I have heard differing stories over the years regarding the safety of artificial sweeteners. In most cases, the arguments center around one that has been around for quite some time now: aspartame. Is it harmful? Is it safe? Has it been shown to cause certain types of cancer (leukemia, lymphoma, brain cancer)? Are the results conclusive? So on and so forth. I actually even remember once hearing that aspartame was harmful for lab mice, but not for humans. Huh?
The confusion, at least it seems, may finally be cleared up, thanks to a study conducted by the National Cancer Institute. After surveying over 340,000 men and 225,000 women from 1995 to 2000, researchers found that the development of any of the three above-mentioned cancers was not any higher in people who regularly consumed aspartame than those who reportedly did not. While survey studies can sometimes produce slightly inaccurate results (due to several factors, including the "testing effect"), these findings appear to be solid.
1. Artificial sweetners are a profitable and large and highly politicized business. I don't trust this research by the NCI on this one. Or maybe it doesn't exactly cause cancer, but Aspartame is not something that I recommend ingesting. There are at least two great sugar substitutes. There are many respected authorities in nutrition and integrated medicine that can detail why Nutrasweet (Aspartame) is a problem. I think the science is pretty clear.
For a different perspective, I have written about this on my own blog.
http://healthwithcancer.blogspot.com/2006/09/when-to-eat-sugar.html
http://healthwithcancer.blogspot.com/2006/09/when-to-eat-sugar.html
Posted at 9:02AM on Nov 23rd 2006 by Alex Berks L. Ac