Aspartame | Safe or poison?

For many years, aspartame, also known as E951, has been debated. Some say the substance is safe while others attribute the most horrific diseases to it.

My vision

I wouldn't dare say that all kinds of diseases or complaints are caused by aspartame. But then again, I'm not so sure aspartame doesn't contribute to them. Physical complaints or chronic diseases are often a sum of all kinds of lifestyle factors that can contribute to this. Ultimately, there is a drop that makes the bucket overflow, so to speak. When the complaint arises, it is almost impossible to trace back which factors contributed and which was the most important.

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There is science and rationality

Aspartame is permitted as an e-number. In the case of aspartame, this means that the substance has been extensively researched. Toxicologically, aspartame may even be the most researched additive. But should we only look at toxic effects or is there still something being overlooked? If we count only red cars, we don't know how many black ones there were. And in health science, there may be hundreds of colours. There is science and rationality. Rationality is indispensable, when a field of scientific enquiry is so difficult to demonstrate connections and there may be too many variables and interactions....

Why no aspartame?

From my rational mind, I advise against aspartame for the following reasons:

1. I don't think toxicological tests are sufficient. Just because it is not toxic to us does not mean that it is not toxic to our gut flora, for example. We still know too little about the connection between gut flora, our brain and other organs and bodily functions. And beyond gut flora, we don't know much else about our human physiology and its possible interactions. Experimenting outside nature is therefore sometimes risky, even though you should theoretically be able to handle it as a healthy person.
2. Moreover, we can never study the interactions between aspartame and other e-numbers or substances in food.
3. Continued use of aspartame maintains a sweet preferred taste.
4. Light products sweetened with aspartame are often heavily processed tinkers from the food industry that you can go on eating for too long. There are also excuses like: 'It's light anyway so I'll just eat the whole pack or bag.

In any case, I don't do it myself. No polonaises and experiments with substances and products I can do without just fine... There is a kind of 80-20 rule, of course, and aspartame-sweetened drinks or other products fall under the 20 in my recommendations. Personally, I don't use it at all.

Ir. Ralph Moorman