Annotated Bibliography On The Effects Of Aspartame

Yeast is a fungus that can generate glucose into energy without using any oxygen molecules. We tested the fermenting ability of yeast from two different carbon sources: glucose and aspartame. We hypothesized that yeast is unable to use the carbon sources of aspartame. To do this, we decided to use both carbon sources in the same concentration. Each carbon source was mixed with the same amount of yeast solution. The experiment group of 5.5 mM aspartame solution was compared with the control group of 5.5mM glucose solution. We recorded the rate of fermentation for glucose and aspartame in the Vernier Lab Quest. The fermentation rate of aspartame is a negative number, and glucose is a positive number. Our results show that yeast was unable to ferment aspartame as yeast fermented glucose. The results indicate that aspartame has no effect on yeast fermentation rate because yeast do not catabolize aspartame because it does not have the appropriate enzymes to break it down.

However the 52-week toxicity in infant monkeys and the 2010 Swiss mice studies has provided pivotal, contradictory evidence to the aspartame debate. Dr. Waisman at the University of Wisconsin Medical Center located in Madison Wisconsin initiated the 52-week toxicity study in infant monkeys in 1971 . This study orally served Aspartame mixed in milk formula to seven infant Rhesus monkeys over a 52-week period . Waisman put the monkeys into three groups: a low dose group (1.0 g/kg), a medium dose group (3.0 g/kg) and a high dose group (4-6 g/kg) . There was no control group, meaning there was not a group of newborn monkeys that were not fed aspartame. Since monkeys are primates similar to humans—with only a 1.2 percent genetic difference—monkeys were chosen to study the effects of aspartame on primates. Data shows that one monkey from the high dosage group died over 300 days, five of seven suffered grad mal seizures in the low dose group starting on the 218th day of treatment, and all monkeys in the medium and high dose groups exhibited seizures . According to data, the seizures coincided with the levels of phenylalanine . One should note that in the low dose group there was not a significant increase in serum phenylalanine levels; therefore, convulsions were not expected . Overall, the findings of this study correlated brain seizures with high amounts of aspartame particularly phenylalanine ingested by the monkeys, but at low dosages no biologically meaningful alterations occurred . In addition, the study reported food intake and growth rate were reduced when compared to the historical range . (This data can be studied in figures two to four .) Though the evidence of this study correlates aspartame with brain seizures, the FDA still approved aspartame for human consumption. This is because there are issues with the studies sample size and procedures. The study did not use a large sample of

After the hour incubation with MTT and the addition of DMSO, the blue DMSO-formazan solutions from each well was placed in a Kimex tube and run through a spectrophotometer. Each tube was placed in the spectrophotometer and had its absorbance value recorded three times. At the end, the average of each concentration was calculated.

To first formulate the major arguments that about Aspartame, we first must understand what Aspartame is, and how it is digested in our bodies.Aspartame is an artificial sweetener often used as a substitute for sugar in beverages,foods,gums, and other uses, it is often denoted as E951.It was approved for use in 1980. Shown right is the chemical structure of aspartame (wikipedia). Aspartames is a dipeptide which is a protein made of two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid, what makes it sweet is a hydro carbon that is attached to the phenylalanine (authoritynutrition).

ban", ("Tufts University Health",2015). The food and drug administration is a federal part of the United states human and health services and they continuously promote the use of aspartame and have stated that there is “no new credible scientific evidence to change the agency’s position that the zero-calorie sweetener is safe for the general population", ("Tufts University Health",2015). Even a study stated in the article by the American cancer society “found no link between intake of diet sodas (most commonly sweetened by aspartame)

Who uses the sweetener or consume diet drinks may have heard of the controversy surrounding aspartame. The product has been linked with diseases or disorders such as migraine, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer, cancer, lymphomas, and brain tumors, among others. This association is mainly caused by the fact metabolized in the human body-releasing methanol, a chemical compound that has toxic and accumulative effect on the nervous system. Despite being naturally present in small amounts in chicken in the meat, the beans and skim milk when ingested in large quantities methanol can cause blindness, among other problems. This fact has been known since the approval of aspartame in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However,

My belief is that aspartame is not safe to use. The reason I believe aspartame is not safe is because it accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious, including seizures and death. Another reason I think the use of aspartame is unsafe is that diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and brain tumors are a few chronic illnesses that can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame. This hits home for me because my son is a diabetic. Everyone knows the less sugar you include in your diet, the better. But replacing sugar with aspartame is not the solution, and in fact is likely to be even worse for your health. I believe regardless

Title: Neurobehavioral Effects of Aspartame Consumption. This title did not give the readers any clues as to whether the authors believe aspartame causes neurobehavioral side effects. However, it does let the audience know the effects will be reviewed in this article.

