Why Aspartame Isn't Scary

ihad · June 2014

I like science.

:drinker:

Aaron_K123 · June 2014

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I wish these kinds of articles would not get posted. Neither pro nor con.
I have never had problems with artificial sweeteners, but largely avoid them ( as I do most sugar ) because I don't like sweet stuff very much. So I am fine. A friend of mine gets awful migraines ( the have to stay in a dark room kind ) and another one gets impaired vision.....
That is why I don't like those generalized articles, because any food item ( natural or artificial ) is fine for most people while health and even life threatening for others. Blanket statements do not help....

What article?

I was referring to the OP....maybe it's not called an " article "....as a non-native speaker of English I am not always sure.

Ah well as the OP I will say I am not pro-soda particularly, I could take it or leave it. I just see no reason to think aspartame is dangerous and I'm tired of the fear-mongering I see associated with it on the forums.

Aaron_K123 · June 2014

I agree with you. However my doctor disagrees. I have cut way back on it and diet coke and i am way less hungry. May be a coincidence. But i thonk its okay in moderation. Feel much better since i gave up doet coke. Moght be sodium though

I made no comment towards weight loss or hunger at all.

jofjltncb6 · June 2014

Yeah, Mr. White, science!

This is a great post, thanks!

I approve of this post.

EvgeniZyntx · June 2014

Seriously though. Does anyone have an actual reason to avoid aspartame other than the general desire to avoid anything that sounds like it has a name you might not be able to pronounce.

I like sugar?

That's my reason.
Excellent thread, Aaron.

DanaDark · June 2014

I friggin' love science. I really do.

thesupremeforce · June 2014

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Why even risk it? After all, it still is a possible carcinogen. I stay away from all artificial sweeteners. I only eat the real stuff.

Exactly. Why risk it? Healthy living is about choosing wisely. Making good choices for your overall health.

AND why in the heck does it even matter. If you prefer not to use those artificial products for WHATEVER reason more power to you. and if you do use them well.... best of luck..... for your sake, I hope you are right.

It matters because this sort of fearmongering results in the waste of a lot of money in science, millions of dollars. It also results in people focusing on the wrong things, ignoring their calories and instead avoiding soda because apparently it is dangerous.

Misinformation is ALWAYS dangerous.

And because avoiding soda would be a horrible nutritional deficit? Don't see avoiding artificial sweeteners as detrimental to our health. This is insignificant in the real scheme of things.

IMO it sounds more like you are trying to persuade those that disagree in regards to aspartame. It sounds to me like the waste is in the profit margin of the manufacturer of these products. Kind of like tobacco wasn't harmful way back when.... but now it is. But it's still available for you to choose to use or not... because primarily of the manufacturer profit margin and government kick backs. Even though it has been proven to be harmful/deadly.

Is that supposed to be a real argument, because it's not one at all. Stop trying to compare aspartame to tobacco. You're only making yourself look clueless.

No one said anything about encouraging people to drink soda anyway.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · June 2014

Thanks OP! *heads to fridge for a Diet Sunkist*

That's what I'm having too. :drinker:

perseverance14 · June 2014

I stopped drinking soda, at the time I drank Diet Pepsi but I quit all soda except for the rare exception, because of aspartame. This was around 1995, the Internet was just getting started, and I didn't know about any "danger" websites, which did not exist at the time. I did one of the first 20,000 sites on the Internet and that was in 1995, trust me this information was not being shared at that time.

I kept getting headaches and other weird symptoms, like vision disturbances...so I started ruling things out, when I got to Diet Pepsi, after a week or so I felt better, so that was that, no more soda for me, but here in the midwest they call it pop.

Aaron_K123 · June 2014

Just to be absolutely clear the purpose of my post was not to advocate for soda consumption for the purpose of weight loss or for any other reason either, in my opinion take it or leave it it doesn't matter.

The reason for my post was recent posts where I saw people referring to their reason for avoiding diet soda was because aspartame was a "toxin" and I wanted to explain why, scientifically speaking, there was no evidence for that and therefore that was not a good reason to avoid soda.

If you have other reasons for avoiding soda including "eh I just don't like soda" that is perfectly fine. That does not require fear mongering aspartame though which I view as misinformation that is counterproductive and harmful.

