I've long heard both sides of the controversy over human consumption of aspartame, an alternative sweetener. On one side it's made out to be a treacherous poison that causes cancer, paralysis, mental disorders, and a whole array of terrifying toxic reactions that destroy health and lead to a quick death. On the other side it's argued that it's essentially harmless. But which side has it correct? Or are both sides wrong together? I've spent a good bit of time studying and attempting to gain an understanding of where this sugar-replacement stands. After watching a few news segments in the '90s, I spent many years fearing the substance. Herein I attempt to reasonably abridge what I've learned.
First and foremost, we have to understand a little about the biochemistry of aspartame metabolism. It has been clinically shown[1][2] that aspartame undergoes its first stage of metabolism (even in relatively high amounts), before ever entering the bloodstream. In the small intestines, aspartame undergoes rapid acid hydrolysis, becoming phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Methanol is metabolized into formaldehyde, then into formic acid. Formic acid is rapidly metabolized and expelled from the body. That is all part of the natural metabolic processes our bodies are built to perform.
So, we have phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and formic acid (metabolized from formaldehyde). Regardless of the complex names, the first two are essential amino acids. Our bodies depend on them to grow and function properly. But how about formaldehyde? Our bodies produce it as part of natural processes. But our bodies are also built to dispose of it. It only becomes a problem in significantly higher quantities. All three of these pertinent metabolites enter our bodies in much, much higher quantities from other food sources. Many fruits and fruit juices contain significantly higher quantities of methanol than is produced by consuming normal levels of aspartame.
Considering how the body metabolizes it, aspartame has no clinically shown negative affect on our bodies. The claims of causing cancer, neuronal changes, psychiatric disturbances, etc. are patently false. Yet through propaganda, scare-tactics, and deception, the myths of aspartame having toxic effects still seem to propagate. Part of the reason, I believe, has to do with the myth that the complexity of chemical names correlates to their level of harmfulness somehow. Just because we read a name like phenylalanine, aspartic acid, or formaldehyde, and realize that they're unfamiliar, hard to pronounce, or uncommon in our daily conversation, doesn't mean anything about what they actually do, how important they actually are, or whether they are actually harmful or not. Another likely source of public terror might be a known condition called Phenylketonuria(PKU). PKU is a very rare genetic condition (1 of every 15,000 newborns in the United States)[3] that causes a person to not be able to metabolize phenylalanine as efficiently, which can lead to an over-accumulation of the amino acid, and resultant health consequences. Additionally, there were some early studies that scared the public. But those studies were found to use bad science and flawed reasoning.
In conclusion, I think scientifically sound studies have more than abundantly shown the harmlessness of aspartame in the human diet. It's one of the most rigorously tested food ingredients to date. While it's dogmatically asserted to be a poison by some, in reality it's completely benign to the human body (hence the ironic title). I strongly support its continued use in consumer products. There are truly harmful and poisonous substances in food, pills, the environment and elsewhere. Aspartame just isn't one of them. Let's focus on what really matters.
[Update 2015-03-18:]
Please see the added reference for an even better explanation of how biochemically harmless aspartame is.
[Update 2015-03-18:]
Please see the added reference for an even better explanation of how biochemically harmless aspartame is.
References:
[-] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame#Safety_and_health_effects[-] http://courses.bio.indiana.edu/L104-Bonner/F09/imagesF09/L6/DietCoke.html
