Looking for science backed knowledge!!
I always choose aspartame over sugar, (glucose & fructose) when it comes to coffee, sodas etc if cane sugar is not available.
What is the science behind aspartame and does it cause cancer as people state, is there any other health implications TIA.
To date there have been zero studies demonstrating a link between aspartame (all else controlled) and cancer in humans.
The cancer data comes from a study in rats and the amount they were given was borderline impossible for a human to replicate.
I will add the disclaimer that aspartame is still fairly new in modern food science but has been around long enough (IMO) to establish a relative risk in humans which to date, has not happened.
Recommendations for consumption would be moderation. A couple diet cokes a week and a packet of splenda in your coffee, almost certainly fine. Consuming diet soda as your only source of liquid and eating baked goods made with kgs of aspartame…who knows?
It’s bad for your gut bacteria, I’ll find you a link…. Here’s one https://knowyourdna.com/aspartame-and-effects-on-gut-bacteria/
Excerpt:
While in several studies, researchers found that aspartame consumption doesn’t adversely affect gut microbes, other studies claim the opposite. Findings revealed that when you consume artificial sweeteners, healthy gut bacteria are affected.
Additionally, a study published in the Molecules journal revealed that artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, sucralose, and aspartame turn our own gut bacteria into pathogenic gut bacteria.
With opposing views from health experts, the best advice is to proceed cautiously and stick to the FDA-approved acceptable daily intake.
It’s by almost all reckoning better for your long term health than an equivalent amount of sugar.
It might be completely benign. It might be moderately unhealthy in the long term for reasons unrelated to cancer or the gut microbiome. It might be benign at low quantities and kinda bad at moderate quantities.
If I want a soda I’ll drink a diet. But I’ll try to avoid them altogether when possible.
The studies are inconclusive, at best, regarding its carcinogenic properties. The studies are crystal clear about the effects of obesity though. So if aspartame helps you take in less calories or fight off a sugar fix then that’s what, in my opinion, you should examine.
“Aspartame is one of the most exhaustively studied substances in the human food supply, with more than 100 studies supporting its safety.”
There’s certainly still a chance that we will eventually figure out some long-term disadvantages but at this point, the reputable studies seem to point towards it being safe.
From what I’ve read in “Deep Nutrition”, it is not just sugar that is bad, but eating sweet things (even artificially sweetened) tells our brains that it is summer and time to pack on the pounds for winter which is why she recommends limiting natural sugars such as fruit as well. It makes sense, because before we were able to eat produce out of season, we really only had access to sweet-tasting things in the warmer months. Also, if you are trying to curb a sugar addiction, aspartame will not help with that.
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-021-00725-y
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8227014/
https://archpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13690-019-0355-z#Sec23
https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003950
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/96/6/1419/4571485
there seems to be a fair few recent studies that show some correlation with cancer and some concern over the legitamcy of the original studies and some older studies are outdated.
Thats enough for me really as I never liked the taste of artificial sweeteners anyway.
When there is such a signal and the possiblity that cancer risk cannot be ruled out, why take the risk?
whilst there may be some correlation with sugar and cancer also, its really through the link with obesity. So “maintaining” a sweet tooth with artificial sweeteners may be a bit counter productive.
anecdotally, after being on a low carb diet for a while and eliminating added sugars from my diet, my sweet tooth pretty much went away. i never thought that was possible as i was 3+ spoons of sugar in tea and coffee type of person on top of all the other snacks and treats.
So while it may be a a struggle at first it is possible to remove added sweeteners from you diet succesfully. So now I eat a fair amount of fruit but that is much better than sweetened beverages all day imho
I am curious about this as I chewed nicotine gum for sooo long and it has aspartame in it. Which made me second guess chewing it and believing it’s probably awful for me. Although, I did notice whenever I would chew the gum I would get very bloated or forgetfulness. This could be from nicotine itself but mostly it’s a stimulant for me.
I’m 100% sure that it spikes your glucose levels way faster than sugar, and the drop off of glucose levels is steeper than sugars as well. This is associated with a greater risk to diabetes. Doing a little bit of research on fake sugars and their respective effects on our glucose levels is a good source. As there is so much information available I suggest you do you’re own research and find reliable sources you trust
Studies have shown that the dose of aspartame that could actually do us harm is ridiculously unreasonable for us to consume. Claims about it being bad for your gut, contributing to weight gain, etc. are all unsupported in studies. Most of the negative claims about it, even some of the ones in these comments, have been disproven.
If it spiked your insulin without having consumed calories, your blood glucose would drop dangerously and you could go into a coma and even die. Obviously that doesn’t happen when people consume non-caloric sweeteners.
That said, occasionally individuals don’t fit into the norm, so if you personally feel that aspartame adversely affects you, then just avoid it.
Anxiety in multiple generations… Which is very interesting. Yes, the world is a bigger mess than it has ever been, but do you think maybe the high amount of use of aspartame since the eighties maybe a causative factor in the severe amount of anxiety that we see in young people now? All those diet Coke drinking mommies…
As far as being bad for you, I know that aspartame gives me a god-awful headache every single time I drink it.
It’s also worth saying that your body tastes something sweet and starts getting ready for something sweet physically, which affects your insulin system, with up and down energy and mood levels and stimulating appetite in some cases. Part of why people who drink diet pop still get fat, or stay that way.
You may also want to look up the health problems due to drinking soda pop, including weakening your bones, etc.
New article in Medscape about the relationship with neurological effects such as anxiety
Aspartame does not provide any helpful nutrition to our diets and there isn’t a consensus of quality studies on its safety. This alone is a solid reason to stay away.
It’s well known that our diets didn’t evolve to ingest the large amounts of sugar we see today. Aspartame is meant to replace, and attempt to mimic, these levels of sugar that we know are unhealthy.
Anecdotal side note: I eventually managed to get off the sugar train and now things taste different. Bitter isn’t bitter anymore and lots of things are too sweet. Could never stand 100% cacao but now I love it.