The Fascinating Truth About Aspartame, Cancer, & Neurotoxicity

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Is Aspartame’s Reputation Well-Deserved?

A bar chart showing the number of people who are interested in social media and Aspartame.

In Tuesday’s newsletter, we asked you for your health-related opinions on aspartame, and got the above-depicted, below-described, set of responses:

  • About 47% said “It is an evil carcinogenic neurotoxin”
  • 20% said “It is safe-ish, but has health risks that are worse than sugar”
  • About 19% said “It is not healthy, but better than sugar”
  • About 15% said “It’s a perfectly healthy replacement for sugar”

But what does the science say?

Aspartame is carcinogenic: True or False?

False, assuming consuming it in moderation. In excess, almost anything can cause cancer (oxygen is a fine example). But for all meaningful purposes, aspartame does not appear to be carcinogenic. For example,

❝The results of these studies showed no evidence that these sweeteners cause cancer or other harms in people.❞

~ NIH | National Cancer Institute

Source: Artificial Sweeteners and Cancer

Plenty of studies and reviews have also confirmed this; here are some examples:

Why then do so many people believe it causes cancer, despite all the evidence against it?

Well, there was a small study involving giving megadoses to rats, which did increase their cancer risk. So of course, the popular press took that and ran with it.

But those results have not been achieved outside of rats, and human studies great and small have all been overwhelmingly conclusive that moderate consumption of aspartame has no effect on cancer risk.

Aspartame is a neurotoxin: True or False?

False, again assuming moderate consumption. If you’re a rat being injected with a megadose, your experience may vary. But a human enjoying a diet soda, the aspartame isn’t the part that’s doing you harm, so far as we know.

For example, the European Food Safety Agency’s scientific review panel concluded:

❝there is still no substantive evidence that aspartame can induce such effects❞

~ Dr. Atkin et al (it was a pan-European team of 21 experts in the field)

Source: Report on the Meeting on Aspartame with National Experts

See also,

❝The data from the extensive investigations into the possibility of neurotoxic effects of aspartame, in general, do not support the hypothesis that aspartame in the human diet will affect nervous system function, learning or behavior.

The weight of existing evidence is that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a nonnutritive sweetener.❞

~ Dr. Magnuson et al.

Source: Aspartame: A Safety Evaluation Based on Current Use Levels, Regulations, and Toxicological and Epidemiological Studies

and

❝The safety testing of aspartame has gone well beyond that required to evaluate the safety of a food additive.

When all the research on aspartame, including evaluations in both the premarketing and postmarketing periods, is examined as a whole, it is clear that aspartame is safe, and there are no unresolved questions regarding its safety under conditions of intended use.❞

~ Dr. Stegink et al.

Source: Regulatory Toxicology & Pharmacology | Aspartame: Review of Safety

Why then do many people believe it is a neurotoxin? This one can be traced back to a chain letter hoax from about 26 years ago; you can read it here, but please be aware it is an entirely debunked hoax:

Urban Legends | Aspartame Hoax

Take care!

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  • Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess – by Dr. Caroline Leaf

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    First of all, what mental mess is this? Well, that depends on you, but common items include:

    • Anxiety
    • Depression
    • Stress
    • Trauma

    Dr. Caroline Leaf also includes the more nebulous item “toxic thoughts”, but this is mostly a catch-all term.

    Given that it says “5 simple scientifically proven steps”, it would be fair if you are wondering:

    “Is this going to be just basic CBT stuff?”

    And… First, let’s not knock basic CBT stuff. It’s not a panacea, but it’s a great tool for a lot of things. However… Also, no, this book is not about just basic CBT stuff.

    In fact, this book’s methods are presented in such a novel way that this reviewer was taken aback by how unlike it was to anything she’d read before.

    And, it’s not that the components themselves are new—it’s just that they’re put together differently, in a much more organized comprehensive and systematic way, so that a lot less stuff falls through the cracks (a common problem with standalone psychological tools and techniques).

    Bottom line: if you buy one mental health self-help book this year, we recommend that it be this one

    Click here to check out Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, and take a load off your mind!

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  • The Fiber Effect – by Nichole Dandrea-Russert

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    The author, a registered dietician-nutritionist (RDN), brings to this work her decades of professional experience specializing in heart disease, diabetes, sports nutrition, and women’s health—and it shows.

    The main premise is, of course “eat more fiber”, but she also talks us through what happens if we don’t, and how very many people (including 95% of Americans) suffer the consequences of a fiber-deficient diet, usually without even knowing that that’s the reason.

