Aspartame is a type of artificial sweetener that is particularly harmful to people with a genetic condition called phenylketonuria because it contains the amino acid phenylalanine, a compound banned for phenylketonuria.
In addition, excessive consumption of aspartame is also linked to problems such as headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diabetes, attention deficit, Alzheimer’s disease, lupus, seizures and fetal malformations, also linked to the development of cancer in some studies with rats. .
- Sweeteners are often used by diabetics because they help prevent sugar intake.
- As well as by people who want to lose weight because they give food a sweet taste without adding too many calories to the diet.
Aspartame can sweeten about 200 times more than sugar and the maximum amount that can be ingested per day is 40 mg/kg weight; for an adult, this amount equates to about 40 bags or about 70 drops of sweetener per day, so it is important to remember that in many cases, excessive consumption of sweeteners involves the use of industrialized products rich in these substances, such as soft drinks and diet and light cookies.
Another important observation is that aspartame is unstable when subjected to high temperatures and should not be used during cooking or in baking preparations. Discover the calories and sweetening power of natural and artificial sweeteners.
Aspartame is found in sweeteners such as Zero-lime, Finn and Gold, and is used to sweeten products such as chewing gum, diet and light soft drinks, canned and powdered juices, yogurt, diet and light cookies, jellies, ready to consume. use teas and certain types of ground coffee.
In general, most dietary and light products use some kind of sweetener to replace sugar and improve the taste of the product, which can make the individual consume large amounts of sweeteners without realizing it.
To determine whether an industrialized product has a sweetener or not, read the product ingredient list on the label. Learn how to read the food label in this video:
The safest health option is to use natural sweeteners like stevia, so learn how to use them and ask more questions about stevia.