Aspartame is found in so many foods and beverages these days as a way to artificially sweeten them.  In fact, according to this Wikipedia article, it’s used in over 6,000 different products. It’s most commonly known as the artificial sweetener in most diet beverages, and plenty of us drink those beverages. So is it safe?

My argument has always been that it had to be safe, otherwise stores wouldn’t be able to put it out on their shelves. However, when I started to look into the concerns about aspartame several years ago, there was information about how there might be a possible connection between aspartame and brain lesions, brain tumors, headaches, and lymphoma. That was enough for me to stop and think about what I was putting into my body, and whether or not it really was safe. I hadn’t found enough information that proved either way, so since then, I’ve always limited the amount of aspartame I consumed.

With my question never really answered, I was interested in an article on the “I Love to Cheat Diet” blog yesterday titled “Is Aspartame Safe for Weight Loss?” It talked about the results of a study conducted by a panel of experts. What they concluded was that there’s really no evidence that aspartame is bad for our health – it doesn’t cause cancer, there aren’t neurological effects, and it isn’t linked to brain tumors. “Great,” I thought. But then I read that this study was funded by a manufacturer of aspartame and that doesn’t leave me feeling satisfied that this study can be trusted.

With no definite answer, and no answer in sight, I think I’m going to just play it safe and stay away from aspartame. There are too many conflicting reports (like this one) that leave me feeling uneasy about ingesting this substance.  Hopefully one day enough research can be done by a group of people who have nothing to gain from the study other than to simply report the facts so that we’ll know either way if aspartame is safe to use.