What Are Aspartame? An Artificial Sweetener

Numerous neurological and behavioral side effects have been linked with consuming aspartame at well below the approved safe limits set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that has been ingested in the United States for over three decades. Even though there are several studies showing the harmful effects of its consumption. When aspartame is digested several toxic chemicals are produced, most notability formic acid & glutamate. Both of these chemicals cause the body to mimic the side effects of multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer. Even the passing of aspartame to be allowed in food was controversial. Just as the studies on it, continue to be today.

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.

Aspartame is composed of aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%) and methanol (10%), the substance is present in sweetening but is also used by the food industry because of the lack of calories (recommended to persons who are dieting) and the fact of not being sugar, sweeten but 200 times more (recommended for diabetics). In the opinion of the director of Abran (2005), "considering that table sugar is caries (tooth decay), unlike aspartame, and that obesity is a worldwide epidemic, sweeteners can help combat excess calories in the diet." according to ANVISA, only people who are born with the problem of difficulty to metabolize phenylalanine (a condition called PKU) should avoid aspartame and foods containing phenylalanine (fish, chicken, beans, milk, etc). If industrial products, such as soft drinks, there is usually a warning on the label or packaging on the presence of phenylalanine.

ban", ("Tufts University Health",2015). The food and drug administration is a federal part of the United states human and health services and they continuously promote the use of aspartame and have stated that there is “no new credible scientific evidence to change the agency’s position that the zero-calorie sweetener is safe for the general population", ("Tufts University Health",2015). Even a study stated in the article by the American cancer society “found no link between intake of diet sodas (most commonly sweetened by aspartame)

My belief is that aspartame is not safe to use. The reason I believe aspartame is not safe is because it accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious, including seizures and death. Another reason I think the use of aspartame is unsafe is that diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and brain tumors are a few chronic illnesses that can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame. This hits home for me because my son is a diabetic. Everyone knows the less sugar you include in your diet, the better. But replacing sugar with aspartame is not the solution, and in fact is likely to be even worse for your health. I believe regardless

To first formulate the major arguments that about Aspartame, we first must understand what Aspartame is, and how it is digested in our bodies.Aspartame is an artificial sweetener often used as a substitute for sugar in beverages,foods,gums, and other uses, it is often denoted as E951.It was approved for use in 1980. Shown right is the chemical structure of aspartame (wikipedia). Aspartames is a dipeptide which is a protein made of two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid, what makes it sweet is a hydro carbon that is attached to the phenylalanine (authoritynutrition).

Writer’s angle: The writers are sharing their finding in a study of 28 students’ consumption of aspartame in a controlled setting to see if there are any neurologic effects.

Low phenylalanine containing diet is the first treatment of PKU, and this is applied for all of PKU patients. It has been demonstrated that low phenylalanine concentration in daily meals can effectively prevent mental retardation in PKU patients, especially in newborns (Knox, 1960). The major point of this treatment is to offer PKU patients with very low phenylalanine diets, and all of protein-rich and aspartame containing foods and drinks should be avoided. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that can be converted into phenylalanine following ingestion, so it must be avoided from the diet of PKU patients (Williams, Mamotte & Burnett, 2008). Since PKU develops very early after birth, this treatment is applied immediately after conformation of the disease in an infant. For older kids, the amount of daily ingested protein is calculated each day regarding how severe PKU of the patient. Although this method can

