Aspartame Side Effects May Affect Heart and Brain Health: Study

Researchers call for updates to current recommended daily dose guidelines for certain artificial sweeteners.

New research indicates consuming less than 20% of the recommended daily dose of Equal, or other artificial sweeteners containing the ingredient aspartame, may cause concerning changes to the brain and the heart.

According to findings published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, using aspartame helps people lose weight, yet may also lead to structural alterations in the heart and changes to brain function over a period of one year.

Artificial sweeteners like aspartame, known as Equal, or sucralose, known as Splenda, are used in hundreds of food products to sweeten them without the adverse health effects of actual sugar. Many products like baked goods, soda, chewing gum and fruit juice all contain artificial sweeteners, which can taste 200 times sweeter than sucrose, yet contain fewer calories.

Dangers of Artificial Sweeteners

While they are considered healthier alternatives to more natural options, prior research has highlighted the risks that artificial sweeteners like Equal and Splenda pose to human health.

A French study published in 2022 found that consuming less than two packets of Equal or Splenda per day increased a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease.  A separate study published last April concluded that using artificial sweeteners like Splenda may make users want to eat more food, potentially defeating one of the key reasons they are consumed. Artificial sweeteners can stimulate areas of the brain that control hunger, which may increase the risk of weight gain instead of weight loss.

The World Health Organization (WHO) even declared aspartame a possible carcinogen in 2023, after analyzing more than 1,000 studies. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected linking aspartame to increased cancer risks and disagreed with the WHO on setting acceptable daily limits.

For the new study, Spanish researchers evaluated systemic effects of aspartame in male mice across one year. Led by Dr. Irati Aiestaran-Zelaia, the team exposed the mice to the dose equivalent of one-sixth of the recommended maximum human daily intake.

Mice received a daily dose of 7mg per kilogram of body weight in human equivalents. The maximum dose recommended by health authorities is 50 mg/kg per day.

Across one year, Equal helped to decrease body weight by 20%. However, consuming Equal was also linked with mild cardiac hypertrophy, which is a thickening of the heart muscle. Equal was also connected to neurobehavioral changes.

Researchers used MRIs, molecular imaging, brain and liver spectroscopy and cognitive tests to determine changes. They found that prolonged exposure to artificial sweeteners like Equal may come with physiological changes to the heart and the brain, warning that exposure to artificial sweeteners may impact the function of organs even when consumed in low doses.

“These findings indicate that while aspartame can help to achieve weight loss in mice, this is accompanied by pathophysiological changes in the heart and possibly in the brain. Thus, the study demonstrates that long-term exposure to artificial sweeteners can have a detrimental impact on organ function even at low doses, which suggests that current consumption guidelines should be critically re-examined.”

— Dr. Irati Aiestaran-Zelaia, Aspartame decreases fat deposits in mice at a cost of mild cardiac hypertrophy and reduced cognitive performance

The team concluded that the current recommended dose guidelines for artificial sweeteners should be reviewed and updated.

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