• Reducing calorie intake: Aspartame provides sweetness without adding calories or affecting blood sugar levels. This can help people who want to lose weight or manage diabetes by reducing their sugar intake.
• Enhancing flavor: Aspartame can enhance the flavor of foods and beverages by masking bitterness or acidity. It can also extend the shelf life of products by preventing spoilage or browning.
• Offering variety: Aspartame can offer consumers a variety of choices for sweetening their foods and beverages according to their preferences and needs. It can also be combined with other sweeteners to create different tastes and textures.

• Causing side effects: Some people may experience mild to moderate side effects from consuming aspartame, such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, mood changes, allergic reactions, or digestive problems. These side effects are usually dose-dependent and temporary.
• Interacting with drugs: Aspartame may interact with some medications that affect the brain or nervous system, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, painkillers, or antibiotics. These interactions may increase the risk of serotonin syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition characterized by agitation, confusion, tremor, fever, sweating, muscle rigidity, seizures, coma, and death.
• Containing methanol: Aspartame breaks down into methanol in the body, a toxic substance that can cause blindness or death in high doses. However, the amount of methanol produced from aspartame is much lower than the amount found in some fruits, vegetables, juices, or alcoholic beverages. The FDA and other agencies have concluded that the dietary exposure to methanol from aspartame does not pose a safety concern for humans.
• Affecting phenylketonuria: Aspartame contains phenylalanine, an amino acid that can be harmful for people with phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare genetic disorder that prevents them from metabolizing phenylalanine properly. High levels of phenylalanine can cause brain damage or mental retardation in people with PKU. Therefore, products containing aspartame must carry a warning label for people with PKU to avoid them.
• Increasing appetite: Some studies have suggested that consuming artificial sweeteners like aspartame may paradoxically increase appetite and weight gain by stimulating the reward centers in the brain or altering the gut microbiome. However, other studies have found no such effects or even opposite effects. The overall evidence on the impact of aspartame on appetite and weight is inconclusive and conflicting.
• Causing cancer: Some animal studies have linked high doses of aspartame to increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors. However, human studies have not found any consistent or convincing evidence that aspartame causes cancer in humans. The FDA, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have all concluded that aspartame is not carcinogenic.

Tips for Using Aspartame Safely and Moderately

• Read the labels: Check the ingredient lists and nutrition facts of the foods and beverages you consume to see if they contain aspartame or other artificial sweeteners. Look for the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, or Canderel, or the chemical name aspartame or E951.
• Follow the guidelines: The FDA has set an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for aspartame of 50 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of body weight per day. The EFSA has set a lower ADI of 40 mg/kg per day. Most people will not reach these ADI amounts from normal consumption of aspartame-containing products. However, if you consume large amounts of these products regularly, you may want to monitor your intake and limit it to within the recommended levels.
• Consult your doctor: If you have any medical conditions or take any medications that may affect your brain or nervous system, you should consult your doctor before using aspartame or other artificial sweeteners. You should also avoid aspartame if you have PKU or are allergic to phenylalanine.
• Choose natural alternatives: If you prefer natural sweeteners over artificial ones, you can choose from a variety of options such as honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, stevia, monk fruit, or coconut sugar. However, keep in mind that these natural sweeteners still contain calories and sugars and may affect your blood sugar levels. Therefore, you should use them sparingly and in moderation.