Is aspartame good for us

Answer 1

There is no solid evidence that suggests that ingesting normal quantities of Aspartame leads to health problems. However, aspartame is not a normal part of the human diet. Furthermore, the FDA's ultimate approval of aspartame as a food additive is highly suspicious. For some insight into how aspartame passed the FDA approval process, go to the link below:

http://www.stevia.net/aspartame.htm

Answer 2

(from Answers.com)

Aspartame, an artificial sweetener that is used as a substitute for sugar in many foods and beverages, is considered by some scientists to be a neurotoxin (a toxin that damages or destroys nerve tissue), a substance that is detrimental to the nervous system. This allegation remains controversial.

Concerns about Aspartame were put to rest in late 1984, when the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control concluded that the substance is safe and does not represent a widespread health risk.

This was further supported by the American Medical Association in 1985, and aspartame has been gaining market share ever since. In addition to its use in the United States, aspartame has also been approved for use in over 93 foreign countries.

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Aspartame when introduced to higher temperatures creates a chemical process similar to formaldehyde.

Read more at:

aspartame

Answer 3

Aspertame is a bad thing. It is a type of sugar that is commonly found in gum and candy's. It's on the labels of sweets, and aspertame makes you hyper and contributes to diabetes.

Answer 4

First let me note that I have no financial or any biasing connection with the aspartame or related sweetener industries. But as a former university educator I need to let you know the truth about aspartame safety.

Although there are a few others involved too, what you believe about aspartame comes out of Roberts' and Blaylock's misguided, ignorant, and dead-wrong internet arguments. You criticize Walters as being a HACK, although he didn't even write the cited piece, but you neglect those foisting this safety issue on the American public. They make money selling books foisting this twenty-year old falsehood on the American people. There are three fundamental, documentable problems these physicians just can't understand or seem to conveniently neglect.

First, their inadequate understanding of pharmacology and toxicology is worth noting. In reality "everything is toxic"--only dose determines separates a drug from a poison (e.g. botulinum toxin used in cosmetic procedures is one of the most toxic substances known). So any suggestion that aspartame (or any substance for that matter) is a poison must include a dose and the specific toxic response or it by default is meaningless ranting. These physicians simply have no understanding of the relevant sciences, so they too cannot understand why science does not accept their arguments.

Second, those people critical of aspartame fail to understand or simply ignore decades of science supporting the safety of this sweetener. Not only have there been many safety studies (aspartame is perhaps the most studied substance known), there has been nothing published that withstands scrutiny sufficiently to question aspartame safety. Studies expressing contrary facts were poorly designed (Soffritti et al) or errant in their conclusions (Trocho et al (Alemany)); these papers are open to serious scientific criticism, some of which is now known, but has not even been reported yet. In short there is NO scientific concern by FDA or other world's regulatory agencies about aspartame; in fact the Europeans Food Safety Authority (EFSA) just again confirmed its safety.

Third, the critics just don't understand or neglect the vital importance of folate biochemistry. Certainly there are people who are sensitive to aspartame; the internet is full of people claiming they get sick immediately after using aspartame, etc. And headaches seem a consequence in some people. But a strong case can be made that any sensitivity to aspartame (headaches included) stems from any of a wide range of personal nutrition or biochemical issues that center mostly on the vitamin folic acid (folate), its frank deficiency, folate enzyme abnormalities, or the consequences of either, including accrual of homocysteine.

Critics continue to scream their concern about aspartame, because they fail to understand that these same factors facilitating personal sensitivity to aspartame may well underlie susceptibility to many disorders associated with these folate issues. Aspartame is degraded to the all-natural substances phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol even before absorption. Both amino acids are abundant in the foods we normally eat at higher doses. People with the genetic condition phenylketonuria are unable to tolerate the vital, essential amino acid phenylalanine and are warned to avoid aspartame-containing products on the label. The other constituent of aspartame is methanol.

While methanol isn't really very toxic itself, some people are uniquely sensitive to methanol's oxidation product formate. Formate and its removal is the real medical concern from methanol poisoning. However, low methanol and thus formate intake is also vital. That is because formic acid is recycled by the folate-B12 vitamin systems to methyl groups that perform two main functions. They detoxify the real excitotoxin homocysteine (Wikipedia: homocysteine) producing methionine or they form methylene groups that convert uracil to thymine. Uracil incorporation into DNA occurs in the absence of thymine; that causes unstable and breakable DNA and cancer not evident with thymine replacement. These folic acid transformations are absolutely vital to life and why folate and B12 are vitamins and why methanol at low doses, like those found in fruit juices or aspartame, is just as vital.

Aspartame is perfectly safe used as directed, but still some people may show varying degrees of sensitivity (headaches, etc). These arise not from aspartame, but from the user's underlying biochemistry. Some are ultrasensitive (allergic) to formate (perhaps from childhood insect stings). But most sensitive people are deficient in folic acid (a vitamin), have genetic folate abnormalities (called polymorphisms; Wikipedia: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase), or have high blood homocysteine (Wikipedia: homocysteine). The latter may be the most potent excitotoxin and many people have high blood homocysteine most frequently because of folate issues. Other factors include ethanol (which strongly inhibits folate enzymes and that explains why it raises formate concentrations; fetal alcohol syndrome, etc.) and antiepileptic drugs. ALL aspartame "symptoms" may be seen as a direct consequence of underlying personal issues residing in formate sensitivity, whether through allergy, folate or other issues. None have anything to do with aspartame safety. But this formate sensitivity "straw that broke the camels back" issue is why aspartame-associated symptoms disappear after ceasing use. The bigger question is whether people who show aspartame sensitivity are still fundamentally at risk from many folate-associated diseases? That includes MS, lupus, Diabetes, many cancers (brain and Breast cancer) and other problems. Perhaps aspartame sensitivity is a marker for innate susceptibility to many diseases and cancers?

Answer 5

Seizures and a change in the level of dopamine, a brain neurotransmitter. Symptoms associated with lupus , multiple sclerosis , and Alzheimer's disease have been claimed to result from an excess intake of aspartame.

Answer 6

Whether aspartame is good for us has created a lot of controvery. Research seems to suggest that it is not good for us, and may cause issues with brain function.