Aspartame and the Brain

The reason artificially sweetened beverages have been associated with depression may be because of psychological disturbances recently tied to aspartame (“Equal” or “NutraSweet”).



I’ve previously touched on artificial sweeteners before:

The healthiest caloric sweeteners are black strap molasses and date sugar (whole dried powdered dates).

Other ways to improve mood include:

Image Credit: Bukowsky18 via Flickr and Evan-Amos via Wikimedia.

[NGC]

I think aspartame is dangerously addictive. I used to drink upwards of a six pack a day of diet coke and couldn't stop drinking the stuff. It took me three attempts to quit. With the first two attempts I went through severe withdrawal, a screaming migraine headache for several hours, nausea and vomiting. I tried weening myself off with coffee and that didn't work so, it just wasn't the caffeine. It took five months after I quit to finally stop craving the stuff.

[kurohikes]

Idk how anyone can live in this society and not struggle with depression... Unless you are a sociopath... About two hundred species go extinct everyday, thousands of children starve to death everyday, war, drones strikes, fashionable consumption, pollution, the sixth great extinction is under way... How the fuck could anyone be happy all the time? I look at people who never get down about such things and wonder: where is the humanity? What has happened to us as a species? There are people walking around that are genuinely stoked about crap on television... Sports games, American idol, game of thrones... When I look out into the world I see a vast sea of nothingness... Mannequins walking around seemingly artificially animated and I wait for death. Someday I will be free.

[BreFaucheux]

This was great! The fact that the study was halted because exposure was considered bad.... RED FLAG!

[Phaxey]

I am under normal circumstances always very calm and collected, but if i consume products sweetened with aspartame, i get angry, annoyed and irritable over the simplest things that would otherwise not bother me at all. It's nice to see that there's some science to back it up. Haven't had aspartame for a very long time now, and i'm not planning to.

[harryjp]

I had massive panic attacks and depression which benzos barely helped and my doc considered starting antidepressants but I refused... got way better(not gone though) once I got rid of aspartame and sucralose and no longer take any meds!! And it was causing these brain zaps. I never considered the link for years. But they are gone as well!! Some people dont get reactions from it, but I did. But thanks Dr. Greger for all you do. I have been plant based for 2 months now and down 30 lbs from 285 to 255, crp back below one, cholesterol back to normal range. BP down as well. Still got a ways to go, but feel a lot better!!

[ukeleledotlove]

Well, there goes my Diet Dr Pepper habit/addiction

[daviddawn]

I noticed the same effect using a creatine supplement containing artificial sweeteners (acesulfame-k and sucralose) my mood got significantly worse and symptoms of depression were definitely perceptible. Even though the supplement contained creatine I believe to have noticed a decrease in mathematical skills (school math class).

[mjanavel]

Could you look into the study that found artificial sweeteners change the gut bacteria in such a way that insulin resistance is increased, and people have a greater craving for sucrose? Anecdotal, but when I stopped using artificial sweeteners cold-turkey my cravings stopped too, almost immediately.

[wildbill]

That was brilliant to listen to .
And I love the way you talk fast .
I hate slowwww.

[chel-lalasveganmania]

This makes me so angry. I have a very dear friend going through a very dark time in her life. She is now heavily medicated to deal with her horrible life and she drinks 6 to 8 cups of coffee each with two tablets of FAKE every single day....

[oleiah]

Pronunciation of "aspartame" @ 1:24. I've never known how to pronounce it correctly! :)

[lamajigmeg]

thanks for another great video, doc :-)

[jasonbrown]

Great presentation, Doc.

I've been saying for a long time that artificial sweeteners are bad news.

[MooJoo]

Dr Greger, have you ever done a video on the dangers of carrageenan? May I suggest that? no one I talk to seems to know what it is, how prevalent it is in store bought products, and how we are all being lied to about its safety.

[SolPhoebusApollo]

good lord, I'm glad I avoid artificial sweeteners! It's easy to tell they're no good for you but it's a little disturbing to know just how bad they really are.

[kylethebomber]

Any reasearch on stevia and brain function?

[JasonGastrich]

I quit drinking aspartame years ago and I started eating only organic food years ago too. They do not put it in organic food.

[otkon]

I changed to coke zero 1 year ago. I lost like 10 pounds in 4 months doing nothing. But at what cost? 4 years ago I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety that was in control without meds for 1 years. But I don't know if there is a relation but I could not control my anxiety and now depression for months until I stopped the diet coke consumption. Who knows.

[cookletsdothis]

I wonder if sugar would have similar results.

[EmmaSpAce]

I am so glad I have been avoiding this, I can't imagine having consumed this during some of my worst periods of depression. I do wonder if some of this had to do with me developing my mental illnesses, my mom used to drink a lot of this when I was young. Of course, my family has a history of these disabilities and much of it is likely (read science equivalent of, I'm sure but things could always change) my genetic predisposition. I'm just thinking this stuff probably didn't help. Oh well, I am an individual and this is anecdotal I suppose.