Stevia, the revered South American plant popular in the U.S., Europe and Japan for its natural sweetness and use as an alternative to chemically-derived artificial sweeteners like saccharin and aspartame, is now facing hurdles of its own regarding claims that the product is natural.

Cancer has been linked to countless triggers from pesticides to cigarettes to ingredients found in soda. The artificial sweetener aspartame's controversial connection to cancer has long been debated since Coca-Cola first added it to Diet Coke in 1983. And recent issues with 4-MI (also 4-MEI), found in the artificial color added to Coca-Cola and other popular brands of soda products, have forced the company to make major shifts in order to avoid adding a cancer warning to products' labels.

Bad news for diet soda drinkers according to a study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The study results found that drinking diet soda daily significantly increases the risk of developing a stroke, heart attack and other serious vascular issues.

2011 has not been off to the most effervescent start for the soda industry. The latest fizzle comes by way of a recent study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference, suggesting that daily diet soda drinkers have at least a 60 percent increased risk of having a stroke or heart attack compared with non-soda drinkers.

I believe with my heart and soul that chemicals sabotage our natural weight loss system, zap our energy and prevent what could be permanent weight loss efforts.

Avoiding chemicals in your diet and eating only whole, organic foods, is a core foundation of Laura Klein’s Green Club.  Inside the Green Club, I cite studies that show FDA-approved chemicals in our food are seriously dangerous and help members take baby steps towards a healthier, non-toxic way of eating and living.

The chemical I consider Public Enemy Number One? Aspartame.

Aspartame is made of: phenylalanine and aspartic acid (amino acids) as well as methanol alcohol or wood alcohol.  Methanol is known to be poisonous even when consumed in relatively modest amounts.  Disorders caused by toxic levels of methanol include blindness, brain swelling and inflammation of the pancreas and heart muscle.

Is it any surprise that aspartame complaints represent 80-85% of food complaints registered with the FDA?

That’s why the documentary, Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World , struck a chord with me. In the film, aspartame ‘victims’ speak honestly about their personal battles with myriad sicknesses from MS to neurological disorders to brain cancer. The film also reveals the parallel between a spike in brain cancer rates and the introduction of aspartame to the marketplace in 1983.

Check out a sneak peak of the film on youtube.com, and let us know what you think.