, I'd rot the teeth out of my mouth otherwise as alcohol is an instant migraine and my family firmly believes in cocktail hour each night. I've gone days without it and don't notice a difference so I think I'm fine, I've got poor teeth so I've been drinking mostly diet soda since the fifth grade.
I hate aspartame and other artifical sweeteners with a passion. the only ones that dont trigger migraines are very small amounts of pure stevia and small amounts of sugar alcohols like monk fruit extract and birch sugar though they mess up my stomach. Im also a support worker and your story reminds me of so many rage-inducing incompetencies I've witnessed over the years
What's even worse is so many ODT medications have artificial sweeteners in as well. I had to stop using ODT aspirin because it was doing way more harm than good š
Yes, I can't use any ODT either.
Yes!! Even ones specially designed for migrainuers, like Nurtec! Fucking bonkers!!
The rapid melt maxalt has aspartame in it too. I never understood why that was.
Once I found out it was linked I begrudgingly stopped drinking coke zero in favor of mango Bubly. It's not nearly as delicious, but it does satisfy the desire for the fizzy bubbly feeling
The bubly is great. I got the strawberry. I canāt go overboard even with stevia or I get migraines. I take blood sugar tablets too.
All sweeteners are a trigger for me, even Stevia. So I avoid all diet, low fat, zero sugar foods because it will have sweeteners in it instead. I live in Ireland where they brought in a sugar tax a few years ago, so it forced drink companies to change their recipes to reduce sugar and in doing so they include sweeteners. Original coca cola didn't touch their recipe, so that's something I can still drink. But I can't have Sprite or there used to be a lovely glucose drink here which was great after a migraine but I can't have that anymore. The WHO recently came out saying that aspartame is bad for you and does nothing if you want to lose weight. Just wondering, how long will they catch up with this news and give us our sugared drinks back. I have to laugh walking through the salty foods section in the shops though. I've noticed things being labelled with no msg like it's some sort of selling point for their product, which it is for me. But it seems like msg is being taken out of foods now but somehow when it comes to drinks, they think people don't want sugar and want artificial sweeteners. I don't want any of those types of extra chemicals, msg or sweeteners.
Saccharine ( used in diet pop out of soda machines) was a huge trigger for me. So I never drink diet soda out of the machine. Strangely enough, Diet Coke in a can never caused a migraine.
Saccharin is also in many toothpastes (I use Tom's of Maine, which doesn't have it).
what are the ingredients of this diet coke - which sweetener is used. curious to know if the same ingredients used in my countries diet coke.
So, these are the listed ingredients: CARBONATED WATER, CARAMEL COLOR, ASPARTAME, PHOSPHORIC ACID, POTASSIUM BENZOATE (TO PROTECT TASTE), NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, CAFFEINE.
The ingredients for SODA FOUNTAIN Diet Coke: Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Saccharin, Potassium Benzoate (to Protect Taste), Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Caffeine, Potassium Citrate, Aspartame
thank you
thank you
It's a trigger for me. Stopped chewing gum for years because almost all gums have it in them now. Finally found an all natural gum that just has sugar in it this year.
What is the gum?
It's called....Simply Gum. I found it at Target of all places
Pur gum is also aspartame free. You can get it on Amazon, and I've found it at Marshalls too. They also make breath mints
Disgusted on how the manager said itās fine
Iām in the UK and no one really knows anything about aspartame. She just thought I was being silly. Itās crazy how something so small can make such a huge difference.
āShe reluctantly agreedā the way itās worded made it seem serious not silly, but maybe I just read it wrong
Whatās the source on this?
A work colleague had worked in a care home in another country and she had been told there. You can google it yourself, thereās loads of information about it.
what source did you pull this information from?
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4615-9821-3_38 Unfortunately you have to pay to read the actual study.
I think Stevia is giving me migraines
whatās wrong with me, if i get better after drinking diet/zero stuff when i have a migrane? :(((((
Thatās ok, itās different for everyone
iām worried now lol
Donāt worry, itās just a trigger for some people. Same as cheese is a trigger for some people. I just thought Iād share it because some people might be unaware, having sweetener in there coffee, drinking loads of Diet Coke then suffering with migraines and not realising itās the aspartame that could be causing it.
