Aspartame is a sugar additive chemical found in many products the average America consumes daily although it is harmful enough that it should be banned by the FDA and is not, yet. It has profound effects on neurological function, attitude and behavior, intestinal function and promotes cancerous growths throughout the body. If one does not check labels while grocery shopping, they could be consuming aspartame without even realizing it and contributing its negative effects to some abnormalities they may be experiencing. By understanding more about this harmful chemical, consumers are able to make healthier choices for themselves and their families by avoiding products that contain aspartame and showing major food companies that their health is nothing to fool around with. Boycotting certain foods will give the companies a reason to rethink their products and provide better products for the consumer. Everyone has a sweet tooth but when it comes to aspartame, the sweet tooth everyone thought was harmless could potentially turn into a major health concern for the consumer. Aspartame related illnesses could be avoided by being banned by the FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, and making companies rethink the sugar additive that they are putting in their products, which is much easier than they think. 

Aspartame is a low calorie artificial sweetener that can be found in ready-to-eat products, multivitamins, cereals, gum, soft drinks, yogurt based products, pharmaceuticals and many other food and drink products. It hides behind the technical brand names of NutraSweet, Equal, and Spoonful (Lefferts, Lisa, and Micheal Jacobson). The three major components that make up aspartame are phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol, which are all absorbed into the intestinal tract upon consumption. The FDA set an ADI, acceptable daily intake, of 50 mg/kg of body weight, which is higher than the ADI in Europe ("Aspartame.". 2014). However, individuals experiencing depression or have a history of depression or other cognitive illnesses are more susceptible to be effected by aspartame. Unfortunately, cognitive illnesses can be hereditary and until the signs start to appear, one may not know is they are more venerable to the effects of aspartame or not. Although 50 mg/kg is the recommended dosage, not everyone who abides by that will have the same response to the additive. 

Aspartame has been a controversy since the 80's when scientists discovered that it has distinct neurological effects and inhibits neurotransmitters throughout the body (Mercola, Dr., 2011). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter found in the brain that assists in movement, memory, behavior and cognition, attention, sleep cycles, mood regulation and learning. When dopamine is inhibited, many functions that seem natural become disrupted and changes being to occur that may result in patients seeing a psychologist due to the symptoms that come along with the inhibition of dopamine. Serotonin is another neurotransmitter that is inhibited by aspartame and can be found within the brain and gastrointestinal tract. It plays an important role in the central nervous system, bowel function, mood, blood clotting, bone density and sexual function. It has been found that decreased levels of serotonin are linked with depression so individuals who may experience a chemical imbalance will likely also experience symptoms relating to depression and should seek medical attention immediately. In turn, depression has been proven to lower serotonin levels, which results in an endless cycle until the consumption of aspartame has been eliminated and proper help sought (Rycerz, Karol, and Jadwiga Jaworska-Adamu. 2013). 

There are over 90 symptoms that vary between patients that consume aspartame and many adverse effects that trigger, can worsen and produce chronic illnesses in patients. By looking at the chemical components of aspartame, it is easy to understand that aspartame contains toxins that are extremely harmful to the body. When neurons in our bodies do not do their job, they disrupt other parts of the body and can cause damage if not regulated. Aspartate and glutamate are two neurotransmitters in the brain that monitor the neuron function and make sure the neurons are properly sending information throughout the body. Aspartic acid makes up 40% of aspartame and when it gets to the brain the blood brain barrier that normally protects the brain against toxins and excess neurotransmitters such as aspartate and glutamate is compromised (Greger, Micheal, Dr., 2015). In pregnant women and children, the brain is not fully developed and can sustain severe damage as a result of the aspartic acid in the brain. When the blood brain barrier is compromised, the brain is not fully protected and is susceptible to damage by chronic and acute conditions that the body might be undergoing. The excess aspartate and glutamate that is loose in the blood brain barrier with no distinct function end up latching on the neurons and begin to destroy the neurons. Aspartic acid levels increase quickly with the consumption of aspartame in liquids as liquids are digested more quickly in the gastrointestinal tract and can absorbed by the brain at a faster pace.

