Alarming Side Effects of Artificial Sweeteners

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Alarming Side Effects of Artificial Sweeteners

NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure are all brand names for aspartame, a low calorie sugar substitute used in more than 90 countries to sweeten foods and beverages. Aspartame is a synthetic chemical that is created through the combination of the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, and a small amount of methanol. Aspartame can be found in several products, such as soft drinks, over-the counter drugs, vitamin and herb supplements, instant breakfasts, candy, breath mints, cereals, sugar-free chewing gum, coffee, juice, and tea beverages, tabletop sweeteners, and gelatin desserts. This product may have seemed like a dream come true when it was first invented in 1981 because its use can substantially lower the number of calories in food and beverage products by substituting the place of sugar. Despite its desirable qualities, the use of aspartame has been controversial since its creation due to its negative side effects that have been linked to the use of the chemically produced sugar.

Due to the ever increasing use of aspartame, researchers have discovered that aspartame has been closely associated with the function of the brain. In the human brain, there is a blood-brain barrier that acts as a system of specialized capillary structures that are designed to prevent toxic substances from entering the brain. Prior to birth and during the first 12 months of life, the blood-brain barrier is incomplete. The protective enzymes in a baby’s brain are still immature, and therefore are unable to effectively detoxify the excitotoxins, toxins that bind to certain receptors and may cause neuronal cell death when they enter the brain. This would mean that in the case o...

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...t pain, headaches, equilibrium problems and manic depression. The Desert Storm incident proved that aspartame is indeed harmful when consumed in excess or when consumed in general.

Overall, the consumption of aspartame is not so beneficial. The chemical component of aspartame may be broken down to chemical substances that are potentially harmful and may lead to symptoms such as headaches, vision impairment, hearing loss, memory loss, fatigue, dizziness, and eventually brain tumors. The sweetener may have been developed to lower the amount of calories and be a sugar substitute, but its creation has only produced medical attention. The consumption of aspartame should be limited or not be consumed at all in order to prevent symptoms from occurring. The creation of aspartame may not be so sweet after all.

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