Like most artificial sweeteners, aspartame has a peculiar taste. I have seen a number of patients - mostly women - who report headaches from using it, and some women also find that aspartame aggravates PMS. This compound is suspected of being an “excitotoxin,” a compound that can damage nerve cells by overstimulating them. I would warn anyone with a neurological disease to avoid it. At the same time, I’ve seen no scientific support for assertions on the Internet that there is an “aspartame disease” or that it worsens symptoms of multiple sclerosis, lupus, and fibromyalgia. Indeed, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation has published a letter on its Internet site refuting the notion that aspartame provokes or worsens MS.
We do know that people with the genetic disease phenylketonuria (PKU), those with advanced liver disease, and pregnant women with high levels of the amino acid phenylalanine in their blood have a problem with aspartame because they do not effectively metabolize phenylalanine, one of aspartame's components. High levels of phenylalanine in body fluids can cause brain damage. For this reason, the FDA requires that all products containing aspartame must include a warning to phenylketonurics that the sweetener contains phenylalanine.
For every one else, although available evidence suggests that occasional use of aspartame presents no great risk, I would however recommend following the precautionary principle. In other words, don’t use it.
- Dr Weil
