Aspartame allergy is an adverse reaction of the body towards aspartame.
Aspartame is a non-saccharide, artificial sweetener used in foods and beverages. Chemically it is the methyl ester of an aspartic acid dipeptide or phenylalanine. Aspartame was first synthesized in 1965 and got approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1980. It is found in about 6,000 foods as an artificial sweetener.
As aspartame is an artificial, manufactured chemical, its products carry a warning label on them. Aspartame allergy is seen as a side effect of aspartame. Experts say that there are more than 92 side effects of aspartame in the body and they vary from person to person. In this article we give the mechanism and a few symptoms of aspartame allergy.
Mechanism: Aspartame is methyl ester. During digestion it breaks down into several chemicals including methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Among these methanol and aspartic acid are harmful to health. Methanol is a free radical which further breaks into formic acid and formaldehyde. Some claim that methanol is a carcinogen that can be labeled as “neurotoxic.” According to some studies aspartic acid causes hormonal disorders and other complications like nausea, headache and anxiety disorder.
Here are some of the common symptoms of aspartame allergy:
- Dizziness
- Nausea
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Infertility
- Weight gain
- Anxiety
Aspartame allergy when seen as a side effect has the potential to trigger several diseases like:
- Multiple sclerosis
- LymedDisease
- Epstein Barr
- Graves’ disease
- Lupus
- Restless leg syndrome
- Epilepsy
- Parkinson’s disease
- Bladder cancer
It is not yet clear whether aspartame allergy is caused by long term use or by short term use. Different people have different levels of sensitivity towards the chemical and even in the same person different symptoms are seen at different times. One should immediately approach a doctor upon observing the above symptoms.
