Diet cola could HIJACK your mood

Something must be afoot.

I mean, there have been way too many articles slamming artificial sweeteners in the news lately.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This is music to my ears. But there has to be a nefarious subplot…

I’ll get to the bottom of it and let you know. Until then, let’s look at the latest update, which suggests that daily diet cola might just impact your MOOD.

Robust changes

Early research in mice found aspartame—an artificial sweetener commonly found in diet foods and drinks—may increase anxiety.

More specifically, after a variety of maze tests, researchers observed anxiety-like behavior in the mice that consumed aspartame-laced water.

And the behaviors weren’t subtle… researchers described them as robust.

They even noted changes in the amygdala, the region in the brain that regulates anxiety and fear.

And get this…

These changes were found at doses equivalent to less than 15 percent of the maximum daily human intake recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)!

That alone should give everyone pause—as the animal doses are usually much higher than what humans would ever consume.

Especially because aspartame is a chemical. And when we consume it, it turns into nastier chemicals, like aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol—all of which have been shown to impact the central nervous system.

Stop ingesting dangerous chemicals

Now, you know I don’t typically like to discuss preliminary studies. But this one has a lot of considerations. I mean, get a load of this…

When the mice were given diazepam (Valium), their anxiety-like behavior was alleviated, which is the same result you’d see in humans.

Plus, aspartame didn’t just affect the mice it was given to. In fact, changes to mood (anxiety) and in amygdala gene expression appeared in up to two generations descending from the originally exposed mice. WHOA!

If the same holds true for humans, that could mean two whole generations (from the original person who ate or drank aspartame) could be impacted.

No wonder anxiety is so common in our society, and even our children! If you think about it, later baby boomers and millennials were raised on aspartame… and their children—generation Z—are RIDDLED with anxiety.

This is just a supposition on my part. But if nothing else, remember this…

Despite what Big Food wants you to believe, aspartame and other non-nutritive sweeteners DO have an effect on the body—from altering blood sugar levels, to increasing risk for heart disease, stroke, and cancer, and more.

Any time you put a chemical into (or on) your body, it is doing something. We might not always know what that something is, but believe me… it’s happening.

Think about THAT the next time you reach for a diet cola—or anything of the likes.

Until next time,

Dr. Fred

Source:

“Artificial sweetener aspartame linked to anxiety, mice study finds.” Medical News Today, 12/16/2022. (medicalnewstoday.com/articles/artificial-sweetener-aspartame-anxiety-mice-study)