Is aspartame bad for you? What you need to know – Forbes Health

Although neither the American Cancer Society nor the National Cancer Institute takes a firm position on the use of aspartame, the current classification of aspartame by the WHO as a potential carcinogen may lead people to ask how much artificial sweeteners should be consumed daily.

Because research on aspartame consumption in humans is limited, the reported dangers usually come from animal studies, some of which have found an association between aspartame consumption and cancer.

The conclusions of many of these animal studies may seem alarming, but institutions like the American Cancer Society caution against assuming that results in rodents can be extrapolated with results in humans.

However, experts say the new WHO classification should be noted even though larger-scale human studies are still underway.

“We need to change our culture around food consumption,” notes Adrienne Youdim, MD, a California internist specializing in medical weight loss and clinical nutrition and a member of the Forbes Health Advisory Board. “We previously viewed aspartame (and other sugar substitutes) not just as an alternative to sugar, but as something that could be consumed in abundance because it had no calories, but [the WHO’s new classification] tells us that everything has a price.

Regarding this real cost to health, one of the only large-scale studies observing human consumption of aspartame was published in 2022, analyzing 102,865 French adults with a follow-up of approximately seven years. People involved in the study compiled 24-hour food records. Once the researchers analyzed the self-reported data, they found that artificial sweeteners were associated with an increased risk of cancer, with aspartame in particular being associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and cancer related to obesity.

Why has the WHO declared aspartame a possible carcinogen and what does this mean?

The cancer research arm of the WHO, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), recently classified aspartame as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. But what does this label mean for the average consumer?

IARC classifies compounds into four groups: carcinogenic to humans, probably carcinogenic to humans, possibly carcinogenic to humans, and not classifiable as to their carcinogenicity to humans. Labeled as ‘probably carcinogenic to humans,’ aspartame is associated with some evidence for cancer causation, but it’s not conclusive, notes Toby Amidordietitian, nutrition expert, author of Up Your Veggies: Flexitarian Recipes for the Whole Family and a member of the Forbes Health Advisory Board. “This group also includes aloe vera leaves and the heart medication digoxin,” a commonly prescribed medication for atrial fibrillation, she adds.

“So what does this mean for a typical consumer? Really not much,” says Amidor.

“The WHO has specific standards for classifying substances into different categories, such as a ‘possible carcinogen’, based on risk assessment,” says Dr Kyriazis. “The decision is often based on the available literature without a specific attempt to weigh the findings, put them into context, or explore possible limitations.”

Dr. Kyriazis illustrates this with the following example: “For example, the consumption of substance X at levels 1,000 times higher than the recommended doses [amount] can cause some rats to develop a type of cancer,” he says. These results may be potentially important and should not be taken lightly, but because the typical consumer typically ingests much less of a substance than is used in studies, they are likely safe, Dr. Kyriazis continues, noting that “in medicine, dose matters”. .”

In light of aspartame research and the recent WHO classification, “reasonable consumption” of the artificial sweetener is likely the way to go, Dr. Kyriazis notes.

The FDA has set the acceptable daily intake of aspartame at 50 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, or about “75 packets of aspartame (i.e. Equal) per day,” says Dr. Kyriazis. And while exceeding or reaching that daily amount is too much, the typical consumer is probably safe consuming a few aspartame sweeteners and one diet soda or flavored yogurt per day, he notes.

“If you want to enjoy a diet soda as part of a healthy diet, do it like anything else, in moderation,” agrees Amidor.

Interestingly, even with this new announcement, the WHO is not changing its acceptable daily intake for aspartame, which is slightly lower than the FDA’s at around 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day, or about the equivalent of 12 cans of diet soda for one person. who weighs 130 lbs.