170
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by YellowtoOrange@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Aspartame is also linked in some studies to weight gain, GI disorders, mental health issues and more:

According to some studies, aspartame and other artificial sweeteners can lead to weight gain instead of weight loss 12. Aspartame has been linked to increased appetite, diabetes, metabolic derangement and obesity-related diseases 2.

One study showed that aspartame causes greater weight gain than a diet with the same calorie intake but no aspartame 1. Another study found that even acceptable daily intakes of aspartame might make you hungrier and lead to weight gain 3.

...some research suggests an association between aspartame intake and metabolic damage to the central nervous system (CNS), such as changes in enzyme and neurotransmitter activities 2. Aspartame acts as a chemical stressor by elevating plasma cortisol levels and causing the production of excess free radicals. High cortisol levels and excess free radicals may increase the brain’s vulnerability to oxidative stress which may have adverse effects on neurobehavioral health 3.

There is also some evidence that high-aspartame consumption may lead to weaker spatial orientation, irritability, depression, and other neurobehavioral conditions 14. However, these studies are limited in scope and further research is needed to determine the long-term effects of aspartame on human health.

Worth researching more, especially if you eat/drink anything with this stuff - and it's in a lot of food products.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] ColonelSanders@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Was going to say, I'm all for changing my habits/thought processes based on scientific data/evidence, but I could've sworn this debate has been raging on for some time now. First it was declared that it causes Cancer, then it was declared well no there's not really enough evidence to support that, and now we're back to it does. But I have yet to see a definitive link in any study and even this article says "possibly."

Now, that being said I still avoid aspartame when possible, opting for Stevia whenever I have the choice. I just fear that this kind of back and forth tends to erode credibility through unsubstantiated whiplash with the general public.

[-] Zaktor@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

As someone who would also very much like to believe that aspartame is perfectly safe, I will point out that in a controversy over "is this commercially sold product dangerous", the side that says "no" is going to get a lot more funding than the one that says "yes". Maybe there's some potential financial incentive for alternative sweeteners to boost aspartame-bad studies, but the aspartame-good group is very directly backed by behemoths.

These things aren't easy to prove and more research (from publicly funded sources) would be good, but when you're seeing a lot of confusing competing claims, keep in mind that industry funded research exists and it will be overwhelmingly on the side of "let us keep selling these very profitable products".

this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
170 points (85.7% liked)

World News

38965 readers
2223 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS