With sugar being unhealthy, I had to explore the benefits of artificial sweeteners.  I was happy to find out that there is a fair amount of research and that it is reassuring.  If any sweetener is harmful, it would be saccharin.  The research on saccharin shows that if it is harmful, the degree of harm must be quite small and much less than that of sugar.  Stevia is the least expensive when purchased on line in bulk (www.iherb.com).  It holds up under cooking.

Aspartame

DB Found No Behavioral Effects: Am J Clin Nutr 1998 Sep;68(3):531-7. 48 yg adults DB crossover with one month on high doses aspartame.;

Long-Term High Dose Safe: Another DB study with 108 normal adults 18-62 found no harmful effects to high 75mg/kg/d dose (=10 liters pop/d) over 24 weeks usage. Arch Intern Med 1989 Oct;149(10):2318-24. Leon, U Minnesota.

Rats Lose Weight on Aspartame: study found aspartame group 8% lower weight, 20% lower fat,and 34% lower leptin. Physiol Behav 2002 Feb 1-15;75(1-2):41-7; Decreases excreation of magnesium in rats. Magnes Res 2001 Sep;14(3):189-94

Helps Osteoarthritis: L-Aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester is biologically active and appears to relieve pain, induce mild antithrombotic effects in humans, and decrease fever in animals. Binds two Bence-Jones proteins. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1998 May;63(5):580-93 DB study.

Decreases Sickling: In homozygose sicklers, some in vitro and in vivo decrease in sickling found. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2001 May;69(5):346-55. May be related to binding of Bence-Jones proteins.

No Harm to Phenylketouric Heterozygotes: no significant differences in the conventional or spectral EEG analyses, urinary organic acid concentrations, and adverse experiences when aspartame was compared with placebo. This study reaffirms the safety of aspartame in PKUH and refutes the speculation that aspartame affects cognitive performance, EEGs, and urinary organic acids. Hum Genet 1994 Apr;93(4):369-74

No Behavioral Effects in Kids: Even when intake exceeds typical dietary levels, neither dietary sucrose nor aspartame affects children's behavior or cognitive function. 48 kids in DB study. N Engl J Med 1994 Feb 3;330(5):301-7

No Effects on Seizures: DB study 10 epileptic kids. 2 weeks, 34mg/kg.d with standard and 24 hr EEGs. No harm found. Shaywitz, Yale, Ann Neurol 1994 Jan;35(1):98-103; Two more DB studies with same conclusions. Since 1986 the FDA has received reports of 265 cases of epileptic seizures temporally associated with the ingestion of aspartame. Information obtained from the complainants' medical records as well as data on consumption patterns, temporal relationships, and challenge tests do not support the claim that the occurrences of the seizures are linked to consumption of aspartame. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 1993 Aug;18(1):32-43, Tollefson.; Increase in spike duration per day reported in new, untreated children with seizures given single dose of 40mg/kg/d altho no increase in number of spike episodes or duration of individual episodes. Canfield, Halifax, Neurology 1992 May;42(5):1000-3

No Seizures on Max Dose 5 Days in Sensitive: Epilepsia 1995 Mar;36(3):270-5. 16 adults & 2 kids alleging aspartame seizures consumed aspartame or placebo capsules TID at max FDA 50mg/kg with no seizures. EEG monitoring. Rowan, Bronx VA

No Effects on ADD: The findings indicate that aspartame at greater than 10 times usual consumption has no effect on the cognitive and behavioral status of children with attention deficit disorder. In addition, aspartame does not appear to affect urinary excretion rates of monoamines and metabolites. Yale. Pediatrics 1994 Jan;93(1):70-5.

No Reactions in Subjects with Self-Reported Hypersentivity: These results indicate that aspartame and its conversion products are no more likely than placebo to cause urticaria and/or angioedema reactions in subjects with a history consistent with hypersensitivity to aspartame. Harvd. multi-center study with 48 subjects. Had spent four years trying to find subjects for the study and used varying doses including very high. Also used various breakdown products. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1993 Oct;92(4):513-20; Similar findings in NIH study. No subject with a clearly reproducible adverse reaction to aspartame was identified. In summary, we found that it is difficult to recruit study subjects with a history of hypersensitivity reactions to aspartame and that subjects who believed themselves allergic to aspartame did not have reproducible reactions. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1991 Apr;87(4):821-7

Methanol From Aspartame Normal Amounts: Methanol occurs in small amounts and does not exceed that formed during consumption of many foods including fresh fruits and vegetables. NIH Study. 1993; Study on rats showed very high doses of methanol and esp formaldehyde, a breakdown product, are cytotoxic to rat thymocytes, Japanese author concludes no harm to humans in at very high consumption. Cell Biol Toxicol 2002;18(1):43-50

Industry Research Says Its Safe: Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2001 Dec;34(3):221-33.