Phenylalanine makes up 50% of aspartame and is found within the brain. Ingestion of aspartame and carbohydrates are a dangerous combination as they have been found to produce excess phenylalanine in the brain, which causes serotonin levels to decrease causing emotional disorders. A study looked at a patient who consumed between six and eight diet drinks every day and was experiencing memory loss and headaches (Humphries, P., E. Pretorius, and H. Haude,. 2008.) With the increased consumption, the patient started craving more sugary drinks and began experiencing mood swings and rages. After several different tests were run, researchers noticed extremely high levels of phenylalanine, abnormal brain function and slight brain damage. Researchers then cut the patient off of any products containing aspartame because that was the only component that phenylalanine was found in among the drinks and snacks consumed by the patient. As a result, the patient felt much better, regained cognition, had less frequent headaches, and regained some brain function that was compromised. A lot of patients that experience similar problems may be written off by doctors saying they have a serotonin imbalance as usually blood tests will detect a lack of serotonin. These patients get prescribed Prozac and other serotonin regulator drugs to help stop the instability of the patient instead of looking at their diet. If diet is not regulated, it becomes difficult to really diagnose the problem as there are usually many more casualties happening in the body then just the effects of aspartame. 

Methanol makes up 10% of aspartame and is considered a poison due to detrimental effects on the whole body. When methanol breaks down it turns into formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin and known carcinogen that is also used to preserve bodies and organs after death. As formaldehyde starts to makes it way throughout the body, bodily systems start to malfunction and the patient may experience a number of different symptoms of methanol poisoning such as loss of vision and behavioral disturbances. When one consumes pure ethanol that is not contained in aspartame, they can die as a result due to the methanol's effect on the intestines. Once consumed, methanol is absorbed by the body and begins to shut down which puts pressure on the heart to keep blood flowing throughout the body. Eventually cardiac arrest occurs and the individual dies because there is nothing to reverse the effect of methanol. When only a little bit of methanol is consumed, one should drink a lot of ethanol that is found in drinking alcohol because the ethanol will counteract the ethanol found in methanol and the body will be left to discard the methyl component. Although a little in contained in aspartame, the methanol builds up in our systems and progressively starts to deteriorate the insides of our bodies. Humans lack the enzymes to effectively metabolize methanol making humans a lot more sensitive to its effects. Animals can metabolize greater amounts of methanol, which does not give researchers an accurate look on what aspartame does to humans (Abhilash, M., 2012). 

Previous studies that looked at aspartame effects on mice have been conducted in the past. However, the studies were always over a selected period of time and not throughout the entire lifespan of the mice. This presents a limiting factor in determining the actual carcinogenic risk that aspartame has on humans. Not only is methanol a limiting factor but only one study has shown the effects of aspartame from prenatal stages to natural death of mice. The study results show that low dosages of aspartame over the period of the lifetime lead to early natural death in the mice and an increase in cancerous tumor formation.  Although the mice did not exhibit changes in feed, drinking or weight increases, the mice did experience a low survival rate correlating with the increased amounts of aspartame in their diets. These results provide valuable information about what happens when humans consumer aspartame starting as early as in their prenatal stages. The potential of the effects to be more detrimental to humans is also present as the mice were able to with stand the methanol contained in the aspartame. Taking into consideration these factors, humans are able to choose what they eat and can avoid products containing aspartame to the best of their ability.  

Understanding the detrimental effects of consuming aspartame is something that needs to be available to consumers. Today, parents barely have enough time to do anything much less make dinner or prepare lunches. This leads parents to grab fast food and pre made foods because they are cheap, quick and affordable. What parents down know is this is exactly the kind of food that aspartame can be found in and they are unknowingly letting their children consume it. Aspartame hides behind being a "healthy sugar" because its strong taste allows companies to use less of it so there are fewer calories in their products, which make people feel better about eating different foods. Healthy products such as Yoplait yogurt and Flintstone's vitamin chewable tablets that we eat and take each day contain different amounts of aspartame but so do hundreds of products we consume on a daily basis. Diet sodas, children's medications, desserts and most sugar free products become a risk to our health when we consume these products trusting that food companies and the FDA has made sure each product was safe to consume. Although it might not affect healthy adults much like it does infants, children and people with certain illnesses, even small amounts of aspartame can have major impacts on cognition and development. 

As health conscience people starting getting more involved in what they are putting into their bodies, they started spreading the word about the dangers of aspartame consumption. Due to the lack of deaths from aspartame, the general population did not deem aspartame as a big issue. However, as more people started choosing organic and natural products, big food companies started seeing a decrease in sales as people started to boycott products containing aspartame. Companies like General Mills and Pepsi have made the advancement on their own to take aspartame out of their products and replace it was sucrose in order to maintain a healthy facade and gain more health conscience customers. The company's willingness to listen to the consumer and find an inexpensive way to replace aspartame just goes to show how important healthy choices is becoming these days. When going to the grocery store, there are tons of more organic, all-natural, gluten free and whole grain products than there was 10 years ago. This health conscience trend is on the rise and the only way to ensure it stays that way is by reading labels and understanding that the ingredients that go into our food are sometimes destructive to our bodies. Making healthy choices is becoming more and more easier as more companies are creating healthier ingredient choices to compete with brand name products that advertise their conversion to a more health conscience level. 

