Why Aspartame Isn't Scary

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,436 MFP Moderator
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    I loved this debate thread when it was ongoing. Aaron provided so much information.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    May not be active anymore but I am not dead...havent succumbed to the aspartame, yet. Fear over it seems to come culturally in waves and I havent seen a lot of fearmongering about it lately so assume its probably not coming up that often here either.

    Glad to see you are still kickin
  • FairlyLisa
    FairlyLisa Posts: 20 Member
    All I know is that I used to get migraines - then I cut out all aspartame, saccharin and sucralose and I have not had a migraine since. That was about 14 years ago. If I eat or drink anything that has those in it I can taste it immediately and stop. And there are somethings that stuff is in that is so irritating! Protein powder for one - and any of those "health" drinks.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,354 Member
    ^^^ I admit I am too lazy to form my own words in response to an already well covered point so am quoting Aaron from previous page.....


    " I try to avoid making assumptions about whether or not something might cause migraines in a particular person or whether that response is "real" or psychosomatic. Maybe it does maybe it doesn't, as far as I know pretty much anything can be a migraine trigger (or be perceived to be a migraine trigger) but it clearly doesn't in everyone and there is no clearly defined causal link.

    If someone tells me they get migraines when they ingest aspartame I would say "oh okay, best to avoid then". But if they say I get migraines when I ingest aspartame, therefore its dangerous and everyone should avoid it...that is when I call BS."
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,354 Member
    FairlyLisa wrote: »
    All I know is that I used to get migraines - then I cut out all aspartame, saccharin and sucralose and I have not had a migraine since. That was about 14 years ago. If I eat or drink anything that has those in it I can taste it immediately and stop. And there are somethings that stuff is in that is so irritating! Protein powder for one - and any of those "health" drinks.

    Just because you have issues with something doesn't mean it is bad or scary, except for you maybe. I know a person who is extremely allergic to onions and other things from that family of food. If they came and said that because they affect her that way they are bad for everyone most people would have issues with that. However, that is what your argument boils down to assuming that it was cutting them out that stopped your migraines and not some other thing that you didn't realize was cut out at the same time. It does not change the fact that aspartame is not scary.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,354 Member
    Fairly Lisa you may just having been sharing your own experience and as such it is valid.

    As long as you don't extrapolate from that to "it is bad for everyone"

    Which your post didn't do - we are all just pre emptively counter- acting ;)
  • AndraWillis4012
    AndraWillis4012 Posts: 1 Member
    I love this post! Thank you! And I love aspartane especially on my fruit such as strawberries. Sugar isn't nearly as good.

    I do have one comment about the safety of aspartame vs sugar. Even without this wonderful explanation......even if there might be unknowns.....we KNOW FOR A FACT that SUGAR IS NOT GOOD FOR OUR BODIES.

    So....ideally you would cut out all sweets But if you can't cut to zerro sweets, sugar is proven bad and people are afraid of artificial sweeteners. .
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,252 Member
    Sadly, I think Aaron, the OP, is no longer on MFP. If he were, I strongly suspect he'd also disagree with the idea that generically "sugar is not good for our bodies" irrespective of context or dosage.

    For example, the World Health Organization recommends we limit added sugar to 10% or less of our calorie budget - at least that was the recommendation last time I looked, not zero. Digging into the "why" behind that recommendation, it was 3 things:

    1. Eating too much added sugar makes it very likely that if we stick with reasonable calorie intake, we won't get sufficient good nutrition. Sub-par nutrition is bad for health.
    2. Eating too much added sugar also makes it likely that if we get sufficient good nutrition, we won't be able to stick within a sensible calorie budget. Exceeding sensible calorie intake means we'll gain fat, and that's not good for health, either.
    3. Sugar tends to cause dental cavities.

    That seems like a reasonable analysis to me, and doesn't seem exactly synonymous with "sugar is not good for our bodies". Many nutrient-dense foods - fruits, veggies, dairy - inherently contain sugars, and those sugars aren't chemically different from added sugars. Eating pure sugar alone can have some different effects, but eating in a mixed meal in reasonable amounts isn't biochemically or physiologically different from consuming foods with inherent sugars in a similar overall nutritional context.

    I eat some added sugar. My nutrition is good overall, health is good, health markers good, body weight in a healthy range nowadays. I don't see a problem with this, nor any reason I need to totally cut out added sugar. It's not the devil, it's just easy to overconsume, and overconsuming it is detrimental.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,252 Member
    paperpudding wrote: »
    So....ideally you would cut out all sweets

    I think this would be better worded as '" ideally you should keep sweets to within an overall nutritious and calorie appropriate diet."

    Not to mention that fruits are sweets, some quite sugar dense. Yes, there are eating styles that avoid fruits, but that's quite a minority.
  • FatNym
    FatNym Posts: 1 Member
    That's great news because I've been drinking 36 oz a day. lol
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,481 Member
    1,020.6g of aspartame a day would be fairly impressive I would think. And possibly would exceed most calculations though it has been years since I looked at the numbers Aaron laid out in the original posts.

    If you're talking 36 fl oz of diet soda a day... it may have a small amount of aspartame in it -- but not a kg!:wink:
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,860 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    1,020.6g of aspartame a day would be fairly impressive I would think. And possibly would exceed most calculations though it has been years since I looked at the numbers Aaron laid out in the original posts.

    If you're talking 36 fl oz of diet soda a day... it may have a small amount of aspartame in it -- but not a kg!:wink:

    Up to 3400 mg per day is considered safe. One 12 oz. can of diet soda contains around 200 mg. That would be about 17 cans in a day.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,400 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Sugar is this decade's bogey-man food. The evidence which shows an excess of sugar is not good for you (for the reasons Ann has outlines) has become "sugar is the devil and is going to kill you!!!". It's not "proven bad" and does not need to be avoided all together.

    Fact is, most foods aside from pure meat or fat contain sugars, and your body produces its own as needed. Bodies need sugar to survive and will make their own. T1 diabetics will die unless they consume sugar if they hit a hypo.

    Excess sugar is an issue. Sugar is not poison, it's not feeding cancer, or single-handedly causing obesity, it's not addictive (aside from mental dopamine hits, which cuddling puppies also gives), and the hysteria about it is no different to the anti-fat extremism in the 80s.

    "Hallelujah" lol. :D

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