Is Aspartame really that bad for you?

Zascar

There seems to be a lot of controversy over this and wanted to see what you guys think. Basically I drink at least 5-6 cups of tea a day, and i take two sugars in each cup. A while back I switched to sweeteners in my tea as I just did not think its good for me to be having so much extra sugar. My dentist even said they are better for your teeth. However other people swear it gives you cancer etc - despite studies showing its harmless. I have others that are made out of sucrose - not sure if that's any better or worse. Is there any consensus here?

Whiplashy

I have ME and I've been advised by my consultant to minimise my intake of aspartame as it's believed to make the condition worse. As far as the cancer thing goes I've heard it mentioned a few times but as you said the research is there to suggest it's not true. My thinking would be why take the chance though? I do consume it ocassionaly in soft drinks but in tea I always use stevia based sweeteners.

jene

I think all of the research linking it to cancer was discredited, but if you have any doubts why not just switch to another sweetener? Stevia is good, and i found it tastes more like sugar than aspartame sweeteners.

oscar_mike

Hi Zascar,

Its true that these sweeteners have been shown to cause cancer, however the studies that show this usually involve testing relatively huge amounts of aspartame on animals. So unless your consuming vast quantities of the stuff i think your safe from it. It definitely does make a difference where sugar is concerned.

However, that's not saying your completely risk free. If you have a diet rich in processed crap (containing loads of other artificial additives) consume generous amounts of alcohol and smoke. Then the likelihood of cancer starts to increase unfortunately

myoreflex

http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/natural-sweeteners.html

Here is a really helpful website. Just note not all sweeteners and definitely not all sugars are equal. Worth doing some research. Stevia is a great alternative to sugar for your tea.