Gary M. Williams, a professor of pathology at New York Medical College, stating that aspartame is a chemical made up of two amino acids which aren’t completely foreign to us, most food we eat contain these chemicals in higher doses, however when you have these together and out of context, meaning you add “sweet n’ low” to your coffee (something that naturally would not contain these amino acids) your adding something to diet that should not be there. Then, if you take in to consideration the third chemical in aspartame, methyl ester, you are now looking at poison. Methyl ester turns to ethanol. Kenneth Chang also states “A huge study at a cancer research institute in Italy found that rats given aspartame had higher rates of leukemia and

that states aspartame has undergone numerous testing and with the exception of a few slight side effects, aspartame seems to be rather safe. The article indicated that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) evaluated more than 500 reports on the problems associated with aspartame. The reports showed that two-thirds of the people suffered neurological problems while one-quarter of the people suffered gastrointestinal problems. The neurological symptoms included headaches, mood alterations, insomnia, dizziness, and fatigue. Abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting were the gastrointestinal symptoms that people experienced. The CDC concluded that the side effects that people reported were mild and are common in the overall public. I disagree with the conclusion that aspartame is safe. If aspartame was truly safe there would have been no reason for people to make reports concerning the side effects they experienced from consuming aspartame. Yes, it’s true that nothing is considered 100 percent safe, but after 500 reports were received on the consumption of aspartame it’s easy to concluded that aspartame is not safe. As with any report or study you read the material is only as accurate as the data that backs it up. If you search the internet you will find numerous reports, studies, and articles listing the side effects of aspartame. I can’t imagine that all of the articles are not

Aspartame is a toxicin to the people who consume it. At least that’s what the critics say. Zero calorie artificial sweeteners reputation has been degraded due to people criticizing all of the “dangers” that can come from the consuming of these products. These allegations come from people who, more than often, lack any credibility or proof of these dangers involved with artificial sweeteners. The truth is artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame, are not as dangerous but are just as good as natural sugars. Aspartame is actually the most researched sweetener to date and has been scientifically proven that it has no negative effect towards depression, cancer, and people with a “sensitivity” to aspartame.

This research study focuses on how aspartame affects the human body, particularly the brain. It includes the different classes of sweetener, their characteristics and their difference from aspartame. It also explains why multi-national corporations prefer to use aspartame as sugar substitute over the other varieties of sweeteners. Lastly, it details the compatibility of aspartame to beverages and the standard amount of sweeteners in instant goods set by the World Government. However, this study does not cover the possible sources of treatment to the problems caused by aspartame. This research is limited to explaining the overall concept of aspartame as a sweetener.

Leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma are all types of blood cancer affecting the white blood cells, namely lymphoid or myeloid white blood cells or the plasma cells. In one research conducted in the Nurses’ Health Study, NHS, and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study HPFS, over a 22 years period, they found association between consuming aspartame and increased risk of the blood cancer. A large sample consisting of 77,218 women aged between 30-55 years old and 47,810 men within an age group of 40-75 years was taken. The average consumption of aspartame was calculated to be 114mg in HPFS and 102 mg in NHS. The results of the study prevailed a positive correlation between consuming diet soda and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma in men only. However, the risk ok leukemia increased for both men and women. (Schernhammer et.al. 2012) These results were examined and concluded with the reasoning of aspartame being a methyl ester which is broken down into toxic products inside our body. In another study, these products

However, even though many consider it impactful on human health and even life threatening under certain circumstances, that isn’t nearly enough to stop it from being on the market. All facts considered, the product does have a right in today’s foods as it does solve a very large consumer problem being a calorie free and sugar free sweetener. What should be stated however are the numerous problems that are associated with aspartame, rather then the big cover up that is in place now. If those facts were explained to more consumers of aspartame, they could be far more educated on the product as to what side effects are associated with it. And maybe, my dad wouldn’t have ended up being barked at by my mom when he purchased the product for my sister and I to

NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure are all brand names for aspartame, a low calorie sugar substitute used in more than 90 countries to sweeten foods and beverages. Aspartame is a synthetic chemical that is created through the combination of the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, and a small amount of methanol. Aspartame can be found in several products, such as soft drinks, over-the counter drugs, vitamin and herb supplements, instant breakfasts, candy, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, coffee, juice, and tea beverages, tabletop sweeteners, and gelatin desserts. This product may have seemed like a dream come true when it was first invented in 1981