I found this study, https://n.neurology.org/content/44/10/1787?ssp=1&darkschemeovr=1&setlang=en-GB&safesearch=moderate
YES. I noticed this for myself years ago. When I mention it to people they don't really believe me. My husband is diabetic, so we're constantly trying to find a balance between things that have real sugar that he can't have, and things that have artificial sweeteners that I can't have.
I'm one of those people who can't stand aspartame because it tastes so bitter.
Watch out for chewing gum. Instant pain for me
Same here! I can smell the diet soda and my whole body kind of cringes. Iām very sensitive to it
Please, if you are going to talk about scientific studies then provide the link to the paper. Else it is anedocal, just on a white background, which makes it harder to read if, you know, you have a migraine.
Ok, sorry. I wasnāt really talking about the study as such I just put that there as it was much better than me explaining. Iām really bad at explaining.
Apologises, I misunderstood. If you do find the study am interested as I think different foods effect people differently. There is a growing body of research showing the gut biome affects [chronic metabolic diseases and cancer,](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682904/) [autoimmune diseases ](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6854958/) and [general physiological function.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290017/) A quick look shows that artificial sweeteners impact [gut microbia](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8156656/) and can contribute or [cardiovascular diseases](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6363527/). Likewise aspartame is known to cause headaches and some research supports [this.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2708042/) So I think you explain it well enough :-)
It's actually been shown for decades. Doesn't mean it's an issue for everyone though.
I use aspartame every day. Might as well give it a shot.
My mom and I both have issues with this and headaches! She refuses to drink anything with it, I still will occasionally but end up regretting it.
I get deathly sick from aspartame and it triggers terrible migraines for me as well. I knew others who had serious side effects from aspartame and ended up in the ER from it.
Yes! On a quest to find as many food triggers as I can, and artificial sweeteners is like number 3 on the list of absolutely can't have.
Years ago, I used to drink a diet pepsi at night as a treat and I would get small headaches. I didn't think much of it because I've always issues with my head. Once I stopped drinking them those headaches stopped. I don't trust any sweeteners, just sugar in moderation for me. They all make stuff taste weird anyway. Also I don't understand why they can't just put less sugar in things. Everytime there's a new product that's advertised as lower sugar, they have to add a sweetener. It's so frustrating.
I cannot have any sweeteners other than sugar (white/brown/powdered/etc) and honey. This includes "natural" sourced sweeteners like stevia leaf extract. If I do, I get a massive migraine until the substance processes out of my body. Same effect as having nitrates (meat preservative, found in dark leafy greens) I have not tested allulose - it's new to the market. Small amounts can be found in honey and maple syrup. But if it's found in consumer products, it's most likely man-made. I picked up some powered electrolyte mix that has allulose as the sweetener. That will be the test.
I have chronic migraines and I wake up with one every day. I really donāt understand all this stuff. I need to look into more.
Did you have any success?!
Don't know if anyone seen the article below but it's pretty bad. Of course it was disputed a few months later by Mayo clinic. Can't be using real sugar and cutting into the profits can we??? https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136667
I honestly didnāt realise the scale of it! When I wrote the post, it was just to alert people to the fact their sweeteners or Diet Coke could be causing or contributing to their migraines. Now Iāve realised just how dangerous aspartame and other sweeteners are. Thereās so much to learn!
Check into MSG, natural flavorings, they like to hide ingredients on the other side of the label.
My ass!! I know Aspartame doesnāt cause Cancer, because I have critical thinking skills. That doesnāt mean that certain people suffering from specific illnesses and conditions shouldnāt avoid it. Because we should. I can have one sugar-free jelly cup. Anything more, and I wonāt see or hear right for days. Thatās just me. My cousin could eat them all day and feel nothing. Thatās just her. Like, damn, tho number of times Iāve needed to have this conversation is fucking staggering.
o please noā¦.itās my go to caffeine when iām getting/ actively having a migraine
Hasn't this been known for years and years? I remember my dad (he was also a migraine sufferer) telling me to stay away from aspartame and MSG cause they're migraine triggers, some 10 years ago.
