Aspartame, what's all the fuss?

Basically, though both sugar and aspartame taste sweet, your brain processes the different types of "sugar" differently. In one case you get calories, in the other you don't. Our body chemistry isn't designed to taste something sweet without it also being caloric. So when you drink something sweetened with aspartame, you're tricking your brain into thinking it's getting sugar, and your brain attempts to process those calories accordingly - yet there's nothing there to process, so the craving for sugar is never actually satisfied. This leads to people drinking even more of these drinks (diet soda the most common) to attempt to satiate a craving for sugar that isn't being fulfilled. So even though a person may be drinking a 0-calorie diet soda, they'll seek to satiate their sugar craving with other more calorie-dense foods, defeating the purpose of drinking the diet soda in the first place.

Full disclosure: I love diet coke and diet dr. pepper, but am trying slowly to eliminate them altogether. I'm drinking more black coffee and iced tea than anything these days, only lightly sweetened. I'd drink regular sodas if I didn't find them sugary and disgusting.

There have been several "scares" over the last decade related to aspartame, but none of them have proven credible. Right now there's no hard evidence that it'll increase your risk of heart disease or anything like that. That said - aspartame is a billion-dollar food additive, and if there are negative conclusive studies out there it's likely their manufacturers have fought tooth and nail to bury them.

I'd say common sense dictates aspartame should be consumed in strict moderation. It is an artificial, chemically-produced substance that works as advertised (tastes sweet, no calories) but in the worst way (increases cravings and dicks with your body chemistry). It is likely approved by the FDA because in small doses ("single serving size"), the case has been made that it's "harmless." Which it is, depending on how you look at it. I just wouldn't consume more than a few grams per day.

 

I personally dont understand the reliance of society on chemical additives in our food.
A balanced healthy diet is the best way, at the end of the day your body needs sugar, why drink diet soft drinks when you could drink water to fill the gaps in your daily allowance?

 

I've also read recently in a health magazine that people who drink a lot* of diet beverages have a higher rate of diabetes than those who don't. (Although not as high as people who drink a lot of regular sodas.) The reason for this is what DR describes - because it tastes sweet, your body produces insulin, but there's nothing there for the insulin to work on, which causes the insulin resistance leading to diabetes.

*Note: The people who had the higher rate of diabetes were people who drank at least 3 cans of diet soda a day. Depending on your lifestyle, I don't know if that qualifies as "a lot" to you. I can't remember the last time I had more than one glass/can/bottle in a day, so it sounds like a lot to me.