Stop using sweetener! It affects your brain
10:11 AM EDT, October 19, 2023
Aspartame, a popular sugar substitute, is the subject of ongoing research and debate. Although it is widely used in many products, scientists from the College of Medicine at Florida State University (USA) have conducted another study, the results of which should draw our attention to the potential risk associated with its consumption. This time it's about cognitive abilities.
Research tool - mice
In the latest study, attention was drawn to how aspartame affects the learning abilities and memory of mice. Experiments have shown that even in low doses, aspartame can negatively affect these abilities.
Consequences of consuming aspartame
The mice were divided into three groups. One group drank regular water for 16 weeks, while the other two received water with aspartame in different concentrations (7 and 15 percent of the FDA permissible dose for humans).
The results were significant: mice consuming aspartame had difficulty performing tasks involving finding their way out of a maze, mice consuming pure water did not share these difficulties.
Researchers also observed that mice fed with water containing aspartame used various strategies to cope with the task - they had to compensate for their deficiencies, as a result finding a way out after a longer period of time and using different methods.
Multigenerational perspective
Researchers have shown that the negative effects of aspartame consumption in males were visible in their offspring (although not in their grandchildren). According to scientists, this indicates the epigenetic influence of aspartame on the body.
Although the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed certain risks associated with the consumption of aspartame (heart disease, cancer, increased fat stores in the abdominal cavity and muscles), until now they have not had clear data on its impact on cognitive abilities.
Co-author of the study, Prof. Pradeep Bhide, urges the FDA to reexamine the effects of consuming aspartame on human health (including cognitive abilities), taking into consideration not only the current, but also future generations.
