By Karen Aney (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 9, 2011
Aspartame, originally referred to as NutriSweet, was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter. At the time, Schlatter was attempting to create a drug to fight ulcers. While wetting his finger to lift the corner of a piece of paper, he inadvertently licked some of the product off his fingers. It was then, during a moment that must have been akin to Newton getting conked on the head with an apple, that he noticed the sweet taste.
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener. It’s used in everything from diet soda to mouthwash, yet the safety of the substance remains under constant scrutiny. Some of the reasons for questioning the chemical are easily negated, yet there are many that don’t come with easy explanations.
One of the aspects of aspartame that frightens people is that once it is digested by the body, it turns into substances like methanol and formaldehyde. These words look scary to anyone that’s taken introductory science classes, but the truth is that the levels of both substances occur naturally and in higher amounts in produce such as tomatoes; according to Health Canada, a glass of tomato juice contains approximately six times more methanol than aspartame, for instance.
The American Food and Drug Administration explains that aspartame is approximately 180 times sweeter than sugar. Because of this, and because of its lower caloric content, a smaller amount of aspartame is needed to sweeten food and drink products. This makes it popular in diet versions of our favourite processed foods, but may not play as big a part in weight loss as we would think. There have been many studies that show those who consume aspartame regularly tend to have higher rates of obesity when compared with those who don’t. In one such study from the University of Texas, 474 people were followed over 9.5 years. In that time, any participant who reported weight gain was tracked. Those who consumed diet soda had an increase that was 70 per cent higher than those who did not.
These studies have been widely discredited from a scientific standpoint, but the numbers speak for themselves. Some hypothesize that the reason for the increased weight gain is purely psychological – sort of a “hey, it’s ok to eat half a pie because you had aspartame in your cola instead of sugar”. That’s an extreme example, but the point remains the same. If we subconsciously believe that diet products will not make us gain weight, we’re likely to eat more.
In a similar study at Purdue University, it was shown that rats who were fed yogurt with aspartame gained more weight over a two-week period than those who did not. The other sample group of rats was fed with a sweetener that had more calories than sugar but less sweetness. Unless Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is true, rats don’t have an extremely high cognitive threshold: this suggests that something in the chemical fools our brains into wanting more calories. However, none of this can currently be explained scientifically without being discredited.
Another aspect for concern surrounding the intake of aspartame is the potential for the substance to act as a carcinogen. Health Canada and its American and European counterparts say the risk is negligible when intake is under their recommended levels per day (40 mg in Canada and Europe, 50 mg in the USA). This equates to roughly 21 cans of Diet Coke, assuming that you’re a relatively healthy individual and weigh around 165 lbs. Studies that have shown increased risks of cancer have been questioned by health officials due to the high dosage levels given to test subjects. Health Canada claims that their recommended intake of aspartame reflects all current research, and that even the discredited studies are taken into account when making the intake recommendation.
Final words of advice from Health Canada regarding aspartame and other sugar substitutes are good to keep in mind. For those who are diabetic and pregnant, they recommend that Canadians “consider how sugar substitutes can play a role in a healthy, balanced diet.” Translation: you’re not getting many nutrients from aspartame, so don’t let the intake fool you into thinking you are. Another point to remember is that aspartame, like most other substances, can cause addiction. As a result, if you ingest too much aspartame, you could experience headaches, diarrhea, nausea, problems with balance and more. If this happens to you, Health Canada suggests that you discontinue your intake of the substance. Though there are many concerns surrounding aspartame, it appears that when used in moderation the substance is relatively safe. Then again, we said the same thing about smoking. Proceed with caution, diet-cola drinkers.
