Is Aspartame Bad For You?

My wife and I were discussing the subject of artificial sweeteners this weekend, and the conversation turned to aspartame. We were debating whether aspartame is truly bad for you.  She has a friend who says she suffered from aspartame poisoning, yet the FDA repeatedly reiterates that aspartame is safe.   I started looking for the answer to this question.

Is Aspartame Bad For You?

I’ll begin by admitting I’m not generally a fan of artificial sweeteners.   I’ve tried using them in the past to reduce my calorie consumption, but no matter how little I add to my food, I can always taste them, and I simply detest the taste.  Having said all that, artificial sweeteners are big business.  Used in over 6,000 consumer products, its speculated that as much as 50% of Americans consume this food additive.

According to one source, prior to 1992 the majority of complaints to the FDA of negative food interactions involves aspartame. Complaints include headaches, stomach cramps, generalized pain, seizures, aspartame poisoning, and even allegations of cancer.   Yet according to both the FDA and the EU, aspartame is continually found to be safe for human consumption.  Approved for use in over 90 countries, by some accounts, it may be the most studied food additive on the market.  So why does the question of aspartame safety continue to plague us?

To adequately answer the question of whether aspartame is bad for us, we have to start with understanding it’s origins.  Aspartame was discovered in the mid-1960′s in the labs of G.D. Searle & Co during research into anti-ulcer drugs.  Chemically comprised of phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol, when aspartame is digested, it breaks back into it’s constituents.  Since its contains an amino acid bond, it does contain calories, to the tune of 4 Calories per gram, which is equivalent to the calories in protein. But, it is also 100-150X sweeter than sugar, which means so little is required than the caloric content becomes vanishingly small.

When it comes to stability, aspartame has been shown to be chemically stable at room temperature, and at neutral/low pH conditions, making it ideal for use in sodas and other products stored at room temperature.  Although it is approved for use in baked goods, aspartame is susceptible to degradation at high temperatures, and so its stability during baking is more questionable.  When metabolized in the body, aspartame is broken down in the gut to aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.  It is suggested that anyone sensitive to these products avoid aspartame, due to the potential dangers associated with exposure.  In particular, phenylalanine sensitivity, in the form of phenylketonuria (PKU) is of concern.  In counterpoint though, all newborn children in the U.S. are screened for PKU at birth, since phenylalanine is a commonly occurring compound in society.

To provide guidance on the consumption of substances considered “safe” regulatory agencies have developed an “acceptable daily intake” (ADI).  The ADI for a substance is an estimate of the amount of a substance than can be consumed daily (orally) over a lifetime without “appreciable health risk.”  As recently as 2007, the FDA released a letter affirming its opinion that aspartame is safe for consumption.  Interestingly enough, as shown in the table below, of the top four currently available artificial sweeteners aspartame has the highest ADI value.

ADI Of Aspartame vs Other Artificial Sweeteners

If we take this information and combine it with the average amount of aspartame used in consumer products, one can calculate how much of a given food they would need to consume to exceed the ADI.

Average Amount Of Aspartame In Common Consumer Foods

The EU Food Safety Agency also has an established ADI for aspartame, which is slightly lower at 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight.  Despite the EU number being 20% lower than the FDA’s, it’s pretty safe to say that both agencies consider aspartame to be pretty safe for people to consume.

Going back to my neighbor who says she was suffering from aspartame poisoning.  The fact remains that she was suffering from some pretty malicious symptoms.  Headaches, nausea, difficult focusing on tasks, etc.  She also admitted (rather sheepishly) to drinking, on average, between 10-15 diet sodas a day, which would handily approach the ADI values.  When she eliminated those from her diet, the symptoms disappeared.  That hardly seems coincidental.

For me, I’m not intending to change my habits.  Personally, I’ve tried most of the artificial sweeteners on the market and find them lacking.  Not only do I dislike the taste, I also end up dissatisfied and just want something else, in addition to what I’ve already eaten.

What do you do for sweeteners?  Do you consume the artificial sweeteners or go au naturale?

Resources

Photo credit