One of the most common alternatives to sugar, found in over 6,000 products and sold as NutraSweet® and Equal®.
The same amount of aspartame and sugar has the same number of calories as sugar, but since aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar it goes a lot farther.
Often used in diet sodas to cut down on calories.
Popular concern that aspartame causes cancer and other health problems.
The body breaks it down into formaldehyde, which is a substance known to cause cancer under long term exposure.
However, 12 oz. of fruit juice can put up to 5 times more formaldehyde than the same amount of diet soda,
Formaldehyde is used pretty much immediately in the body to make amino acids, so it doesn’t get stored and build up to potentially harmful levels.
What formaldehyde that is not used to in the process of making proteins is turned into formic acid, which is then excreted in urine or broken down by carbon dioxide and water.
No evidence of clinical reactions even at high doses of aspartame compared to placebo.
No link has been found between aspartame and cancer.