    This book details the many different kinds of fiber (which is one of the reasons for consuming a wide variety of plants, not just one or two star-performers), what they do, what we need to prioritize for what, and more.

    The recipes, of which there are 40 (enough to furnish us with a 14-day meal plan, which she does) are plant-based and varied.

    The style is energetic and friendly, with plenty of (well-referenced) scientific information, but little-to-no jargon.

    Bottom line: if you’d like to improve your fiber intake, then this book can help you supercharge that!

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  • Eggs: Nutritional Powerhouse or Heart-Health Timebomb?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Eggs: All Things In Moderation?

    We asked you for your (health-related) opinion on eggs. We specified that, for the sake of simplicity, let’s say that they are from happy healthy backyard hens who enjoy a good diet.

    Apparently this one wasn’t as controversial as it might have been! We (for myth-busting purposes) try to pick something polarizing and sometimes even contentious for our Friday editions, and pick apart what science lies underneath public perceptions.

    However, more than half (in fact, 60%) of the subscribers who voted in the poll voted for “Eggs are nutritionally beneficial as part of a balanced diet”, which very moderate statement is indeed pretty much the global scientific consensus.

    Still, we’ve a main feature to write, so let’s look at the science, and what the other 40% had in mind:

    Eggs are ruinous to health, especially cardiometabolic health: True or False?

    False, per best current science, anyway!

    Scientific consensus has changed over the years. We learned about cholesterol, then we learned about different types of cholesterol, and now we’ve even learned about in some instances even elevated levels of “bad” cholesterol aren’t necessarily a cause of cardiometabolic disorders so much as a symptom—especially in women.

    Not to derail this main feature about eggs (rather than just cholesterol), but for those who missed it, this is actually really interesting: basically, research (pertaining to the use of statins) has found that in women, higher LDL levels aren’t anywhere near the same kind of risk factor as they are for men, and thus may mean that statins (whose main job is reducing LDL) may be much less helpful for women than for men, and more likely to cause unwanted serious side effects in women.

    Check out our previous main feature about this: Statins: His & Hers?

    But, for back on topic, several large studies (totalling 177,000 people in long-term studies in 50 countries) found:

    ❝Results from the three cohorts and from the updated meta-analysis show that moderate egg consumption (up to one egg per day) is not associated with cardiovascular disease risk overall, and is associated with potentially lower cardiovascular disease risk in Asian populations.❞

    Source: Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease: three large prospective US cohort studies, systematic review, and updated meta-analysis

    Egg whites are healthy (protein); egg yolks are not (cholesterol): True or False?

    True and False, respectively. That is to say, egg whites are healthy (protein), and egg yolks are also healthy (many nutrients).

    We talked a bit already about cholesterol, so we’ll not rehash that here. As to the rest:

    Eggs are one of the most nutritionally dense foods around. After all, they have everything required to allow a cluster of cells to become a whole baby chick. That’s a lot of body-building!

    They’re even more nutritionally heavy-hitters if you get omega-3 enriched eggs, which means the hens were fed extra omega-3, usually in the form of flax seeds.

    Also, free-range is better healthwise than others. Do bear in mind that unless they really are from your backyard, or a neighbor’s, chances are that the reality is not what the advertising depicts, though. There are industry minimum standards to be able to advertise as “free-range”, and those standards are a) quite low b) often ignored, because an occasional fine is cheaper than maintaining good conditions.

    So if you can look after your own hens, or get them from somewhere that you can see for yourself how they are looked after, so much the better!

    Check out the differences side-by-side, though:

    Pastured vs Omega-3 vs “Conventional” Eggs: What’s the Difference?

    Stallone-style 12-egg smoothies are healthy: True or False?

    False, at least if taken with any regularity. One can indeed have too much of a good thing.

    So, what’s the “right amount” to eat?

    It may vary depending on individual factors (including age and ethnicity), but a good average, according to science, is to keep it to 3 eggs or fewer per day. There are a lot of studies, but we only have so much room here, so we’ll pick one. Its findings are representative of (and in keeping with) the many other studies we looked at, so this seems uncontroversial scientifically:

    ❝Intake of 1 egg/d was sufficient to increase HDL function and large-LDL particle concentration; however, intake of 2-3 eggs/d supported greater improvements in HDL function as well as increased plasma carotenoids. Overall, intake of ≤3 eggs/d favored a less atherogenic LDL particle profile, improved HDL function, and increased plasma antioxidants in young, healthy adults.❞

    Source: Intake of up to 3 Eggs per Day Is Associated with Changes in HDL Function and Increased Plasma Antioxidants in Healthy, Young Adults

    Enjoy!

