drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
Although most common, aspartame isn’t the only artificial sweetener on the market. Stevia is a relatively new sweetener and marketed as a “natural” calorie-free sweetener as it comes from a South American plant, but the fact is that it isn’t nearly as well studied as aspartame, and we thus can’t know what long-term effects stevia consumption has.
.
People buy into the stevia marketing simply because it is said to come from a plant, but there are plenty of toxic chemicals in natural plants that we definitely want to avoid, and there are also “artificial” chemicals found in many medications which have improved the lives of millions of people around the world, so rather than to look at something as “natural” or “unnatural” to determine its safety, one should simply look at what effects different chemicals have on the body using reliable scientific evidence.
.
This can then allow us to make rational choices in the products we choose to consume. Aspartame is one of the most extremely well studied artificial sweeteners, which, unfortunately, is given a bad reputation based on exaggerations of animal studies. If you have a choice between aspartame and stevia, choose aspartame!
.
THE EVIDENCE:
1: Raben A, Richelsen B. Artificial sweeteners: a place in the field of functional foods? Focus on obesity and related metabolic disorders. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2012 Nov;15(6):597-604.
.
2: Renwick AG, Nordmann H. First European conference on aspartame: putting safety and benefits into perspective. Synopsis of presentations and conclusions. Food Chem Toxicol. 2007 Jul;45(7):1308-13.
.
3: Magnuson BA et al. Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2007;37(8):629-727.
.
.
People buy into the stevia marketing simply because it is said to come from a plant, but there are plenty of toxic chemicals in natural plants that we definitely want to avoid, and there are also “artificial” chemicals found in many medications which have improved the lives of millions of people around the world, so rather than to look at something as “natural” or “unnatural” to determine its safety, one should simply look at what effects different chemicals have on the body using reliable scientific evidence.
.
This can then allow us to make rational choices in the products we choose to consume. Aspartame is one of the most extremely well studied artificial sweeteners, which, unfortunately, is given a bad reputation based on exaggerations of animal studies. If you have a choice between aspartame and stevia, choose aspartame!
.
THE EVIDENCE:
1: Raben A, Richelsen B. Artificial sweeteners: a place in the field of functional foods? Focus on obesity and related metabolic disorders. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2012 Nov;15(6):597-604.
.
2: Renwick AG, Nordmann H. First European conference on aspartame: putting safety and benefits into perspective. Synopsis of presentations and conclusions. Food Chem Toxicol. 2007 Jul;45(7):1308-13.
.
3: Magnuson BA et al. Aspartame: a safety evaluation based on current use levels, regulations, and toxicological and epidemiological studies. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2007;37(8):629-727.
.
