SHOULD I USE ASPARTAME?

Most people like sweet foods. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame can sweeten foods without the extra calories and glucose-raising sugar. Is aspartame safe? Can it help you lose weight? Could it help you control your diabetes?

Aspartame is 180-200 times sweeter than sugar. Aspartame has two amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Many have raised concerns, because digestion produces methanol and formaldehyde. Large doses of methanol can cause acid blindness and acid build up in the body. Formaldehyde is a toxic preservative. Although this sounds bad, studies have found no rise in methanol or formaldehyde in the blood. The amino acids found in aspartame are also found in many foods. For example, fruit juice produces 2½ times the same breakdown products. Because of these facts experts do not believe aspartame digestion is a concern.

Some people report side effects from aspartame such as headache, irritability, flushing, nausea, fatigue and nasal congestion. Double blind randomized scientific tests found people reporting symptoms were just as likely to have the same symptoms with a placebo.( Sathyapalan T) They also found people reporting symptoms metabolize aspartame in the same way as people not reporting symptoms. Although this proves that many of the symptoms people attribute to aspartame are due to other causes, it does not mean that no one ever has side effects from aspartame. For example, a study of people consuming 25 mg/kg of aspartame for eight days found more irritable mood, more depression and worse spatial orientation with aspartame.(Lindseth GN) For some people aspartame is clearly dangerous. Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disease normally tested for at birth that affects about 14,500 people in the United States. People with PKU cannot metabolize phenylalanine and need to avoid aspartame because it can cause them brain damage.

Human studies have found no clear relation between aspartame and cancer.( Schernhammer ES) Aspartame has been linked to cancer by studying genetic damage in the laboratory and animals. The most concern is from genetic damage in the laboratory. A recent review of all animal studies found no increase in animal cancers.( Mallikarjun S)

For people with diabetes, diet soda does not increase blood sugar.( Olalde-Mendoza L)( Bryant CE) The effect of aspartame on weight is conflicting. Overall, studies do not show using artificial sweeteners help weight loss and some show people gain weight.( Swithers SE) One explanation for weight gain is using artificial sweetener eliminates the decrease in appetite associated with eating sugar.(Yang Q) Also, zero calorie aspartame sweetened beverages do not satisfy the appetite.

Substituting aspartame for sugar can provide sweetness without extra calories and raising your blood sugar. Without other changes, you will probably not lose weight. The evidence supports the safety of aspartame, but if one has a choice, water is a safer, better way of keeping yourself hydrated.

Key References

1. Sathyapalan T, Thatcher NJ, Hammersley R, Rigby AS, Pechlivanis A, Gooderham NJ, Holmes E5, le Roux CW, Atkin SL, Courts F : Aspartame sensitivity? A double blind randomised crossover study. PLoS One. 2015 Mar 18;10(3):e0116212
2. McCullough ML, Teras LR, Shah R, Diver WR, Gaudet MM, Gapstur SM: Artificially and sugar-sweetened carbonated beverage consumption is not associated with risk of lymphoid neoplasms in older men and women.   J Nutr. 2014 Dec;144(12):2041-9.
3. Mallikarjun S, Sieburth RM.: Aspartame and Risk of Cancer: A Meta-analytic Review. Arch Environ Occup Health. 2015 May 4;70(3):133-41
4. Olalde-Mendoza L, Moreno-González YE : [Modification of fasting blood glucose in adults with diabetes mellitus type 2 after regular soda and diet soda intake in the State of Querétaro, Mexico]. Arch Latinoam Nutr. 2013 Jun;63(2):142-7.
5. Lindseth GN, Coolahan SE, Petros TV, Lindseth PD : Neurobehavioral effects of aspartame consumption. Res Nurs Health. 2014 Jun;37(3):185-93.
6. Bryant CE, Wasse LK, Astbury N, Nandra G, McLaughlin JT: Non-nutritive sweeteners: no class effect on the glycaemic or appetite responses to ingested glucose. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014 May;68(5):629-31.
7. Yılmaz S, Uçar A: A review of the genotoxic and carcinogenic effects of aspartame: does it safe or not? Cytotechnology. 2014 Dec;66(6):875-81.
8. National PKU Alliance at http://npkua.org/Education/AboutPKU.aspx
9. Schernhammer ES, Bertrand KA, Birmann BM, Sampson L, Willett WC, Feskanich D.: Consumption of artificial sweetener- and sugar-containing soda and risk of lymphoma and leukemia in men and women.Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Dec;96(6):1419-28
10. Yang Q:: Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010.   Yale J Biol Med. 2010 Jun;83(2):101-8.