Is Aspartame Safe For Weight Loss?
Aspartame, a low-calorie sweetener, is often used in diet products as a sugar substitute.
But are you risking your health to lose weight with aspartame?
An international panel of experts from 10 universities and medical schools reviewed over 500 studies from the 1970s until now to find out.
They evaluated the safety of aspartame for people of all ages.
But they didn’t just look at healthy people. They also reviewed the effects of aspartame usage on adults and children with diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and depression.
They also looked at the effects on hyperactive and sugar-sensitive children.
Here’s what this expert panel concluded from their study:
- There’s no evidence to show that aspartame causes obesity. In fact, the experts believe that aspartame can help with long-term weight control when used with other weight loss programs.
- Aspartame doesn’t cause cancer.
- They found no proven adverse effects on reproduction or lactation.
- Aspartame can be used safely by diabetics.
- There isn’t any evidence of neurological effects, such as learning or memory problems.
- Most of the evidence shows that aspartame doesn’t affect behavior, neural function, cognitive function, or seizures in any of the groups that were studied.
- Aspartame isn’t linked to brain tumors, leukemia or lymphoma.
The study of this panel of experts is published in the September issue of Critical Reviews in Toxicology.
It was funded by a manufacturer of aspartame, Ajinomoto Company, Inc. Their website can be found at www.ajinomoto.com if you want to learn more about them.
Their site also has many links to information about aspartame.
Technorati Tags: aspartame, weight loss, lose weight, obesity, diabetes, depression, Parkinson’s disease, cancer
September 17th, 2007 at 9:42 am
If the study was funded by a manufacturer of aspartame, how can we trust the results?
September 17th, 2007 at 11:00 am
I’m with Tammi. It’s not an independent study if a manufacturer gave the money for it. Also, it sounds like a study of previous studies. There’s no new information. This doesn’t convince me.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Are we safe or not?
September 17th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
There are lots of studies that show that aspartame causes cancer. It can also cause M.S. Here is a link:
http://www.bolenreport.net/feature_articles/feature_article062.htm
September 17th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Aspartane’s in so many products, if there was something wrong, we woulda heard about it. That’s my 2 cents anyway.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
It sounds like they’re saying we’re safe.
September 17th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Hundred bucks says the next study says it isn’t safe. Then another study will say it is. They’ll keep this going for the rest of our lives.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
If you just use a little bit of sugar, say a teaspoon in your coffee, that’s only about 15 calories. Why mess with aspartame, just use the real thing. I don’t like all these sugar substitutes.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
I don’t know if it’s safe or not. I attempted to be objective and just report what the study said. But I also told you the study was funded by an aspartame manufacturer so that you could make your own decision as to whether to believe the results.
I wouldn’t knowingly use aspartame. I’d rather use natural ingredients to the extent I can. But then I’ve never liked the taste of diet colas.
You may want to click the link in Joe’s comment. That will give you an opposing viewpoint.
As always, if you have a medical question, you can ask your doctor. But if you use a lot of products with aspartame, you may want to do some more research yourself.
September 18th, 2007 at 9:46 am
I would not believe the opinions of an aspartame manufacturer, do you think they would publish results negative to their product? It is easy to find thousands of users of aspartame who have discovered their ill health stopped when their aspartame use stopped. You don’t need someone to prove it to you when you can prove it to yourself easily.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:38 am
[…] was interested in an article on the “I Love to Cheat Diet” blog yesterday titled “Is Aspartame Safe for Weight Loss?” It talked about the results of a study conducted by a panel of experts. What they concluded […]
September 18th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I’ve been asked who the “experts” are who authored this aspartame report.
They are George. A. Burdock, the Burdock Group; John Doull, University of Kansas Medical School; Robert M. Kroes, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Bernadene Magnuson, University of Maryland; Gary M Marsh, University of Pittsburgh; Michael W. Pariza, University of Wisconsin; Peter S. Spencer, Oregon Health and Science University; William J. Waddell, University of Louisville Medical School; Ronald Walker, University of Surrey, Great Britain; and Gary M.Williams, New York Medical School.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
I’d love to believe this study because I’m addicted to the stuff (Diet Coke, Crystal Light) but I have a hard time believing that it is actually healthy or safe. Especially since an aspartame company funded the study.
September 18th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Like it or not, if the makers of aspartame had not funded the study, there probably would not have been a study. I have done studies funded by pharmaceutical companies. The fact of their funding had no effect on the results. Call me naive, but it never dawned on me to bias the results based on who was paying for the study. Sometimes we have to trust the integrity of individuals.
This is not to say it is not important to look at how studies are conducted and to look critically at the results, just consider that the investigators are trying to do the best job they can.
July 16th, 2008 at 9:07 am
And they taste so fake. Yeah, why bother, use real sugar in a coffee.
I do believe they cause weight gain however, not in what they do, but the signal to the brain that you are eating sweet things. Sadly our brain is complex, but stupid, and will want MORE of the sweet we just drank or eat.
Of course we’re not going to eat just aspartame and will eventually eat a cookie or the like. Isn’t it interesting too that the majority of this product is use in drinks, and not foods? Hmmm wonder why?
Splenda is bad too, but at least tastes like sugar.