According to a study, aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in approximately 5,000 diet products and beverages, has been linked to anxiety-like behaviour in mice. It becomes aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol after consumption, all of which have the potential to have significant effects on the central nervous system.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was conducted by researchers at Florida State University College of Medicine.
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What is an artificial sweetener?
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A food additive known as an artificial sweetener or sweetening agent is a sugar substitute that gives you a sweet taste similar to that of sugar. However, compared to sugar-based sweeteners, it contains significantly less food energy, making it a zero-calorie or low-calorie sweetener.
What is Aspartame?
In 1981, aspartame was approved as a sweetener by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Currently, almost 5,000 metric tons are produced annually. Aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol are all produced when aspartame is consumed, and each of these compounds has the potential to have a significant impact on the nervous system.
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What does the research say?
Pradeep Bhide, co-author and the Jim and Betty Ann Rodgers Eminent Scholar Chair of Developmental Neuroscience in the Department of Biomedical Sciences said, “What this study is showing is we need to look back at the environmental factors because what we see today is not only what’s happening today, but what happened two generations ago and maybe even longer.”
The Bhide Lab’s previous research on the effects of nicotine on mice over generations played a role in the development of the study. The study demonstrated temporary, or epigenetic, changes in the sperm cells of mice. Epigenetic changes, in contrast to genetic changes (mutations), are reversible and do not alter the DNA sequence; They can, however, alter the way the body interprets a DNA sequence.
Bhide said, “We were working on the effects of nicotine on the same type of model…The father smokes. What happened to the children?”
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How was the study conducted?
The study, which was directed by Sara Jones, a doctoral candidate, consisted of providing mice with aspartame-containing drinking water at approximately 15% of the FDA-approved maximum daily intake for humans. In a four-year study, the dosage, which was equivalent to six to eight 8-ounce diet soda cans per day for humans, was used for 12 weeks.
Through a variety of maze tests, multiple generations of mice derived from aspartame-exposed males displayed anxiety-like behaviour.
Jones stated, “I don’t think any of us were anticipating it would be such a robust anxiety-like trait.” It came as a complete surprise. Usually, you only notice small changes.”
Mice of all generations stopped acting in an anxious manner when given diazepam, a medication used to treat anxiety disorders in humans.