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Aspartame The Chemistry of Arficial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners, which are also called sugar substitutes, alternative sweeteners, or non-sugar sweeteners, are substances used to replace sugar in foods and beverages. They can be divided into two large groups: nutritive sweeteners, which add some energy value (calories) to food; and nonnutritive sweeteners, which are also called high-intensity

sweeteners because they are used in very small quantities as well as adding no energy value to food. Nutritive sweeteners include the natural sugars—sucrose (table sugar; a compound of glucose and fructose), fructose (found in fruit as well as table sugar), and galactose (milk sugar)—as well as the polyols, which are a group of carbohydrate compounds that are not sugars but provide about half the calories of the natural sugars. The polyols are sometimes called sugar replacers.

There are presently four artificial, or synthetic, sweeteners that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, and sucralose. People use artificial sweeteners because they suffer from diseases such as diabetes mellitus, because they are concerned about dental caries and periodontal disease, or because they wish to lose or to avoid gaining weight. Artificial sweeteners in very small quantities give foods sweetness, and most are not metabolized, meaning that the artificial sweeteners themselves furnish zero dietary calories.

Sucrose and most artificial sweeteners are chemically quite dissimilar. Sucrose (C 12 H 22 O 11), the most common "natural" sweetener, is a disaccharide composed of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose. Saccharin has the formula C 7 H 5 O 3 NS. Aspartame (C 13 H 18 O 5 N 2 ), L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester , is the methyl ester of a dipeptide. Acesulfame-K has the formula C 5 H 6 O 3 NS. Sucralose (C 11 H 19 O 8 Cl 3 ) is prepared from sucrose via the substitution of three chloride groups for three hydroxyl groups. The molecular structures of sucrose, saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, and sucralose are shown in Figure.

Aspartame (NutraSweet & Equal)

Used in: Diet sodas, breath mints, sugar-free gums, frozen yogurt

What is it: Aspartic acid and phenylalanine

Tastes like: Chemical tasting

Strength: 150-200 times stronger than sugar

Calories: 0 calories

Possible side effects: Unless you have a rare genetic condition that does not allow your body to process phenylalanine (phenylketonuria), you should be fine.Although, some studies are trying link a multitude of illnesses such asheadaches/migraines, dizziness, nausea, weight gain, muscle spasms, depression, fatigue, insomnia, heart palpitations, vision and hearing problems, anxiety attacks, vertigo, memory loss and joint pain, Emotional Disorders, Multiple Sclerosis, Lupus, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, brain tumors, brain cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Epilepsy, birth defects, and diabetes to the overuse of aspartame.

Aspartame was introduced in 1965. It is a low-calorie sweetener that is also 200 times sweeter than sucrose. Aspartame is made from two amino acids (the building blocks of protein): L-phenylalanine and L-aspartic acid. More than 200 studies have been performed and the only documented health risks are to people who suffer from phenylketonuria (PKU), who cannot metabolize the L-phenylalanine. This is why there is a PKU warning on any product that contains aspartame.

While there are no conclusive, formal, documented cases of adverse health affects, many people report headaches after consuming products that contain aspartame.

There is a large body of literature documenting adverse health issues arising from aspartame use (source).

Other adverse affects that consumers have reported (but have not been independently verified) include seizures, dizziness, tremors, migraines, memory loss, slurring of speech, confusion, fatigue, depression, nausea, and worse. Because children lack a “barrier” of protection that prevents the wrong nutrients from entering the brain (which adults have), some doctors have recently suggested that aspartame should not be given to children.

Reference

Nabors, Lyn O’Brien, ed. Alternative Sweeteners, 3rd ed. New York: M. Dekker, 2001.

http://www.divbio.nl

http://www.diet.com/

http://www.everydiet.org/ Written by Jeremy Likness

http://stephencabral.com/Side-effects-of-artificial-sweeteners.html

Posted in: Semester 3