Your Brain on Diet Soda: Aspartame Effects on the Brain

[Kia17]

“Although aspartame is a known trigger of Parkinson’s disease, the Michael J. Fox Foundation is still seeking the elusive cause and cure. Many people have sent legitimate research studies to the foundation pointing to aspartame as a trigger of Parkinson’s, but have been largely ignored. It’s easier, of course, to keep looking for a cause instead of blaming a billion dollar industry with so much profit at stake.”

drpompa.com/fasting-diet/as...

Aspartame and Parkinson’s Disease

parkinsonsjourney.com/aspar...

Why Did the FDA Ever Approve Fake Sugar?

tonic.vice.com/en_us/articl...

[jimcaster]

I drank 4 or 5 Diet Cokes or Diet Pepsis nearly every day for thirty years. I don't know if it caused my PD, but I think diet cola is the most likely cause.

[Kia17]

I recently stopped drinking diet soda but drank at least 2 in a day.

[park_bear]

Sodas of any kind have never appealed to me. I cannot recall when, if ever, I have had diet soda.. Anyway, I went looking and I found:

Laurie Mischley's study

hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2...

"Foods associated with more rapid PD progression include canned fruits and vegetables, diet and nondiet soda, fried foods, beef, ice cream, yogurt, and cheese."

tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10....

This study fed the mice 75 mg/kg/day of aspartame and did find an adverse effect. That would be about 5 g per day for a 150 pound person. A can of diet soda contains about .2 g of aspartame, so this would amount to 25 cans of diet soda daily. I wish they had used a lower dosage.

n.neurology.org/content/43/...

"Aspartame consumption in amounts well in excess of what would be consumed by heavy users of aspartame-sweetened products has no adverse effect on PD patients."

This study showed that Stevia but not aspartame damaged the hippocampus of mice:

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

So the picture is mixed. It seems any sweetener has its dangers, sugar included. Best to avoid the sweet stuff as much as possible.

[Kia17 in reply to park_bear]

Hi Park_bear

Thank you for the sharing.

[JAS9]

Avoid refined added sugars, yes. Avoid fake sweeteners like the plague they are, definitely. But let's not throw natural fruits away too! We need the fiber and micronutrients. Here's a short 2 minute video explaining: youtu.be/L990kUcG94k(Not working as expected?)

[bassofspades]

Might as well drink Roundup. They tell us that's not toxic either.

[Despe]

Thank you, Dr. Greger! My only desert after supper was/is fruits. Occasionally, I use Manuka honey which has medicinal properties. I HATE ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS, the after taste is just horrible. There no sodas when I was growing up, just water.

[parkie13]

Sucralose has its own horrible horrible side effects. You can't sidestep artificial sweeteners they are like poison to our bodies.

[bassofspades]

The only artificial sweetener a Parkie should use is MANNITOL! Besides, Mannitol does not produce a rise insulin, so theres that, too.

[Tato]

ANEDOCTAL EVIDENCE OF ASPARTAME

Many years ago I was diagnosed with having high Cholesterol, I was placed on a medication that has Cholestyramine and has Aspartame as a sweetener, took it for many years. After I was diagnosed with PD my wife said that she had read that PD was associated with the intake of Aspartame; I stop Cholestyramine/Aspartame and now take Atorvastatin. I still have PD that is progressing very slowly, but still wonder about the relationship of Aspartame and PD, if any?