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  • Cows’ Milk, Bird Flu, & You

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    When it comes to dairy products, generally speaking, fermented ones (such as most cheeses and yogurts) are considered healthy in moderation, and unfermented ones have their pros and cons that can be argued and quibbled “until the cows come home”. We gave a broad overview, here:

    Is Dairy Scary?

    Furthermore, you may recall that there’s some controversy/dissent about when human babies can have cows’ milk:

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    So, what about bird flu now?

    Earlier this year, the information from the dairy industry was that it was nothing to be worried about for the time being:

    Bird Flu Is Bad for Poultry and Dairy Cows. It’s Not a Dire Threat for Most of Us — Yet.

    More recently, the latest science has found:

    ❝We found a first-order decay rate constant of −2.05 day–1 equivalent to a T99 of 2.3 days. Viral RNA remained detectable for at least 57 days with no degradation. Pasteurization (63 °C for 30 min) reduced infectious virus to undetectable levels and reduced viral RNA concentrations, but reduction was less than 1 log10.

    The prolonged persistence of viral RNA in both raw and pasteurized milk has implications for food safety assessments and environmental surveillance❞

    You can find the study here:

    Infectivity and Persistence of Influenza A Virus in Raw Milk

    In short: raw milk keeps the infectious virus; pasteurization appears to render it uninfectious, though viral RNA remains present.

    This is relevant, because of the bird flu virus being found in milk:

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    To this end, a moratorium has been placed on the sale of raw milk, first by the California Dept of Public Health (following an outbreak in California):

    California halts sales of raw milk due to bird flu virus contamination

    And then, functionally, by the USDA, though rather than an outright ban, it’s requiring testing for the virus:

    USDA orders testing of milk supply for presence of bird flu virus

    So, is pasteurized milk safe?

    The official answer to this, per the FDA, is… Honestly, a lot of hand-wringing and shrugging. What we do know is:

    • the bird flu virus has been found in pasteurized milk too
    • the test for this is very sensitive, and has the extra strength/weakness that viral fragments will flag it as a positive
    • it is assumed that the virus was inactivated by the pasteurization process
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    In the FDA’s own words:

    ❝The pasteurization process has served public health well for more than 100 years. Even if the virus is detected in raw milk, pasteurization is generally expected to eliminate pathogens to a level that does not pose a risk to consumer health❞

    So, there we have it: the FDA does not have a reassurance exactly, but it does have a general expectation.

    Source: US Officials: Bird flu viral fragments found in pasteurized milk

    Want to know more?

    You might like this mythbusting edition we did a little while back:

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    Take care!

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  • How light can shift your mood and mental health

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    This is the next article in our ‘Light and health’ series, where we look at how light affects our physical and mental health in sometimes surprising ways. Read other articles in the series.

    It’s spring and you’ve probably noticed a change in when the Sun rises and sets. But have you also noticed a change in your mood?

    We’ve known for a while that light plays a role in our wellbeing. Many of us tend to feel more positive when spring returns.

    But for others, big changes in light, such as at the start of spring, can be tough. And for many, bright light at night can be a problem. Here’s what’s going on.

    llaszlo/Shutterstock

    An ancient rhythm of light and mood

    In an earlier article in our series, we learned that light shining on the back of the eye sends “timing signals” to the brain and the master clock of the circadian system. This clock coordinates our daily (circadian) rhythms.

    “Clock genes” also regulate circadian rhythms. These genes control the timing of when many other genes turn on and off during the 24-hour, light-dark cycle.

    But how is this all linked with our mood and mental health?

    Circadian rhythms can be disrupted. This can happen if there are problems with how the body clock develops or functions, or if someone is routinely exposed to bright light at night.

    When circadian disruption happens, it increases the risk of certain mental disorders. These include bipolar disorder and atypical depression (a type of depression when someone is extra sleepy and has problems with their energy and metabolism).

    Light on the brain

    Light may also affect circuits in the brain that control mood, as animal studies show.

    There’s evidence this happens in humans. A brain-imaging study showed exposure to bright light in the daytime while inside the scanner changed the activity of a brain region involved in mood and alertness.

