Aspartame-Cancer Link Revealed in Several Studies

Aspartame, the artificial sweetener found in many diet sodas as an artificial sweetener, has been linked to cancer in several studies.

Inspired by her family’s heavy consumption of diet coke, one of the researchers wanted to see what they were really consuming.

The study showed that of 48 rats, up to 67% of all female rats developed tumors roughly the size of golf balls or larger. The male population didn’t do too well either, with 21% of the males developing similar cancerous growths.

The study concluded with:

“The results of this carcinogenicity bioassay confirm and reinforce the first experimental demonstration of APM’s multipotential carcinogenicity at a dose level close to the acceptable daily intake for humans. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that when life-span exposure to APM begins during fetal life, its carcinogenic effects are increased.”

Another similar 2006 study on rats found that:

“The results of this mega-experiment indicate that APM is a multipotential carcinogenic agent, even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg body weight, much less than the current acceptable daily intake. On the basis of these results, a reevaluation of the present guidelines on the use and consumption of APM is urgent and cannot be delayed.”

In other research, scientists looked at data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study for a period of 22 years, including over 77,000 female study subjects and nearly 48,000 males. In all, the giant study looked at “2,278,396 person-years of data,” the most of all previous aspartame studies.

The study found that one can of diet soda each day can increase leukemia risk in men and women by 42%, increase multiple myeloma risk in men by 102%, and increase the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma by 31% in men.

Though it may seem as news to some readers, aspartame has been studied for it’s potential carcinogenic properties for quite some time.

Time to Nix the Artificial Sweetener?

Although there are other sources of aspartame, diet soda remains the most popular. In the United States, we consume an estimated 5,250 tons of aspartame each year, of which 86% is in the form of diet sodas.

What’s the solution? Quit drinking soda! Duh. Switching to water or tea is a good idea.

Did this research sway your opinion on if diet soda is unhealthy?