In a continuation of my coverage on artificial sweeteners, this post will be dedicated to one of the most controversial of them all: aspartame.  That’s because aspartame has been blamed for causing cancer and attributed to many other afflictions, which is evident in this chain email that circulated in 1998 during the early days of the internet.  In particular I remember the stories growing up, before I could even pronounce the word, that claimed aspartame causes cancer, and like many people, I automatically believed it was true.  I’ve dug through the scientific literature, there was a ton of it to look through…part of the reason it took so long for me to write this article.  Not surprisingly I’ve found that most of the claims are unsubstantiated by evidence, despite the fact that many of these studies are 20-30 years old – something that I do take issue with.  I did find some more recent compelling research, backed by a plausible mechanism on the potential neurotoxic effects of long-term aspartame consumption.  Those studies used large doses of aspartame, but were within the FDA acceptable daily intake limit, and I would urge you to read on for more context.  Aspartame may also have an affect on metabolic parameters related to diabetes and obesity, as well as composition of gut bacteria.  The evidence is conflicting, however, and many of these same issues are brought up surrounding other artificial sweeteners as well. Read the rest of this entry »