Thanks to media coverage and increased education, people are becoming more aware of the harmful effects of sugar. As a result, sugar consumption is starting to decline.

As a nutritionist, this is great news!

I love to hear clients committed to kicking sugar to curb or breaking their addiction to white refined sugar once and for all.

However, when we restrict our sugar intake, what tends to happen is that we start to replace white sugar with sugar substitutes. Though not all sugar substitutes are the same and should not be treated equally, most of them have some startling effects you should know about.

How bad is Aspartame for your brain?

Though there are many different sugar substitutes on the market, in this week’s post, I’d like to focus on one in particular - aspartame.

One of the most common artificial sweeteners used today, especially in diet sodas, is aspartame. It also goes by the brand names of NutraSweet and Equal. Because it has zero calories, aspartame has been added to many “sugar-free” foods that are touted as healthier options for today’s health-conscious and those concerned about blood sugar balancing.

Let’s take a closer look at this “health claim” and discover just how good (or bad) aspartame is for your brain. Then you can decide for yourself if it’s worth the risk.

What is aspartame?

Aspartame is made of three ingredients - chemicals, actually. They include aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Though aspartic acid is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid, when it is removed from its natural state bound to protein, the aspartic acid from aspartame turns from an amino acid into a neurotoxin.

Yes, you read that correctly - by simply removing a natural component from its amino acid state, a neurotoxin is created. If you are unfamiliar with this term, a neurotoxin is just as it sounds - a substance that it toxic to the brain.

The same thing happens when glutamic acid (found in MSG) is freed from the naturally-occurring amino acid glutamate - and we all know how unhealthy MSG is for us!

What’s worse is that in liquid forms, like that found in diet soda, aspartame is absorbed very quickly and unnaturally spikes levels of aspartic acid in the blood.

This is important because aspartate, as well as glutamate, act as neurotransmitters that facilitate the transmission of messages or information from one neuron to another in the brain. Excess “free” amino acids like aspartic acid (or glutamic acid) end up killing neurons by allowing too much calcium to flood into the cells. This triggers the formation of excessive amounts of free radicals which end up killing the cells. Aspartate and glutamate are referred to as “excitotoxins" for this very reason; they stimulate or "excite" the neural cells to death.

Normally, the blood brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain from toxins like aspartic and glutamic acids, however excess amounts of them can seep though the BBB or enter in areas that have been damaged. Kids are especially susceptible to the ravages of these neurotoxins, as their BBBs have not fully developed yet.

As excitotoxins, aspartic acid and glutamic acid cause serious chronic neurological disorders as well as many other acute symptoms.

Commonly reported side effects from consuming aspartame include headaches, migraines, memory loss, muscle pain, fatigue, anxiety attacks, nausea, vertigo, sleep disturbances, depression, abdominal pains, vision problems, and chest tightness or asthma.

Even worse, according to the physicians and researches who study the adverse effects of aspartame, is that many chronic illnesses can either be triggered by or worsened from ingesting it.

They include:

• Brain tumours

• Multiple Sclerosis

• Epilepsy

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

• Fibromyalgia

• Diabetes

• Autism

• Birth defects

• Parkinson’s Disease

• Alzheimer’s Disease

• ALS

• Lymphoma

As for phenylalanine, studies have shown that excessive levels of phenylalanine in the brain cause serotonin levels to decline. This can lead to emotional disorders like depression. Even just a single use of aspartame raises levels of phenylalanine. This is especially dangerous in young children and fetuses.

In addition, one segment of the population, those with a genetic disorder called phenylketonuria (PKU) need to avoid aspartame at all costs. Those with PKU have been born without the enzyme required to break down one particular amino acid - phenylalanine. Without this enzyme, levels of phenylalanine build up, harming the central nervous system and causing brain damage. As aspartame contains phenylalanine, for those with PKU, no amount of aspartame is safe.

Finally, the third chemical that makes up aspartame is methanol. Methanol is also referred to as wood alcohol, and is a deadly poison.

It is released into the small intestine gradually where it comes into contact with an enzyme called chymotrypsin. When free methanol, created from aspartame, is ingested, its absorption is sped up considerably. This is a problem because, once in the body, methanol breaks down into formaldehyde - a deadly neurotoxin and known carcinogen. It interferes with DNA replication and causes birth defects as well as retinal damage.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers methanol “a cumulative poison due to the low rate of excretion once it is absorbed.” In other words, it is difficult for your body to get rid of methanol so levels of it in the body (and brain) continue to accumulate with each and every exposure.

