Aspartame Sweetener Linked to Anxiety

Author: Florida State University
Published: 2022/12/09 - Updated: 2023/01/03
Peer Reviewed Publication: Yes
Category Topic: Fitness and Nutrition - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: A study has linked aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in nearly 5,000 diet foods and drinks, to anxiety-like behavior. The U.S. FDA approved aspartame as a sweetener in 1981. Today, nearly 5,000 metric tons are produced each year. When consumed, aspartame becomes aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol, all of which can have potent effects on the central nervous system.

Defining Aspartame

Aspartame: "Aspartame" is the technical name for an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages and sold by the words "NutraSweet," "Equal," and "Equal-Measure," "Canderel," and "Spoonful." The substance was discovered by accident in 1965 by James Schlatter, a chemist of the G.D. Searle Company, as he tested an anti-ulcer medication. In the European Union, it is codified as E951. It was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009, it also has been sold under the brand name "AminoSweet." Aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose or table sugar. Due to this, even though aspartame produces four kilo-calories of energy per gram when metabolized, the quantity of aspartame needed to make a sweet taste is so small that its caloric contribution is negligible.

Introduction

Florida State University College of Medicine researchers has linked aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in nearly 5,000 diet foods and drinks, to anxiety-like behavior in mice.

Main Content

Along with producing anxiety in the mice who consumed aspartame, the effects extended up to two generations from the males exposed to the sweetener. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"What this study is showing is we need to look back at the environmental factors because what we see today is not only what's happening today, but what happened two generations ago and maybe even longer," said co-author Pradeep Bhide, the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental Neuroscience in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

The study came about partly because of previous research from the Bhide Lab on the transgenerational effects of nicotine on mice. The research showed temporary, or epigenetic, changes in mice sperm cells. Unlike genetic changes (mutations), epigenetic changes are reversible and don't change the DNA sequence; however, they can change how the body reads a DNA sequence.

"We were working on the effects of nicotine on the same type of model," Bhide said. "The father smokes. What happened to the children?"

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved aspartame as a sweetener in 1981. Today, nearly 5,000 metric tons are produced each year. When consumed, aspartame becomes aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol, all of which can have potent effects on the central nervous system.

Led by doctoral candidate Sara Jones, the study involved providing mice with drinking water containing aspartame at approximately 15% of the FDA-approved maximum daily human intake. The dosage, equivalent to six to eight 8-ounce cans of diet soda daily for humans, continued for 12 weeks in a study spanning four years.

Pronounced anxiety-like behavior was observed in the mice through various maze tests across multiple generations descending from the aspartame-exposed males.

"It was such a robust anxiety-like trait that I don't think any of us were anticipating we would see," Jones said. "It was completely unexpected. Usually, you see subtle changes."

When given diazepam, a drug used to treat anxiety disorder in humans, mice in all generations ceased to show anxiety-like behavior.

Researchers are planning an additional publication from this study focused on how aspartame affected memory. Future research will identify the molecular mechanisms that influence the transmission of aspartame's effect across generations.

Other co-authors were Department of Biomedical Sciences faculty members Deirdre McCarthy, Cynthia Vied, Gregg Stanwood, and FSU Department of Psychology Professor Chris Schatschneider. This research was supported by the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Chair Fund at Florida State University and by the Bryan Robinson Foundation.

Related Information

Attribution/Source(s): This peer reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Florida State University and published on 2022/12/09, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.