I have to be perfectly honest here. I set out to write a different article to the one I am now forced to present. I had planned on writing about an epidemic that is sweeping through the western world. An epidemic of people trading their sugar filled food for something much more sinister. Aspartame, one of the more common artificial sweeteners being used today. Aspartame, more commonly known as Equal, NutraSweet, and Canderel, is used in more than 6000 products such as Diet Coke, Extra chewing gum, Weight Watchers Yoghurt, and many many more.

The article I wanted to write was to inform you of how bad Aspartame is for your health. There are plenty of people out there talking about this. Many are saying that it is a killer chemical, responsible for causing many ailments from headaches, depression and anxiety, right up to seizures, cancer, and in particular, brain tumors. I really wanted to jump on the band wagon and stick it to the man by researching the facts and presenting just how bad this chemical is for you.

However, I ran into a small problem. After hours of research, I just couldn’t find any hard evidence to back up these claims. In fact I found quite the opposite. Out of all the studies that have been conducted, there seems to be no connection between Aspartame consumption and any health issues of any kind.

Of course this doesn’t mean that Aspartame doesn’t cause health problems, only that the studies have not made the connection… Yet! Personally, when making the decision between an artificial chemical manufactured in a laboratory or the naturally grown sugar that has been used by mankind and animals since forever… I’ll always choose the naturally grown sugar. It just seems like the smarter choice.

But this has raised another issue. There seems to be so many people presenting there own personal beliefs and opinions as fact. This, of course, is nothing new, it too is a practice that has been going on since forever. Just take a look at religion and the belief in God. So many people present the concept of a God as fact, when in actuality there is absolutely no proof whatsoever that a God exists. Doesn’t mean there isn’t one, just that until there is 100% hard evidence, the existence of a God is nothing more than a theory, an idea, a belief. Not a fact!

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t say what they believe, but that they should be more careful of how they present their words. By presenting something as a fact when it is not, only weakens what could possibly be a worthy opinion. If it is found out that your so called facts are merely beliefs or opinions, you have lost your credibility. If you are fighting a potentially important cause, such as uncovering health issues related to a common ingredient in food and you loose your credibility, you have not only committed an injustice against yourself but have weakened the cause you were fighting for.

I personally believe that the truth is way more important than what I personally want the truth to be. The truth, honour and integrity can truly be a mighty sword. Wielded correctly and you can change the world. Is that a fact? No… But I truly do believe it.