Other Effects: Anti-Mutagenic, Anti-Mycotic, Anti-Agression: Russian mice study says some anti-mutagenic effect. Bull Exp Biol Med 2000 Nov;130(11):1102-5; France study found protective of kidneys in mice from aspergillus toxin. Arch Toxicol 2001 May;75(3):176-83; In extremely high doses (800mg/kg) anti-aggressive effect in rats. Life Sci 2000 Aug 4;67(11):1325-9

Headaches In Those Certain Aspartame Related: DB study of 33 thinking aspartame headaches. Those certain had two times as many when on aspartame 7 days 30mg/kg/d. However, those somewhat sure and not sure had just as many headaches on placebo. Van den Eeden. Neurology 1994 Oct;44(10):1787-93

May Be Harmful for Unipolar Depressed: DB study 13 patients halted because of severity of reactions in 6 or 7 with unipolar depression. On 30 mg/kg/d aspartame. Biol Psychiatry 1993 Jul 1-15;34(1-2):13-7. Walton.

No Effects on Parkinson’s Disease in One Day Study: 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. Doses 600 or 1200mg/d in DB study. Neurology 1993 Mar;43(3 Pt 1):611-3; Anti-aspartame website says FDA limit 50mg/kg/d and this study single dose. holisticmed.com 6/24/02

No Effects on Airplane Pilots: Results were found to be consistent with prior flight-simulator studies of alcohol, but do not appear to support the concerns expressed in anecdotal testimony regarding the deleterious effects of aspartame upon cognitive performance. DB study U of Illinois. Aviat Space Environ Med 1991 Jul;62(7):648-53

Saccharin: No Bladder CA in Humans?: An article says that there is an absence of an association between the consumption of artificial sweeteners and bladder cancer in humans. Speculates that this is due to rat diets and the sodium form consumed by rats but not humans. Food Addit Contam 1993 May-Jun;10(3):337-50; Also, "Epidemiological studies in human beings have not found an increased risk of developing bladder cancer with exposure to saccharin." : J Am Diet Assoc 1986 Jul;86(7):929-31; N Engl J Med 1980 N Engl J Med 1980 = No evidence of link in study of 592 with bladder CA and 534 controls. Environ Health Perspect 1978; However, a positive association between the use of artificial sweetners, particularly saccharin, and risk of bladder cancer in males has been observed in a slightly earlier case-control study of 480 men and 152 women in three Provinces in Canada. Lancet 1977 Sep 17;2 (8038):578-81.

Saccharin: Rats Get CA: Benign and malignant neoplasms at all sites are significantly increased in mice and rats ingesting the higher doses of saccharin. Environ Health Perspect 1978

Saccharin: No Relationship Found with CA in very Large Study: Current daily use of artificial sweeteners (AS) and diet drinks was evaluated for 1,862 patients hospitalized for cancer and for 10,874 "control" patients hospitalized for other conditions believed not to be associated with use of these substances. The data were derived from an ongoing survey in seven countries. For cancer of most sites, the age-standardized proportion of users of AS was somewhat less than that for controls. A greater proportion of users among cancer patients than among controls was noted only for cancer of the stomach among women. : J Natl Cancer Inst 1979 Jun;62(6):1397-9; I found only these 3 studies on PubMed on 11/7/01, both were ancient and conflicting results, 2 harmless vs. a harmful. It appears a shocking example of science avoiding a politically sensitive issue.

Saccharin: No Assoc in Case Control Study: French Mediterrean study of 219 cases bladder CA and 900 controls found no assoc for saccharin. High alcohol was a risk as was being born in Mediterranean area. Low intake carrots, spinach and marrow a risk factor. Cancer Causes Control 1994 Jul;5(4):326-32.

Saccharin No Bladder Cancer in Monkeys: At doses 5-10 max recommended human dosage, no CA or effect on urothelium found in 20 monkeys of 6 species on saccharin for up to 24 years with 16 controls. Natl Cancer Inst. J Natl Cancer Inst 1998 Jan 7;90(1):19-25

Fish, Fruit Good, Refined Grains & Sugar Bad for Colon CA: increasing risk of colorectal cancer with increasing intake emerged for bread and cereal dishes (odds ratio [OR] in highest vs. lowest quintile = 1.7), potatoes (OR = 1.2), cakes and desserts (OR = 1.1), and refined sugar (OR = 1.4). Intakes of fish (OR = 0.7), raw and cooked vegetables (OR = 0.6 for both) and fruit other than citrus fruit (OR = 0.7) showed a negative association. Int J Cancer 1997 Jul 3;72(1):56-61

Thomas E. Radecki, M.D., J.D.

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