Artificial Sweetener Aspartame Causes Anxiety

Non-nutritive artificial sweeteners have been known for many years to be bad for human health. Indeed, I wrote about some of the health problems associated with artificial sweeteners several years ago:

WE ALL KNOW SUGAR IS BAD FOR US, BUT "FAKE" SUGAR IS EVEN WORSE!!!

A new report published in the highly prestigious journal, Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences, demonstrates, at least in experimental animals, that the artificial sweetener aspartame can exert negative health consequences across multiple generations:

Transgenerational transmission of aspartame-induced anxiety and changes in glutamate-GABA signaling and gene expression in the amygdala

Transgenerational refers to effects that are exerted in one individual and transmitted to their offspring and their offspring's offspring, and so on.

Aspartame is used as an artificial sweetener in over 5,000 different products from "diet" beverages" to "low calorie" pre-packaged foods, and gums. Indeed, according to this manuscript the amount of aspartame produced and used annually worldwide is on the order of 3,000-5,000 metric tons.

In this study aspartame was given to mice at doses that were equivalent to less than 15% of the maximum daily recommended dose in humans. When consumed, aspartame is metabolized to the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartate, and methanol. The metabolism of methanol yields formaldehyde which can have significant negative effects in the body, particularly the nervous system.

The production of phenylalanine, which is a precursor to the neurotransmitters, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine, can have consequences within the brain. This has led to several lines of inquiry regarding the neurobehavioral effects of the consumption of aspartame.

As the tile indicates, the consumption of aspartame by laboratory mice resulted in a dose-dependent onset of anxiety. The aspartame-induced anxiety was alleviated by administration of diazepam, a common anti-anxiety drug used in humans. The effects of diazepam (and related benzodiazepines) are exerted through modulation of the activity of the GABA-A receptor. When the RNA expression profiles were examined in these mice it was shown that the expression of genes involved in glutamatergic and GABA receptor signaling in the amygdala, a brain region associated with regulation of anxiety, were significantly altered. Exposure to aspartame resulted in 1,467 differentially expressed genes in male mice exposed to 0.03% aspartame for 12 weeks, of which 1,073 were up-regulated and 394 were downregulated. Genes involved in glutamatergic synapses and GABAergic synapses among the top 20 most significantly enriched pathways.

The transgenerational impacts of aspartame-induced anxiety were demonstrated by the fact that the anxiety phenotype, its response to diazepam, and changes in amygdala gene expression were transmitted from the aspartame-exposed male mice to their offspring. In this study the focus was on patrilineal transmission and so the investigators did not examine for maternal transmission. However, matrilineal transmission of the effects of environmental factors has been shown in several other studies.

TAKE HOME: There is absolutely no question that, although approved by the US FDA, non-nutritive artificial sweeteners are detrimental to health and longevity. The striking observation from this study is that not only is a person damaging their own health by consuming aspartame sweetened beverages and foods, they are damaging the health of their future children.