As some companies are making the choice to take aspartame out of their products, there are definitely ways for more companies to find a different or healthier sugar product to add as one of their ingredients. Whole Foods made the choice to keep aspartame on their "unacceptable ingredients" list to help their consumers to make better choices regarding their food intake. These small steps go a long way for consumers but not everyone is able to afford shopping at Whole Foods for their families. Instead, they go to their local grocer and buy whatever is on sale not bothering to check out the ingredients before handing the products off to their children. Major food companies are able to take advantage of this buy keeping their products cheaper but adding increased amounts of aspartame for flavor purposes. Sugar addiction is a prominent problem especially in the United States where obesity has been on the rise for several decades now. With the increase in sugar cravings, people turn to snacks and candy to find comfort. In turn, companies advertise products as being "healthy" because of the low calories and increased flavor aspartame brings to their products. As more people begin to buy the products, their reliance on this sugar substitute increases over time. This endless cycle has lead to an increase in diabetes, cancer, depression and heart failure among Americans over the past several decades. 

In recent years, many have spoken out and petitioned to get aspartame to be banned by the FDA and their efforts have been continuously denied. According to the FDA, all the studies they have looked at have not had any extremely dangerous effects on humans thus; it does not need to be banned ("Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Aspartame."). The studies that the FDA have looked at have been short studies on a variety of different age groups with factors such as mental health, stability and cognition performance not being taken into consideration. Only one study has actually looked at aspartame use over the course of a lifetime and that was only on mice, not humans. The detrimental effects have been prominent in the mice and more so humans as humans are more sensitive to the components found in aspartame. Although the FDA recommends a small amount to be consumed, aspartame is only located in the ingredients and the amount of aspartame contained is not recorded. Many consumers are venerable as they are unaware of all the ingredients contained in their food and are unable to make informed choices about their diet. We rely on the FDA to give us important details regarding what we are consuming but in order to keep major food companies happy and consumers spending more money, they over look information that will potentially be a large risk to the health of the consumer. People who experience more frequent headaches, memory loss, seizures, vision loss and symptoms of different diseases should be aware that their diets play a major role in the way the body responds to what we put in them. 

Many lawsuits have been established within the past couple of years that deal with impairing deficits as a result of aspartame consumption in products of large companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Bayer Corp., Dannon Company, William Wrigley Jr, Company., and Wal-Mart to name a few. Some products include ice cream, gum, candy, soft drinks, energy drinks, medicines and sugary snacks that people consume and experience a variety of different health problems as a result. With prolonged consumption, aspartame degenerates our bodies and kills valuable neurons and cells that are particularly venerable in youth, as they are not fully developed until their teenage years. These neurotoxins sneak up on us as we often mistake the symptoms for being environmental related or just ignore the symptoms altogether. In order to protect ourselves against the effects of aspartame, we must make better choices regarding our diets, be aware of how to read ingredient labels and make it a priority to put our health before convenience. Those who are depressed or have degenerative diseases (ADD, ADHD, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, etc.) experience amplified symptoms, more symptoms or may even be hospitalized more as aspartame is a trigger for these diseases. The diseases we are susceptible to can be found within our DNA and depending on many factors, the diseases can be expressed or benign. Benign diseases can be expressed if certain factors are activated and vary in every person, which is just another reason why health is so important.

The association of aspartame with depression, disease, developmental deficits and neurological problems should be enough for the FDA to realize this additive is extremely harmful to the body over time.  The more we consume, the more likely we are to develop health problems with age and decrease our life span (Soffritti, Morando, 2007). At a small cost to food and beverage companies, they could find a different additive that could be healthier for consumers and in turn consumers would be less likely to blame the companies for health problems. Although some may think aspartame is less dangerous than everyone is saying, only time can tell what affect our diets and the choices we make have on our health. Aspartame consumption is a serious topic that involves smart choices and good judgment when deciding what we eat and how much of it we consume. Aspartame is detrimental but by avoiding products it is contained in we are able to keep ourselves happy and healthy. 

