Although, strictly speaking, unrelated to migraine an article in the UK Daily Mail 10.7.2010 on diet sweeteners and early births reminded me of an experience out with friends earlier in the summer.
It’s no secret to readers of this blog that I personally avoid aspartame, even though some well-respected scientists declare there are no health risks associated with it. I recommend you do your own research on the Internet and choose which of the opposing camps you prefer to believe.
However, while I avoid aspartame whenever possible I don’t make it my life’s mission! Perhaps I should take it a little more seriously in future. A friend invited me to have a drink and I asked for a lemonade, specifying that I did NOT want a diet one. Well, whether my friend forgot, or the bar staff ignored her, I don’t know. But I was served a diet lemonade and on checking the label, sure enough, there was aspartame listed. Not wanting to create a fuss, I just kept quiet and drank the lemonade, complete with aspartame. Sure enough, a migraine followed.
Did I “think myself into it”, was it the aspartame, or would I have had a migraine that day for some other reason? Who knows. But in future I shall be more assertive about my wish to avoid drinks containing artificial sweeteners. My life can go on quite easily without these substances, and if avoiding them helps me avoid migraines, that’s good enough for me to make the slight extra effort involved.