SideSteel · June 2014

In

Contagiousblonde · June 2014

Perhaps the reality of the matter is that every coin has two sides there are many studies that show "many" different foods to be harmful in "large" doses, I personally feel more comfortable consuming foods with less artificial ingredients, (I don't care what people say its just my preference) believe me I love science! but science like beauty is often times in the eye of the beholder, I for one am simply not huge on testing artificial things on my digestive tract, that being said if i'm eating low carb and dying for a rum and coke I will consume a "little" aspartame but if i drink it every day for a week I feel like crap, the human body is pretty amazing and can tell me more about a product than a thousand "scientific" studies which may have commercial and political slants and agendas. All in all everything is best in moderation, just cause some studies say its good doesn't mean you should drink it every day and though some studies said its bad doesn't mean it will kill you.

saddare · June 2014

I was very glad to see this scientific post about Aspartame. I have, of course, heard the warnings. I was skeptical, knowing how the internet can sensationalize things, but it did still make me pause (for a nanosecond only, but pause nonetheless) every time I opened a diet soda, which is a staple on my weight-loss journey to help curb my sweet cravings.

Now I feel more confident that my skepticism was spot-on, and I can enjoy my soda in peace.

Thank you, OP.

djprice_69 · June 2014

50% Phenylalanine, Aspartic Asic, and Methyl Ester which is basically wood alcohol. Yeah, not scary at all. Let me guess, MSG is perfectly safe, too?

You claim that the same building blocks in the protein are natural in everything we eat, they may be up to 4% of Phenylalanine, not 50%. Our bodies still don't know how to react to such high percentages.

When the body breaks down Aspartame, it breaks down the Methy Alcohol. The claim that they take in Fruit that you take in more methanol. In nature, this methanol in fruit is bound to pectic, which the body cannot break down and separate. In aspartame, this is pure & free in our bodies, and it turns into formaldehyde.

Aspartame, in time, breaks down into Diketopiperazine, basically a carcinogen. Still think its perfectly safe?

You're plenty intelligent, this is obvious by your posts. I'm just not sure why the bias. Aspartame is definitely not safe.

shmerek · June 2014

in

agrafina · June 2014

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Minor threadjack, since Pascal's wager is new to me--

Is it Pascal's wager? Don't both sides have to be indefensible by reason (going off of Wikipedia, so I'm trying to understand an area well outside my comfort zone). One side, aspartame is harmless is supported by reason (science). The opposite, that it is harmful, is not, rather being based on supposition unsupported by science? Is it still Pascal's wager? Just curious, I really don't know.

The constraints of pascal's wager make it illogical. It can be summed up by saying that a rational person wouldn't take the risk. Well, because there isn't sufficient evidence to prove a risk. If you assume something is bad before you attempt to prove that there's harm involved, then something has gone awry.

Got it. Thanks!

djprice_69 · June 2014

I apologize for a somewhat jumbled up post earlier; trying to focus on work & take a few moments here & in there to put more thoughts down in this window just wasn't working well for me. I think a key point here is Moderation.

Knowing the chemical composition of this, I still admit to an occasional diet pop or something along those lines. For the most part, I steer clear of aspartame and MSG. I can't imagine that very light occasional usage of this product will cause anyone any serious ill effects. However, I do strongly believe that those who use this very liberally are opening themselves up to a chemical that was really never intended to enter our bodies in its current form, and that cannot be a good thing.

jofjltncb6 · June 2014

Full disclosure (for what it's worth):

I'm on OP's side in this argument...

...and I've consumed two sodas since 2005.

SideSteel · June 2014

50% Phenylalanine, Aspartic Asic, and Methyl Ester which is basically wood alcohol. Yeah, not scary at all. Let me guess, MSG is perfectly safe, too?

You claim that the same building blocks in the protein are natural in everything we eat, they may be up to 4% of Phenylalanine, not 50%. Our bodies still don't know how to react to such high percentages.

When the body breaks down Aspartame, it breaks down the Methy Alcohol. The claim that they take in Fruit that you take in more methanol. In nature, this methanol in fruit is bound to pectic, which the body cannot break down and separate. In aspartame, this is pure & free in our bodies, and it turns into formaldehyde.

Aspartame, in time, breaks down into Diketopiperazine, basically a carcinogen. Still think its perfectly safe?

You're plenty intelligent, this is obvious by your posts. I'm just not sure why the bias. Aspartame is definitely not safe.

Source please. And at what dose do you claim aspartame is unsafe at?
Also what concern do you have over MSG?

Also, formaldehyde isn't dangerous in quantities seen from known safe levels of aspartame and I believe (I'll check when not phone posting) that even at abuse doses of aspartame it's still not a concern.

Edit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/7230276/

wheird · June 2014

That was probably the most clear explanation of aspartame that I have ever seen.

I would FR you if we weren't already friends.

jofjltncb6 · June 2014

That was probably the most clear explanation of aspartame that I have ever seen.

I would FR you if we weren't already friends.

You should drop him and readd him on principle.

EvanKeel · June 2014

show previous quotes

50% Phenylalanine, Aspartic Asic, and Methyl Ester which is basically wood alcohol. Yeah, not scary at all. Let me guess, MSG is perfectly safe, too?

