If you’ve been following our advice you’ve already purged the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal and Sugar Trim) from your diet. If that’s the case you’re going to be pleased that you did when you learn about the latest strike against this chemical nightmare.
And if you haven’t yet kicked aspartame you’ll likely be swearing off the stuff by the end of this article.
Over the years we’ve warned that diet sodas sweetened with aspartame are linked to a higher risk of stroke and heart attack.1 Studies have shown that artificial sweeteners, including aspartame, can contribute to bladder problems, finding they can increase urgency and how often you have to go.2
Aspartame boosts blood sugar AND waist size
Researchers have also found diet sodas may mess with your mood by causing your serotonin levels to drop. And despite its sugar-free status, aspartame has been found to raise blood sugar and your diabetes risk right along with it.3
But perhaps most ridiculous of all is that so-called “diet” sodas laced with aspartame aren’t just ineffective for those trying to shed a few pounds, they’re actually been associated with an increase in waist size!4
Now researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital have confirmed that aspartame could be standing in the way of you losing weight, and they can even tell us why. And it could turn out to be the smoking gun behind that increase in diabetes risk too.
You see, when aspartame is digested it breaks down into the amino acid phenylalanine. And while phenylalanine is an essential amino acid in this case instead of it being paired with other amino acids as it would be in nature, it’s isolated. The phenylalanine then interferes with the action of an enzyme that’s been shown to prevent metabolic syndrome, or pre-diabetes, according to the study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.5
Aspartame eating mice developed pre-diabetes
When the researchers dumped aspartame into the drinking water of mice, the unlucky rodents packed on more weight than mice which didn’t get the artificial sweetener, and they developed symptoms of pre-diabetes. The mice which received aspartame had higher blood sugar levels and higher levels of inflammatory proteins in their blood as well.
If you’ve already slashed aspartame from your diet, this new research is just one more reason you can rest assured you made the right decision. And if you haven’t ditched the diet soda and other aspartame-laced foods yet we hope this latest study is the final push you need to rid your diet of this poison for good.
References:
1.”Diet Soft Drink Consumption is Associated with an Increased Risk of Vascular Events in the Northern Manhattan Study,” Journal of General Internal Medicine, September 2012, Volume 27, Issue 9, pp 1120–1126
2.”Enhancement of rat bladder contraction by artificial sweeteners via increased extracellular Ca2+ influx,” Toxicol Appl Pharmacol, 2006 Dec 1;217(2):216-24. Epub 2006 Sep 12.
3. “Sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis,” Diabetes Care, 2010 Nov;33(11):2477-83
4. “Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review,” Am J Clin Nutr, 2006 Aug;84(2):274-88
5. “Inhibition of the gut enzyme intestinal alkaline phosphatase may explain how aspartame promotes glucose intolerance and obesity in mice,” Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 18 November 2016, 10.1139/apnm-2016-0346
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