Today I ran across the published Purdue University artificial sweetener study from February, 2008. The study, which received a lot of press, compared two sets of rats: those fed yogurt with zero-calorie saccharin, others fed yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar).

When both groups were later given a sugary snack, the rats accustomed to artificial sweetener ate more. In fact, the rats that consumed the zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance.

The study theorized that problems with self-regulation might explain in part why obesity has risen in parallel with the use of artificial sweeteners. Quite disheartening, when you consider the number of people using diet drinks as a way to control calories and weight gain.

“Our bodies have ways of judging how many calories a food has from how it tastes, and artificial sweeteners may mess up that natural regulating process,” reported Susan Swithers, Ph.D., associate professor of psychological sciences at Purdue and one of the study’s lead authors.

Well, what about aspartame? I Googled “aspartame” and found a very lengthy research article posted on http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/dangers.htm. The headline reads:

 “Aspartame is, by far, the most dangerous substance on the market that is added to foods.”

Aspartame is the technical name for the brand names NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure.

The article reads:

“Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the FDA. Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.

A few of the 90 different documented symptoms listed in the report as being caused by aspartame include: Headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.”

Even scarier is the following cited information:

According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame:

1) Brain Tumors

2) Multiple Sclerosis

3) Epilepsy

4) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

5) Parkinson’s Disease

6) Alzheimer’s

7) Mental Retardation

Lymphoma

9) Birth Defects

10) Fibromyalgia

11) Diabetes

Hmm, steep price to pay for all those good tasting diet drinks?