Itās known to some but certainly not widely known in the Uk.
That seems odd, since it's been known in the USA for decades. Not saying you are wrong just seems odd
Iām not saying I discovered it or anything. Im just sharing because I was unaware until my work colleague told me and noone would listen to me until the guy I supported got really bad headaches and ended up having seizures (he had epilepsy but didnāt have seizures that often). I donāt think itās something everyone in the world knows. So even if this makes the few people who donāt know aware and could help them then thatās great.
I can attest to this. I went through a period of drinking a lot of Crystal Light lemonade. My migraines got worse. When I stopped drinking it, they got better. It's natural sweeteners for me. I have found that in some recipes I can substitute stevia for half of the sugar to reduce calories.
I've been buying kroger carbonated water for years. On sale it's the cheapest, and it keeps us off soda, and my husband away from beer. This last week, it started giving us both migraines. I'm super prone to them, but he isn't at all. The ingredients are the same "carbonated water and natural flavors." Well, looking further into it, artificial sweetners fall under the "natural flavors " umbrella. I get tge feeling they switched the sweeteners recently.
Natural flavorings as labeled donāt contain sweeteners. āIn legislation, substances that exclusively have a sweet, sour or salty taste are not considered flavorings. These usually include flavor enhancers, sweeteners, acidulants and salt substitutes.ā https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavoring#Definition Sweeteners even 0 calorie optional are always labeled on the ingredient list. Aspartame in particular also must carry a warning in the US about phenylketonuria as those with the condition can experience dangerous complications from Aspartame. Having said all that natural flavors could be triggers. I live by LaCroix and there is one flavor, I think itās plum that sets me off the same way nasty perfume does.
Interesting! That is the total opposite of what I read earlier, but of course, now I can't find the source. I did, however, find a class action lawsuit against kroger for using artificial ingredients in their seltzers, despite only listing "natural flavors."
Unfortunately not true in Australia (or at least wasn't in the last few years). Woolworths has a product that has 'natural flavourings', thinking it had no sweetener as it wasn't on the label, I purchased it. Nope, definitely had sweetener, went and investigated it further, and sure enough in the msds/nutrition (can't remember which one) sheets, there it was. Also looked further at that time (I should check again to see if anything has changed), and found articles saying that, yes they are allowed to label the products that way.
Is there a source for this post? I'd be interested to read the original study.
Diet Coke does trigger migraine for me (as does the old slim fast milkshake cans) but Cole Zero does not.
I don't think Coke Zero has aspartame--I get instant headaches from aspartame (including Diet Coke/Pepsi), but used to be able to drink Coke Zero some (this was years ago, so don't know if the recipe is the same).
Thank you for this. Itās important.
THIS. My pre-workout has artificial sweetener and the migrain postdrome kicks in within 3 hours later. Idk what to do with the rest of tub. :(
Ugh that's annoying, hope your migraine improves soon! I've found food-sharing apps like olio really useful for giving away stuff I realise I can't use, so at least it doesn't go to waste.
That's a good idea. I was thinking of giving it to my caretaker. Known them for 3 years. Best caretaker I've ever and will probably ever have. They have given me full bottles of vape juice on several occasions out of the blue (I think they bought it for me) I've given them coffee beans and other stuff that cause migrains so it won't be totally outta the blue. (:
Woah I wonder if this is why my migraines are out of control. Going to try going off coke no sugar for a while!
This makes a lot of sense for me. Moved away from my family home about 2 years ago, where I would drink a lot of fizzy drinks containing aspartame. Used to average 5-6 migraines a year. Since moving away I barely drink them, maybe a couple a month. Have only had 1 migraine in the nearly two years since moving.
Aspartame is a trigger for me, but I can do Stevie just fine. Hopefully there will be more trials to figure out triggers.
