 While talking to other people about aspartame and my proposition of banning it in the United States, many people asked why exactly it should be banned. Using the ideas of others, I started researching why things get banned in certain countries and what specific components make things eligible to get banned. What makes this issue so compelling is that big companies, such as Coca Cola and General Mills, are recognizing the effects of aspartame and are publicly eliminating it from their products. The publicity of the aspartame removal is designed to increase sales again as many people stopped buying products containing aspartame and raise awareness that it is a harmful chemical that should not be consumed. By looking at the chemical makeup of aspartame, we are able to examine what components interact with natural chemicals in the brain to produce the negative effects that makes people skeptical of adding it to their products. 

An article by Dr. Micheal Greger, The Effects of Aspartame on the Brain, provides information on what individuals may experience when aspartame is consumed. The test subjects were half average people and the other half were individuals who experience depression. It was noted that aspartame causes neurological and behavioral disturbances that worsen in individuals that experience depression. The patients experienced three major symptoms of recurrent headaches, insomnia and seizures. Dosages of aspartame were lower than the FDA recommended amount of 50mg per day and the individual's experienced high rates of neurological and behavioral changes. During the experiment, it was critical to consume the chemical through the many beverages and snacks that the chemical is already present in such as sodas and chips. The experiment ended early due to "the severity of reactions to aspartame within the group of patients with a history of depression." It was concluded that this toxic chemical should be avoided at all costs, especially by persons who have or have had depression. 

In a research article titled Direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, three scientists studied the three molecular components of aspartame and their exact effects on the brain. The three molecular components that make up the artificial sweetener are phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid (40%) and methanol (10%). Phenylalanine is used for neurotransmitter regulation in the brain, which aids in sending information to different cells in the body. Aspartic acid is an excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system that produces other chemicals in the brain as well. Methanol produces formate, a chemical that turns into formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen and a number of other highly toxic chemicals. Together these chemicals change the natural chemicals produced in the brain such as norepinephrine, epinephrine and dopamine. These chemicals are used to regulate stress, anxiety, mood, memory, parasympathetic nervous system, sympathetic nervous system, and other life sustaining functions. By consuming these harmful chemicals, we are decreasing our abilities to take care of ourselves and limit the control we have on our own bodies.

A health newsletter titled "S-W-E-E-E-T! Your Guide to Sugar Substitutes", gives public awareness of sugar sweeteners to avoid and aspartame is on the top of the list. Not only does aspartame contain harmful chemicals that disrupt the brain but it also is proven to increase the risk of cancer through daily consumption. Although we may not realize we are consuming aspartame, many people who drink diet soda daily or eat unhealthy snacks filled with sugar and salt are all consuming aspartame. In this article, it was concluded that people who drink one diet soda a day increase their risk of cancer and women also risk the health of fetus' during pregnancy is regularly consuming aspartame. Women who are pregnant and consume aspartame are more likely to deliver their babies preterm, which can result in serious health complications. 

The research questions that I came up with helped me choose sources that were reliable and useful for the information I will be using for my paper. These articles helped me think of more questions to answer and helped me better understand the negative effects that aspartame has on the body in more depth than I was expecting. I did not know that aspartame is a known carcinogen and is included in over 6,000 popular products that many American's feed to their families. With more research, I am confident in my ability to make a compelling case as to why aspartame should be banned in the United States and why. 

As a health conscience person, I like knowing what is in my food and what affects it may have on my body. Aspartame is one of the most popular ingredients that has profound negative effects on the body and is widely known. As a science major, I am interested in the chemical makeup that interacts with our bodies to produce the negative effects. Although aspartame does not directly affect me, I am aware of many people who enjoy unhealthy food and putting themselves in more risk than they are aware of. Since most people are not scientifically inclined to understand every component of what they eat, it is up to the FDA to provide people with accurate summaries of what they are consuming the effects it may have. Since the FDA fails at doing so, I would like to spread awareness of what people are actually eating and provide ways to avoid such foods and drinks. My personal experience with nutrition and health science motivated me to understand the effects that aspartame and other harmful chemicals have on the body. I believe I am qualified to write about this issue because I get all my information from scientific sources that have more studied and documented. 

My research question is feasible arguable because some people who do not now know much on the topic think that companies should keep using aspartame because it makes their products better. Many people were outraged when hearing the Coca Cola wanted to remove it from their diet soda because without aspartame the soda would not taste like it should. Although it makes many things taste better, the negative effects on the body is reason enough why it should not be any foods or beverages. Most credible articles I have come across seem to be on the side of avoiding aspartame all together while most non-credible sources are against the removal of aspartame for purely taste reasons. In the future I hope to help educate people on the effects it has on them and help them understand that scientists will come up with some other sugar additive but as of now aspartame is no the way to go and should be eliminated from the diet entirely. 

