Acesulfame potassium
 

I just had the recent pleasure of developing an allergy for the artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium aka acefulfame-K.

The past 2 weeks I have been getting severe stomach pains, bloating and cramping that would start 20min after eating and last for about an hour. I initially thought I had a peptic ulcer but I noticed it was only occurring after certain meals and never from my 8oz of lean protein.

I decided to make a spreadsheet of all of the IP packets and EAS shakes with their ingredients and found acesulfame potassium to be the only common ingredient among the problematic meals.

I followed this observation up with a painful experiment on myself. The day prior, I had no stomach issues (nothing I consumed that day contained acesulfme potassium). The following day I replaced my lunch soup with the orange drink. Meal timings were all the same. Amount of water consumption was the same. I even consumed the same type and quantity of veggies 30min before my lunch protein. I then slowly sipped on my orange drink until eventually consuming a little over 1/4th of it and like clockwork 20min later the pain was back and lasted an hour before subsiding.

After doing a little research on the artificial sweetener I realized that it is one of the least researched ones used and side-effects include a multitude of digestive problems. Take this as a bit of caution if you start to experience any similar symptoms while on this diet.

Fortunately, my coach is letting me trade in all of my packets that contain this so I can get something else. I just need to figure out what I can have now. My favorite post-workout drink is now out and no more cost saving EAS shakes either :(

At least it wasn't Splenda. That would have been even harder to avoid with IP.

So sorry. :( Good investigative work on finding out the culprit!

Thank you for the warning. I will be sure to keep this is mind once I start IP.

So glad you have a good coach who let you trade! My coach let me trade all my soy & gluten-containing packets when I developed thyroid problems. I'm so glad we have some good coaches out there! I REALLY wish there was an IP-like product sweetened with stevia with no soy or gluten.

I'm actually going to propose it to a friend who is looking for a biz opportunity.

You are a detective! :)
I'm glad you found out what was causing you problems!

Totally off topic, but I have to ask...is that you with Jillian Michaels in your avatar?!

Yeah, I would love to see some IP products using stevia. It is my preferred sweetener. I have found some good natural protein powders in the past (before IP) that use it. I love IP but I don't like the fact that they advertise it as an "all-natural" weight loss program. I know that they are simply referring to being in a state of ketosis but it comes across as their food being all natural.

Without thinking, I had a stick of Trident cinnamon gum after lunch today without noticing it too contains acesulfame potassium. I'm already starting to feel it :(

Yup, it sure is. We met her in NY for a book signing. She's awesome!

Great sleuthwork! Also love the J Michaels photo! Which book did you get of hers? I loved doing the 30 day shred a few years ago, a great 20 minute workout for those with very limited time.

How fun! She scares me though. :)

Another side note, my bestie and I did the Avon Breast Cancer walk 10 years ago in Chicago and it was amazeballs. Good luck and keep training! If it's the same one, we did 60 miles in three days and day two was a killer! :)
Good luck!

Sorry, to hear about your recent allergy. That sucks! Now, you'll have to be reading just about every ingredient list for the next few weeks while you revamp what you can and can't have. Good Luck and thanks for the heads-up. Jen

I completely agree with you about stevia sweetened products. I would be much more comfortable with what I am doing to my overall health. This is the primary reason I limited myself to 3 months max OP!

She's actually really nice in person. She is only scary when she's training people.

The Avon Walk is 39.3 miles (2-days). I think the 3 day one is the Susan B Koman one. I was fine one day one but I could barely move on day 2. It will be a lot easier this year without lugging all that extra fat around.

Thanks for sharing! I also steer clear of the chemical artifical sweeteners - including aspartame, sucralose, and ace-k. Ick! Aren't we trying to be better to our bodies?

Plain Unjury, Jillian shakes, some Jay Robb shakes, and Syntrax Nectar Naturals have stevia as the sweetener.

According to my coach, FDA wouldn't approve a stevia based formula for the US due to food industry politics here in the states. :(

I'm happy to say that after cutting out the packets that contain acesulfame potassium, I haven't had any more digestive issues. I have been using Dymatize ISO100 shakes now. It still has Splenda but it's a high quality (hydrolyzed whey isolate) mix that tastes great and is ace-k free.