Because the EPA considers it a poison that accumulates over time, they recommend consumption of methanol be limited to 7.8 mg/day. In my book, this is still too much.

Regardless of what the EPA deems safe, would you like to take a guess at how much methanol is contained in a one-litre bottle of aspartame-sweetened soda?

About 56 mg… that’s more than 7 times the recommended daily limit!!

And would you like to know what methanol or formaldehyde can do in our bodies?

Common symptoms of having higher levels of methanol in the body include headaches, memory lapses, dizziness, ear buzzing, nausea, vertigo, gastrointestinal problems, weakness, chills, numbness, shooting pains in the extremities, and various vision problems. These can include blurred vision, misty vision, obscuration of vision, retinal damage, and even blindness.

None of these sound like a good choice to me!

How else do artificial sweeteners affect your brain?

If the reasons above aren’t enough to get you to think twice about avoiding aspartame, maybe the following will.

Because artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners pack a lot more sweetness than even regular table sugar, they can change the way we taste food.

A tiny amount of these hyper-intense sweeteners cause our sugar receptors to become overstimulated so much that it can reduce our tolerance for more complex tastes. This means that naturally sweetened foods like fruit and unsweetened foods like vegetables can become less appealing or even downright unpalatable. So much so, that we may start exchanging healthy, nutrient-dense foods for artificially flavoured ones that are void of nutritional value.

Artificial sweeteners may play other tricks on our brains, too. They can prevent us from associating sweetness with caloric intake. This translates into greater cravings for sweeter and sweeter foods. And when we regularly choose sweet food over nutritious food, weight gain tends to result.

Similarly, non-nutritive sweeteners like aspartame can affect our weight by increasing our appetite. A greater appetite often leads to more food consumption. Studies suggest that sweeteners disrupt the signalling process that occurs when we eat high-calorie foods. Sweet tastes are designed to signal the body that food is coming. When the body expects to receive calories but doesn’t, or receives less calories than it expects to, over time, the body unlearns the association between sweetness and calories. Once this mechanism has been reversed, high-calorie foods no longer trigger feelings of fullness. Translation: it’s much easier to overeat and gain weight.

Finally, just as sugar is addictive, so too are artificial sweeteners. They act on the same opiate receptors in our brain as cocaine, pushing us to require more and more to achieve that same high.

And if you think you can give up your diet soda whenever you choose, think again. Animal studies suggest just how addictive artificial sweeteners may be. In studies of rats exposed to cocaine, then given a choice between cocaine or saccharin, most chose saccharin. Scientists attribute our sugar-rich diets and the over-stimulation of sugar (opiate) receptors in the brain to increased reward signals that has the potential to override self-control mechanisms, leading to addiction.

So hopefully we’re on the same page now. If you value your brain health, you’ll try to avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame as much as possible. But what should you be choosing instead?

Sugar substitute alternatives 

There are many healthier and more natural alternatives to aspartame.

Here are my top few easy to find alteratives:

• Raw Honey: Raw local honey contains enzymes, minerals, and vitamins and comes in many different flavours. If possible, opt for local honey. It can help build up your immunity to allergens common in your area through the exposure to bee pollen.

• Stevia: Green-leaf stevia is an herb that has been extracted and used for centuries by native South Americans. It’s up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, so a little goes a long way!

• Pure maple syrup: 100% pure maple syrup is made by boiling down the sap from maple trees. It’s loaded with zinc and manganese, adds a pleasant flavour to foods, and is great for baking!

• Blackstrap molasses: This is one of the most nutritious sweeteners that comes from sugar cane or sugar beets. Made by clarifying and blending the juices extracted from them, molasses contains a good amount of iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The only drawback may be it’s strong flavour (if it so happens that you don’t enjoy the taste).

• Coconut palm sugar: Also known as coconut sugar, coco sap sugar, or coconut crystals, coconut sugar is derived from the nectar of flower buds on the coconut palm. The nectar is heated, caramelized, then dried and ground into crystals. Even though it has about the same amount of calories and carbs as regular sugar, coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index so it doesn’t spike blood sugar levels as much as plain white sugar.

• Dates: Whole dates (pitted) or date paste are also great natural sweetener options. Plus it’s pretty easy to make homemade date paste - simply soak whole pitted dates in warm water then blend them with a little water at a time until your desired thickness has been achieved.

If you’d like to kick sugar and artificial sweeteners to the curb for good and discover which natural sweeteners are better options for you and your family, give me a call.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and value your feedback. Let me know what you think by dropping me a line or commenting below.

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