Aspartame

Sugar substitutes that contain little or no calories are called artificial sweeteners, non-nutritive sweeteners or non-caloric sweeteners. Well-known artificial sweeteners include sucralose, aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame-K and neotame.

Sugar alcohols such as xylitol and sorbital are also used to replace sugar and have fewer calories than regular sugar.

Aspartame is a popular artificial sweetener usually sold with the brand name Equal (compare prices) or Nutrasweet. Aspartame is a white crystalline powder manufactured from two amino acids, phenylalanine and aspartic acid. It is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, so very little of it is needed to sweeten foods, so using aspartame adds no calories to your diet.

Aspartame does not have a bitter metallic after-taste, and it replaced saccharin as a popular non-nutritive sweetener in diet sodas and other food products.

Aspartame is not poisonous, it does not cause cancer and it is not a pesticide. Your body breaks aspartame down into the individual amino acids and a very small amount of methanol. Many people have raised concerns about methanol, which is metabolized into formaldehyde. However, it is also found naturally in many foods such as fruit juices. In fact, fruit and vegetable juices contain much more methanol than the same amount of diet soda sweetened with aspartame. Your liver is able to remove the formaldehyde quickly and safely from your body.

Aspartame is available as a powder and is easily identified as the artificial sweetener in the little blue packets found in coffee shops and restaurants. Aspartame is found in most brands of diet soda, powdered diet soft drinks, packaged desserts, yogurt and some vitamin and cold remedies.

Aspartame does not hold up to heat so you cannot use it as a sugar replacement for baking or cooking. Sucralose is a better choice for cooking because it is heat-stable.

Aspartame has been shown to be safe in more than 200 studies. Some people who suffer from migraine headaches claim that aspartame triggers their headaches. People who have a disease called phenylketonuria should not consume aspartame because their bodies are unable to metabolize phenylalanine.

Aspartame has been blamed for causing brain tumors, leukemia and many other ailments and has been the topic of urban legends for many years. No credible studies have found any relationships between aspartame and these diseases. The American Medical Association, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Diabetes Association all consider aspartame safe when used as part of a healthy eating plan.