Artificial Sweeteners: A Case Study

Researchers divided the mice into two groups. Group A ate food laced with the sweetener aspartame. After three months the aspartame group had higher levels of blood sugar than the mice that ate normal food. There is also speculation that same is true of other artificial sweeteners even ones made from sugar derivates or from the Stevia genus of plants.

Thesis: Overall, recent studies have shown that sugar substitutes isn’t and can cause potential health problems.

The use of artificial sweeteners in beverages and food has been on a steady rise since 1969, the year it was authorized in the United States of America. The popularity of artificial sweeteners has been on a rise because of the benefit that it is a zero calorie sweetener .Even though artificial sweeteners have some great benefits many scientists believe that it causes adverse effects such as cancer, weight gain and depression. I strongly believe that consumers are not aware of the side effects of artificial sweeteners hence the increase in consumption since 1969.

Did you know that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) accounts for over half of the artificial sweeteners used in the United States today? Although it is loved by big food companies due to its extended shelf life and cheap production, is it the healthiest option for the consumer? This is a widespread question that has been asked in the United States since the invention of HFCS in the 1960s. This artificial sweetener is rumored to increase one's chances of obesity, high cholesterol, etc. Due to the health risks linked to HFCS it is adamant that people in the United States greatly reduce the intake of this sweetener. This can be accomplished with three solutions, being, by simply raising general awareness about the health risks associated with HFCS, having stricter regulations on artificial sweeteners, or by lowering the tariffs on imported natural sugar.

Aspartame is found in over 6000 products that are on our supermarket shelves, it goes by the brand names of Equal, and Nutra Sweet. First one would have to look at why aspartame came to be in over 6000 products world wide. In today 's society everybody is looking for that short cut, that way eating anything they want and staying thin and healthy. So instead of skipping the cookies we now reach for "sugar-free" cookies, and Diet soda so we can still eat what we want without all the calories. In a society where obesity is on the rise, there is a huge market for products like aspartame. Aspartame gives you all the sweetness you want without all the calories you don’t want. So if it says "sugar-free" or a diet product chances are aspartame is in it. This paper intends to look into how aspartame was discovered, the steps the company took to seek the approved to use in dry goods and eventually in soft drinks, and the controversy surrounding its approval, as well as the side effects of using aspartame along with how consumers are being affected by it and what companies are doing as a result of how consumers are reacting to it.

Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame are commonly used as substitutes for sugar in everyday products that we consume such as foods and soft drinks due to the fact that they contain no calories. This has further led to a growing trend of artificial sweeteners being used by people as an alternative to sugar to control weight. Although extensive research has demonstrated the safety of six different low-calorie sweeteners currently approved for use, there is still ongoing debate over the potential health threats they pose.

Are artificial sweeteners bad for humans and the environment? Many people eat artificial sugars and don’t even realize what is in artificial sugars or what they do to the environment. Sucralose is very bad for people and the environment and is not a good replacement for sugar. Some people may ask these questions. What is in sucralose and how to make sucralose? How does sucralose affect humans? How does sucralose affect the environment? Are artificial sweeteners really that bad?

Ever since the basic principles of chemistry became apart of human knowledge, scientists have been fascinated with understanding the physical and chemical properties of novel compounds. The prevalent use of artificial sweeteners, (a group of synthetically manufactured compounds with no caloric value) as table sugar alternatives in many of today’s commercially traded goods is an example of applying chemistry to generate novelty. However, the biological effects associated with their consumption remains shrouded in public misconceptions.1 As a result, the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) has become the emphasis for many obesity and neurological related clinical studies. Does the consumption of aspartame have adverse effects on body mass and neurological activity in humans?

Part of the population today is addicted to sugar, which then leads to a great concern when it comes to being obese. In attempt to try to live a healthy life, people today are relying on artificial sweeteners as being the way to go to lose weight. With this notion, the question still today is if artificial sweeteners are healthy. This paper will discuss the biological effects that artificial sweeteners have on a person’s body and to see whether or not consuming them causes more harm than good.

