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Sweetener May Have
Not-So-Sweet Side
Diet cola drinkers report memory lapses
By Randy Dotinga
HealthScout Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 29
(HealthScout) -- Feeling
forgetful? You might not be
having a "senior moment" after
all, especially if you're a fan of
diet cola.
New research suggests that
people who consume a lot of
the artificial sweetener
aspartame -- commonly
known by its brand name,
NutraSweet -- are more likely
to suspect they have memory
problems.
But representatives of NutraSweet's maker maintain
there's no evidence that the sweetener does anything to
affect memory.
Because aspartame long has been blamed for memory
problems, researchers at Texas Christian University
decided to take another look at the sweetener and its
effects on people, says Timothy Barth, a psychology
professor and director of the university's neuroscience
department. Previous studies, he says, had not proven a
link.
"There's been this void, this big divide between what
the people have said they're experiencing and what the
laboratory studies have been able to show," Barth says.
The idea was to determine if aspartame users were
likely to complain about memory problems or if
previous reports just came from a so-called "noisy
minority," he says.
Researchers questioned 90 male and female students,
from age 18 to the early 30s. "You wouldn't think there
would be any serious memory problems within these
people," Barth says. "They're all here, getting through
their courses reasonably well, at least most of them
are."
Some participants were heavy users of aspartame
products, such as diet colas or the sugar substitute
Equal. All participants were given standard memory
tests.
Responses on the questionnaires indicated that the
students who used the most aspartame were the most
likely to think they had problems with what's known as
episodic memory.
That's the ability to remember having accomplished a
task earlier, Barth says. "You might be reading an
article in a newspaper and realize you already read it,"
he explains. "It could be that you're ready to give your
child medicine, and you think you did it about 30
minutes ago."
But several things could explain why the
aspartame-using students reported memory problems,
he says.
"The fact that they think they have a memory problem
doesn't mean they do have a memory problem," he
emphasized.
Aspartame users also may have lower self-esteem --
perhaps because they're more likely to be dieters trying
to lose weight and more likely to criticize themselves, he
says.
"It may be that people who decide to consume
aspartame are of a certain personality type," he adds.
"The next series of studies will try to give tests of
self-esteem and mood."
Also, he cautions that it's difficult to measure episodic
memory using tests, adding that more research will need
to be done in that area. Results of the latest study were
presented to the Society of Neuroscience earlier this
month in New Orleans.
Dr. Harriett H. Butchko, NutraSweet's vice president
of medical and scientific affairs, downplayed the
significance of Barth's findings, saying other, more
sophisticated research has yielded different results.
"The results of [other] studies clearly demonstrated that
aspartame, even in amounts well above those typically
consumed from products, has no effect on memory,"
Butchko says.
Aspartame is digested into its three components _ the
amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and
methanol -- but the body gets these components in
much higher quantities from ordinary foods, she says.
According to the NutraSweet company, aspartame is
manufactured mainly from amino acids, which make up
protein. While it has about the same caloric makeup as
sugar, it is much sweeter, meaning that much less is
required to sweeten a food or drink.
Paul Spiers, a neuropsychologist at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, has studied aspartame and
found no link to memory loss. One of his studies was
funded by the parent company of NutraSweet, but
Spiers denies any conflict of interest.
"I know from our own research that students drink
aspartame when they're under stress," Spiers says.
"They often drink Diet Coke for the caffeine, but don't
want to gain weight. They're writing papers, and if
you're writing three papers that you haven't done all
semester, it's hard to keep track of what you're doing
and what you're writing."
The Texas Christian University study, Spiers says,
simply was not fine-tuned enough to detect whether
aspartame caused the memory problems cited by
students.
Regardless of whether the findings have been accepted
by others, TCU students who participated in the
research seem to have reached a consensus on its use
in their own lives.
Diet soft drinks seem to have vanished from Barth's lab.
Students simply stopped drinking them during the study,
he says.
Short-term use of aspartame may be OK, he says, but
studies have not investigated exposure over many
years. "There is a potential [for harm] there," Barth
says. "If you don't have to take that chance, why take
it?"
What To Do
Use your own judgment about consumption of diet soft
drinks, low-calorie yogurt, sugar-free ice cream and
other products that use aspartame. Some people drink
10 or more cans of diet cola a day, and most experts
believe that such heavy use of any product is worth
thinking about.
And, if you do think you're having memory problems,
contact your doctor.
For more information on aspartame, including what's in
it and how it's made, visit NutraSweet online. Or, take
a look at statements issued in support of aspartame's
safety by the American Diabetes Association and the
American Dietetic Association.
On the other hand, some experts recommend not using
the artificial sweetener. For a glimpse of their viewpoint,
take a look at an answer to a question on the matter
posed to best-selling author Dr. Andrew Weil.
Or, you might want to read previous HealthScout
articles on artificial sweeteners.
SOURCES: Interviews with Timothy Barth, Ph.D., professor of
psychology and director, department of neuroscience, Texas
Christian
University, Fort Worth, Texas; Paul Spiers, Ph.D.,
neuropsychologist,
Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Mass.; and statement from Harriett H. Butchko, M.D.,
vice
president of medical and scientific affairs, NutraSweet, Chicago
This article can be accessed directly at:
http://www.healthscout.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Af?ap=55&id=105775