Aspartame increases the risk of heart disease

In this Article (Index)

• What is Aspartame?
• Maximum Daily Intake
• Aspartame and its link to Heart Disease

What is Aspartame

Aspartame is an artificial food sweetener. Its chemical name is L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester, and its molecule and formula are shown in the image above.

It was discovered accidentally in 1965 by James M. Schlatter who was seeking an antiulcer drug. It was marketed after 1981 and is around 200 times sweeter than regular sugar (sucrose). It has a very low caloric value, almost zero. Its sweetness is different from sugar's as it has an aftertaste and it takes longer to appear. It is not stable when heated so it is not used in baked goods.

Well known brands include Nutrasweet®, Equal®, Canderel® and Sugar Twin®

It is formed by combining two amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, phenylalanine, and aspartic acid. It should not be consumed by people with phenylketonuria (PKU), a genetic disorder that causes difficulty in metabolizing phenylalanine.

It is found in hundreds of foods like diet sodas (Diet Coke), sugar-free gelatin, sugar-free yogurt, instant tea and coffee, sugar-free syrups, diet drink mixes, and sugar-free gums like Trident.

Maximum Daily Intake

In Europe, the EFSA or European Food Safety Authority admits a maximum daily intake of 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (mg/kg), while in the US, the Food and Drug Administration FDA sets the limit at 50 mg/kg.

Aspartame and its link to Heart Disease

A Swedish study (Sweetener aspartame aggravates atherosclerosis through insulin-triggered inflammation (1) published last week shows that aspartame can cause a spike in insulin in mice and monkeys which in turn, leads to the formation of plaque in their arteries (atherosclerosis) and high levels of inflammation. Both factors increase the risk of stroke and cardiovascular events.

This is bad news for people using artificial sweeteners to reduce their sugar intake and for foods seeking to lower their added sugars content.

Clinical cases have shown that if the recommended maximum levels suggested by the EFSA and the FDA are ignored, different health conditions may appear. Aspartame has been linked to different diseases such as type-2 diabetes, cancer, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

A 2022 French study using data collected from 103.388 participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort (2009-2021) found that artificial sweeteners including aspartame increased the risk of cardiovascular disease.

• Total sweetener content increased the CVD risk by 9% and cerebrovascular disease by 18%.
• Aspartame inake increased cerebrovascular events by 17%. Acesulfame potassium and sucralose increased the risk of coronary heart disease by 40% and 31% respectively.

The authors concluded that there is "a potential direct association between higher artificial sweetener consumption (especially aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and sucralose) and increased cardiovascular disease risk."

How does Aspartame lead to Heart Disease?

The intake of aspartame causes an increase in insulin production, which in turn leads to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance and high insulin levels are considered risk factors for cardiovascular disease as they are linked to atherosclerosis. Insulin resistance affects an enzyme that clears lipids from the bloodstream, so instead of being stored in fatty tissue, blood fat levels (triglycerides and LDL cholesterol) go up and can accumulate on the arterial walls.

The second factor that leads to atherosclerosis is inflammation, which occurs simultaneously with fat buildup on the walls of the arteries.

For mice, after 12 weeks of a diet high in aspartame, a significant amount of atherosclerotic plaque was formed compared to a control group that didn't consume the sweetener.

It also led to high blood levels of insulin suggesting that aspartame might cause insulin resistance.

The same experiments were performed on monkeys adding 0.15% aspartame to their drinking water. The same increase in insulin was observed.

The levels fed to the mice ranged from 0.05% to 0.15%. It should be noted that these doses are much higher than the FDA and EFSA maximum intake levels for humans (See our detailed calculations). We refute the information posted on some websites that state that the mice were given the equivalent of 3 cans per day. Our figures range between 18 and 150 cans.