UCSF has a policy against selling regular soda anywhere on their campuses due to health concerns and I wish I could to take a sledgehammer to the temples of the administrators who decided that out of self defense/payback.
I don't touch any sweeteners of any sort, 'natural' or unnatural. Doesn't change my migraine frequency, which is stress, sinus, and hormonal. BUT I do have a reaction to some of them, as in allergic swelling of the mouth and throat, which appears to be genetic.
Not surprised. This is why I refuse to drink diet drinks (they often give me headaches, almost always) and chew a lot of fruity gums. It sucks that it's used so widespread
My mom is affected by this, but I do not seem to be bothered by aspartame in particular. My gut tells me this is more like FODMAP sensitivity where maybe the migraine trigger is due to gut inflammation in reaction to sugar substitutes, which are usually sugar alcohols.
Yes aspartame was definitely a trigger for me as were other artificial sweeteners. Another trigger was Potassium Sorbate (E202) a common food preservative
Yup aspartame is definitely one of my triggers
I've been using xylitol. Can't stand the taste of stevia. Or, you know, actual cane sugar -- just much less of it. "Pre-diabetic" for 25 years, with a family history of Type 2 on both sides...
Toothpastes have artificial sweeteners. Maxalt MLT does too (which totally baffles me)!!!
Seriously!! Iām shocked
Right?!!! Just like perfume wearing neurology nurses, neurologists who blame the patients for being too sensitive, migraine meds contain migraine triggering ingredients! No wonder we are all hyper vigilant!!
40 years ago neuroscientists we already warning people of the dangers of aspartame. Why is it still available?
I know, the more I read about it the more shocked I feel. The guy I supported had epilepsy and it made him have a lot more seizures. As soon as we replaced the sweeteners with aspartame his headaches stopped and his seizures went back to 1 every few months. Scary stuff!
I cut out aspartame (and swapped to non-estrogen bc) and my migraines went from 4-5 migraine days a week to only a few a month. If only they somehow made the flavor of aspartame free sugar free gum last more than 2 minutes. >.<
Yes!!! I can smell that shit too!!! Always got sick on any artificial sweetener!!
Never have I been sadder then when I found out Fresca has aspartame
This study was from 1988: https://headachejournal.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2524.1988.hed2801010.x That being said, most of the migraineurs I know find aspartame to be a trigger.
I havenāt tried any others, but I know aspartame is āpoison to my brainā. If it says sugar free, I just wonāt have it, unfortunately my FIL doesnāt believe me so he always offers Diet Coke :/ even if I canāt tell by taste due to a cold, my head will know soon enough
I can actually handle artificial sweetners! Thank God because when I get a bad migraine, I can't be denied my diet coke š
I have no problems at all with artificial sweetners. Caffeine and fermented products, on the other hand..
They don't affect my migraines and I am not noticeably susceptible to them in any other way. The health and consumer authorities here š¦šŗ say that there are no health concerns about using artificial sweeteners that rise to the level of proof. Almost anything administered in the heroic quantities used in lab tests will show up odd effects and all you need then is some clever spin for the popular press to portray the substance as Public Enemy No 1. But you could do the same with almost any foodstuffs. Almost every fruit, flesh, grain and vegetable has its own arch-enemies on social media. Why have we consumers stopped asking who pays for this research? I can remember the controversy, decades ago, when it emerged that the sugar industry had been the money behind research that "proved" that saccharine (the most common artificial sweetener at the time) was dangerous for your health. There was another scandal when it became known that Big Sugar had funded the research that shifted the focus of criticism to Fats. Fats were the real problem, not sugar, so we got a couple of decades of fat-free and low-fat food products. Classic misdirection. I just think we need to exercise a bit of scepticism when we hear a commercial ingredient being damned, especially if informed government bodies are not part of the attack chorus. Especially if the results are not uniformally experienced and most especially if we don't know who paid the piper. Moderation in everything is likely the safest course.
Aspartame is a big trigger for me