Aspartame, a "first generation sweetener", is widely used in a variety of foods, beverages, and medicine. The FDA has determined the acceptable daily intake (ADI) value of aspartame to be 50 mg/kg·day, while the JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) has set this value at 40 mg/kg of body weight/day. Safety issues have been raised about aspartame due to its metabolites, specif...

INTRODUCTION Aspartame may have idiosyncratic toxic effects for some people; however, there are few case reports published in the medical literature. We present two case reports in a pair of siblings, one with a vestibular and the other with a cochlear toxicity to aspartame. The cochlear toxicity is the first case to be reported, while the vestibular toxicity is the second case to be reported. ...

Acute dosing studies of aspartame, known commercially as "NutraSweet," have failed to demonstrate any neuropsychological changes that would imply performance decrements in flight operations. Such studies may be criticized on the grounds that the administration of a single, if large, dose of aspartame is not ecologically valid. Accordingly, a double-blind chronic dosing study of aspartame was co...

OBJECTIVE The dipeptide aspartame (N-L-alpha-aspartyl-Lphenylalanine, 1-methyl ester; alpha-APM) is one of the most widely used artificial sweeteners. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of repeated administration of aspartame in the working memory version of Morris water maze test, on oxidative stress and brain monoamines in brain of mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS Aspartame (0.625...

Background: The binding of sweet-tasting compounds in a human (Meg) BenceJones dimer has been characterized by x-ray crystallography. Aspartame binding in this immunoglobulin fragment is remarkable. Unexpected pain relief noted by A.B.E., a crystallographer with diagnosed osteoarthritis, suggested that the accommodation of aspartame in the active site of the dimer may represent surrogate bindin...

Aspartame is a synthetic dipeptide artificial sweetener, frequently used in foods, medications, and beverages, notably carbonated and powdered soft drinks. Since 1981, when aspartame was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, researchers have debated both its recommended safe dosage (40 mg/kg/d) and its general safety to organ systems. This review examines papers published betwe...

BACKGROUND As most sport drinks contain some form of non-nutritive sweetener (e.g. aspartame), and with the variation in blood glucose regulation and insulin secretion reportedly associated with aspartame, a further understanding of the effects on insulin and blood glucose regulation during exercise is warranted. Therefore, the aim of this preliminary study was to profile the insulin and blood ...

This study compared the effects of adding sucrose and aspartame to the usual diet of individuals with well-controlled noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). A double-blind, cross-over design was used with each 6-wk study period. During the sucrose period, 45 g sucrose (9% of total daily energy) was added, 10 g with each main meal and 5 g with each between-meal beverage. An equivalent s...

We demonstrated a facile and environmental-friendly approach to form gold nanoparticles through the reduction of HAuCl4 by aspartame. The single-crystalline structure was illustrated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results indicated that aspartame played a pivotal role in ...

BACKGROUND Neurobehavioral symptoms have been reported anecdotally with aspartame. OBJECTIVE This study sought to determine whether aspartame can disrupt cognitive, neurophysiologic, or behavioral functioning in normal individuals. DESIGN Forty-eight healthy volunteers completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. The first month was aspartame free. Subjects the...