Aspartame has now been on the market for many years and most people seemingly haven’t had adverse reactions. Or have they? Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. warns that many people don’t notice of the serious symptoms because “they’re more resistant to the obvious toxic effects, but they’re still getting very subtle toxic effects that over many years is going to produce obvious disease in those persons.” However, some people have had more direct, severe reactions. For example, FDA officials have estimated that only 1% of toxic reactions are likely to get reported and the agency received reports of 7,000 toxic reactions with aspartame from 1982 until 1995. In fact, there were likely more official reports of toxicity, but we can’t be sure to the extent. After all, Congress found out in 1987 that the FDA had been transferring aspartame toxicity calls to the AIDS Hotline.

These chemicals convert to formaldehyde and diketopiperazine (DKP), two types of neurotoxins, at 86 degrees Fahrenheit, which is way below the average human body temperature (Cohen 2). The chemicals "cross the blood brain barrier (BBB) … and chang[e] the chemistry of the brain (Orange 2)" which keeps the brain able to regulate the amount of amino acids allowed in the brain. This affects the hippocampus or the area of the brain that pertains to memory. Methanol is also "released in the small intestine when the methyl group of aspartame encounters the enzyme chymotrypsin (Stegink 1984, p 143)," as quoted on the Holistic Medicine website in the well sourced article "Scientific Abuse in Methanol/ Formaldehyde Research Related to Aspartame." While Monsanto may be correct in saying in a statement on July 1, 1999 that "It is physiologically impossible for aspartame to cause brain tumors because it never enters the blood stream and thus cannot travel to essential organs, including the brain," aspartame's byproduct methanol is absorbed into the blood stream and once there it breaks down into formaldehyde and methanol. On the Holistic Medicine

There is a lot of High Fructose Corn Syrup, the sugar of choice, in regular sodas. People started finding out about how bad sugar is for them and how much sugar was really in their favorite every day drink. Everyone started turning against all of the soda companies and they had no choice but to come up with an alternative. So, instead of using natural sugar or High Fructose Corn Syrup in sodas, scientists invented artificial sweeteners, a way to keep the soda sweet yet contain no sugar. Artificial sweeteners like Aspartame that are added to diet soda are actually worse for us than the sugar that is in regular soda. This was proven by an Osteopathic Physician from the American Colledge of Nutrition who states, "While many of the artificial sweeteners have reportedly similar side effects, aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA" (Mercola).

In addition to aspartame in diet soda contributing to cancer, it also causes memory loss. Carbonated beverages began containing aspartame in 1983, after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it (Gold, 1995). Aspartame contains 40% aspartic acid, which is an amino acid that increases the level of aspartate and glutamate in blood plasma, according to Gold (1995). This increase of aspartate, as explained by Gold (1995), causes over stimulation of the nerves by acting within the brain as neurotransmitters, which aid in sending and receiving information between neurons. Aspartate increases the possibility of destroying the cell surface’s membrane on the opposite side of the area between nerve cells (where transmission of nerve impulses occur) in the brain (Humphries, Prestorius, & Naude, 2008). As a result, excessive aspartate or glutamate can slowly destroy neurons in the brain contributed by an influx of calcium contained in the cells, thus causing memory loss.

Since aspartame consists of phenylalanine and aspartic acid, it could be easily exposed to the brain. Fetal phenylalanine has the potential to reach levels that kills cells in tissue culture. Experimentally, it has been determined that infants are four times more sensitive to excitotoxins than adults. Plasticity of the brain is important in the learning process. Even when the baby is in the womb, the brain of the infant is being stimulated by sounds, touch, and even light causing changes in the brain's structure in important ways. All of this stimulation causes the pathways in the brain to change and develop. This process of molding the brain continues throughout life, but the majority of growth takes place within the first seven years of life. During these critical years, if unborn and young children are fed drinks or food containing aspartame, over-stimulation can occur. The overall consumption of aspartame by pregnant women and young children can be harmful to the function of the brain.

exacerbating the problem even further. NNS consist of a variety of no calorie sweeteners found mostly in diet foods. Some of the popular names of NNS are aspartame, sucralose and saccharin. A survey in 2008 showed 12.5% of kids and 24.1% of adults were consuming these NNS, which was an almost a 2-fold increase compared to 1999 (Shankar, Ahuja, & Sriram, 2013). Even though NNS are USFA approved, their safety has been questioned. For example, 100% of industry funded studies have concluded aspartame is safe while 92% of independently funded studies reported aspartame can cause adverse health effects (Walton, 1999). In a letter from the industry trying to defend their product it was stated that sucralose is extremely stable and avoids absorption while being digested where it can then be quickly

An article written by Gian Pacifici (2014), revealed that jitterness occurred in an infant with plasma concentration level of 61.7microgram/ml, and toxic effects start to show at levels ranging from