    Another brain-imaging study found a link between daily exposure to sunlight and how the neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger) serotonin binds to receptors in the brain. We see alterations in serotonin binding in several mental disorders, including depression.

    Man in hammock, strung between two trees, arms outstretched
    Our mood can lift in sunlight for a number of reasons, related to our genes, brain and hormones. New Africa/Shutterstock

    What happens when the seasons change?

    Light can also affect mood and mental health as the seasons change. During autumn and winter, symptoms such as low mood and fatigue can develop. But often, once spring and summer come round, these symptoms go away. This is called “seasonality” or, when severe, “seasonal affective disorder”.

    What is less well known is that for other people, the change to spring and summer (when there is more light) can also come with a change in mood and mental health. Some people experience increases in energy and the drive to be active. This is positive for some but can be seriously destabilising for others. This too is an example of seasonality.

    Most people aren’t very seasonal. But for those who are, seasonality has a genetic component. Relatives of people with seasonal affective disorder are more likely to also experience seasonality.

    Seasonality is also more common in conditions such as bipolar disorder. For many people with such conditions, the shift into shorter day-lengths during winter can trigger a depressive episode.

    Counterintuitively, the longer day-lengths in spring and summer can also destabilise people with bipolar disorder into an “activated” state where energy and activity are in overdrive, and symptoms are harder to manage. So, seasonality can be serious.

    Alexis Hutcheon, who experiences seasonality and helped write this article, told us:

    […] the season change is like preparing for battle – I never know what’s coming, and I rarely come out unscathed. I’ve experienced both hypomanic and depressive episodes triggered by the season change, but regardless of whether I’m on the ‘up’ or the ‘down’, the one constant is that I can’t sleep. To manage, I try to stick to a strict routine, tweak medication, maximise my exposure to light, and always stay tuned in to those subtle shifts in mood. It’s a time of heightened awareness and trying to stay one step ahead.

    So what’s going on in the brain?

    One explanation for what’s going on in the brain when mental health fluctuates with the change in seasons relates to the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine.

    Serotonin helps regulate mood and is the target of many antidepressants. There is some evidence of seasonal changes in serotonin levels, potentially being lower in winter.

    Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in reward, motivation and movement, and is also a target of some antidepressants. Levels of dopamine may also change with the seasons.

    But the neuroscience of seasonality is a developing area and more research is needed to know what’s going on in the brain.

    How about bright light at night?

    We know exposure to bright light at night (for instance, if someone is up all night) can disturb someone’s circadian rhythms.

    This type of circadian rhythm disturbance is associated with higher rates of symptoms including self-harm, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and lower wellbeing. It is also associated with higher rates of mental disorders, such as major depression, bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD).

    Why is this? Bright light at night confuses and destabilises the body clock. It disrupts the rhythmic regulation of mood, cognition, appetite, metabolism and many other mental processes.

    But people differ hugely in their sensitivity to light. While still a hypothesis, people who are most sensitive to light may be the most vulnerable to body clock disturbances caused by bright light at night, which then leads to a higher risk of mental health problems.

    Man studying at computer late at night
    Bright light at night disrupts your body clock, putting you at greater risk of mental health issues. Ollyy/Shutterstock

    Where to from here?

    Learning about light will help people better manage their mental health conditions.

    By encouraging people to better align their lives to the light-dark cycle (to stabilise their body clock) we may also help prevent conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder emerging in the first place.

    Healthy light behaviours – avoiding light at night and seeking light during the day – are good for everyone. But they might be especially helpful for people at risk of mental health problems. These include people with a family history of mental health problems or people who are night owls (late sleepers and late risers), who are more at risk of body clock disturbances.

    Alexis Hutcheon has lived experience of a mental health condition and helped write this article.

    If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

    Jacob Crouse, Research Fellow in Youth Mental Health, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney; Emiliana Tonini, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, and Ian Hickie, Co-Director, Health and Policy, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • Statins and Brain Fog?

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    It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

    Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

    In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

    As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

    So, no question/request too big or small

    ❝I was wondering if you had done any info about statins. I’ve tried 3, and keep quitting them because they give me brain fog. Am I imagining this as the research suggests?❞

    If you are female, the chances of adverse side-effects are a lot higher:

    Statins: His & Hers?

    As an extra kicker, not only are the adverse side-effects more likely for women, but also, the benefits are often less beneficial, too (see the above main feature for some details).

    That’s not to say that statins can’t have their place for women; sometimes it will still be the right choice. Just, not as readily so as for men.

    Enjoy!

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