Addictive and enticing, sweetness does not just come from sugar (BE#2). Artificial sweeteners add to the sugary taste of many foods and go by many names – saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose ¬– but they are all formulated by chemical engineers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes artificial sweeteners as “probably safe,” and this statement has proven to be quite true (Nestle). For several years, aspartame and saccharin have been linked to weight gain and cancer in consumers and lab animals (Nestle). Because artificial sweeteners are used in many food products (most commonly diet sodas), people consume them quite often (BE#3). Also, humans tend to believe that if there are no calories and if there is no sugar, they should drink diet soda instead of regular soda. This trend leads to even greater intakes of sweet chemicals such as aspartame in people’s diets. Aspartame is a controversial and common ingredient in the American diet. “Aspartame, when reacted in the body, changes to methanol and then formic acid (a toxic substance)” (Nestle). According to the American Cancer Association, because aspartame contains phenylalanine, those who consume the substance regularly run the risk of having a build up of phenylalanine, which could constrict the flow of nutrients to the brain. Many people, though, do not show signs or symptoms of health complications consistent with aspartame (Amer. Cancer Assn.). Aspartame has the potential to be quite harmful, but because nobody has

Therefore, overweight individuals who choose to consume artificial sweeteners can prevent weight gain. Furthermore, when artificially sweetened beverages were compared to water in a short-term weight loss program, subjects consuming artificially sweetened beverages actually lost significantly more weight and reported considerably less feelings of hunger (Peters et al., 2014). Thus, the increased satisfaction obtained from consuming a sweet beverage can lead to reduced overall caloric intake. Finally, researchers Pandurangan, Park, and Kim (2014) studied the impact of aspartame on adipogenesis, or the formation of fatty tissue. When adipocytes were treated with aspartame, there was significantly reduced lipid accumulation as well as down regulation of chemical receptors critical for adipogenesis. Therefore, this information suggests “that aspartame may be a potent substance to alter adipocyte differentiation and control obesity” (Pandurangan, Park, & Kim, 2014). So, not only does consuming aspartame behaviorally help with adherence to weight loss programs, but also is chemically proven to control obesity.

The debate between naturally derived sugars and low-calorie artificial sweeteners has been going on for years now. As our population’s obesity rate grows every year and health concerns related to weight-control grows along with it, natural sugar is scrutinized and we are told to keep away from it as it is our enemy. Over the last couple of decades, we have been introduced to more and more varieties of artificial sweeteners promising to deliver the same sweetness or even more sweetness than natural sugar (some offer as much as 200 times more sweetness than sugar) but with a much lower calorie content, or some even no calories at all. Artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, Sweet n’ Low, NutraSweet, and Equal have become popular as “better alternatives” to table sugar, promising to help battle weight gain and actually assist in losing weight. However, does this make it the healthier option? As with all things, both natural sugar and artificial sugar have their pros and cons, but in order to find the best option in regards to our health and futures, it’s important to weigh them according to scientific findings and research.

Artificial sweeteners are a sugar substitute that provides a sweet taste like sugar, but contains less food energy, and are usually genetically modified. Effects of artificial sweeteners can include messing with your hormones, making you overheat, increase the risk of diabetes, and they pollute your water. They can also cause weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.

Is there anything “SWEET” about artificial sugar? Well, over the years there have been many different kinds of sweeteners that have been tested in labs to see how they affect our bodies. The first big artificial sweetener first got discovered in 1897, when a John Hopkins University researcher accidentally forgot to wash his hands before lunch after doing tests in a lab. He tasted something sweet on his finger, and that was the start of Saccharin. Today, many people use sweeteners like Splenda, Sweet ‘N Low, Equal, and Truvia to sweeten their food and drinks.

The producers of coke discovered that their product was leading to constant weight gain due to its very high sugar content and they decided to create a diet alternative to their product. Diet Coke is sweetened with non-natural sweeteners such as aspartame. Aspartame has less calories than regular sugar but it is not as tasty. Aspartame is a very unsafe substance and according to many studies it has been found to cause cancer. Although the intentions of the Coca Cola Company were good, The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI) Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson stated: “Aspartame has been found to cause cancer — leukemia, lymphoma, and other tumors—in laboratory animals, and it shouldn’t be in the food supply. We certainly want Coca-Cola to shift its product mix toward lower- and no-calorie drinks, but aspartame’s reputation isn’t worth rehabilitating with this propaganda campaign. The company would be better off phasing out its use of aspartame and accelerating its research into safer, natural sweeteners such as those extracted from the stevia plant”.2 In addition to the cancer scare, aspartame and other sweeteners in diet drinks have been found to stimulate appetites, increase peoples cravings for carbs, raise fat storage and even cause weight gain.