You claim that the same building blocks in the protein are natural in everything we eat, they may be up to 4% of Phenylalanine, not 50%. Our bodies still don't know how to react to such high percentages.

When the body breaks down Aspartame, it breaks down the Methy Alcohol. The claim that they take in Fruit that you take in more methanol. In nature, this methanol in fruit is bound to pectic, which the body cannot break down and separate. In aspartame, this is pure & free in our bodies, and it turns into formaldehyde.

Aspartame, in time, breaks down into Diketopiperazine, basically a carcinogen. Still think its perfectly safe?

You're plenty intelligent, this is obvious by your posts. I'm just not sure why the bias. Aspartame is definitely not safe.

Source please. And at what dose do you claim aspartame is unsafe at?
Also what concern do you have over MSG?

Also, formaldehyde isn't dangerous in quantities seen from known safe levels of aspartame and I believe (I'll check when not phone posting) that even at abuse doses of aspartame it's still not a concern.

I'm going to guess Joseph Mercola.

girldownsouth · June 2014

I don't completely agree with your science. I don't think you can say that this must be fine because there's only this tiny molecular difference, because an extra methyl group can have a big effect on the chemical properties of a compound.

I do totally agree with the sentiment though. I get really wound up by the whole 'no chemicals' brigade. Water is a chemical for heavens sake.

SideSteel · June 2014

show previous quotes

50% Phenylalanine, Aspartic Asic, and Methyl Ester which is basically wood alcohol. Yeah, not scary at all. Let me guess, MSG is perfectly safe, too?

You claim that the same building blocks in the protein are natural in everything we eat, they may be up to 4% of Phenylalanine, not 50%. Our bodies still don't know how to react to such high percentages.

When the body breaks down Aspartame, it breaks down the Methy Alcohol. The claim that they take in Fruit that you take in more methanol. In nature, this methanol in fruit is bound to pectic, which the body cannot break down and separate. In aspartame, this is pure & free in our bodies, and it turns into formaldehyde.

Aspartame, in time, breaks down into Diketopiperazine, basically a carcinogen. Still think its perfectly safe?

You're plenty intelligent, this is obvious by your posts. I'm just not sure why the bias. Aspartame is definitely not safe.

Source please. And at what dose do you claim aspartame is unsafe at?
Also what concern do you have over MSG?

Also, formaldehyde isn't dangerous in quantities seen from known safe levels of aspartame and I believe (I'll check when not phone posting) that even at abuse doses of aspartame it's still not a concern.

I'm going to guess Joseph Mercola.

Mercolalololola

Also I microwaved some chicken and ate it about 20 minutes ago, and as far as I can tell I t.. *gasp*

*croak*

Unknown · June 2014

This content has been removed.

jofjltncb6 · June 2014

show previous quotes

50% Phenylalanine, Aspartic Asic, and Methyl Ester which is basically wood alcohol. Yeah, not scary at all. Let me guess, MSG is perfectly safe, too?

You claim that the same building blocks in the protein are natural in everything we eat, they may be up to 4% of Phenylalanine, not 50%. Our bodies still don't know how to react to such high percentages.

When the body breaks down Aspartame, it breaks down the Methy Alcohol. The claim that they take in Fruit that you take in more methanol. In nature, this methanol in fruit is bound to pectic, which the body cannot break down and separate. In aspartame, this is pure & free in our bodies, and it turns into formaldehyde.

Aspartame, in time, breaks down into Diketopiperazine, basically a carcinogen. Still think its perfectly safe?

You're plenty intelligent, this is obvious by your posts. I'm just not sure why the bias. Aspartame is definitely not safe.

Source please. And at what dose do you claim aspartame is unsafe at?
Also what concern do you have over MSG?

Also, formaldehyde isn't dangerous in quantities seen from known safe levels of aspartame and I believe (I'll check when not phone posting) that even at abuse doses of aspartame it's still not a concern.

I'm going to guess Joseph Mercola.

Mercolalololola

Also I microwaved some chicken and ate it about 20 minutes ago, and as far as I can tell I t.. *gasp*

*croak*

RIP SideSteel.

Here lies SideSteel.

Killed by a deathbox

ninerbuff · June 2014

Why would anyone want to ingest something that needs a defense like that?

Because it fulfills a sweet craving?

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

wheird · June 2014

Why would anyone want to ingest something that needs a defense like that?

We once had to convince most of humanity that the world is round.

wheird · June 2014

Hah! It was stickied!

haniame · June 2014

Just curious, i have heard that aspartame causes diabetes in the future if consumed too much on a regular basis. Also i have heard that it makes you crave more food. is that true or just a myth?

Why Aspartame Isn't Scary

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