Aspartame: Safe during pregnancy?

brook&nick

As I was eating my yogurt today, my friend at work said I shouldn't eat anything with aspartame while I am pregnant. I don't meet with my doc until next monday but I will ask then. Has anyone been told to stay away from aspartame?

 

Thanks!

mrsstocking

i think i remember reading it somewhere.....don't think my doc actually mentioned it though.

Mrvswife

I was told not to.

Danse

I don't think it's recommended.

taelir

Everyone has differing opinions.

Reason for that is no one in their right (read: ethical and moral) mind would create a study subjecting pregnant women and their unborn children to chemicals and products to see if they were harmful.

Everything in moderation, IMHO.

springtime81

My doctor told me it is fine in moderation.

As Taelir said, it is unethical to do actual human studies on this kind of thing, so we will probably never know 100%.  But, I take comfort in the fact that it's a food additive that's been around long enough for us to start suspecting if something weren't right.  So I follow my doctor's advice with the moderation.

PurplePeep

I looked it up in my WTEWE book and to me they basically say no. It is a little confusing because first they say normal use is ok but then they say that you should rely on natural sweeteners like fruit juice, etc. instead.

taelir

PurplePeep:

I looked it up in my WTEWE book and to me they basically they say no. It is a little confusing because first they say normal use is ok but then they say that you should rely on natural sweeteners like fruit juice, etc. instead.

WTEWYE is outdated, in most everyone's opinions.

Honestly, OP, I wouldn't stress over it.

GiniMcGlothin

I'm pretty much addicted to Diet Coke, and so my doc said I could have two a day, although I am sticking with the Caffine Free Diet Coke and only doing one per day.  Doc said his wife had two diet cokes every day of her pregnancy and she was fine.

teeah22

According to this website, it's fine:

https://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/artificialsweetner.htm

 

I'm trying to find one source of information and stick to it, this is the one I'm using.

gumiberg

Between 0-4 servings a day is supposedly OK (of nutrasweet, splenda, etc)

Just stay away from Sweet N Low, that is linked to miscarriages.

 

MrsU

There are lots of ideals on nutrition during pregnancy out there, but I try to follow the teachings of the Weston A Price organization. This is one article where they discuss aspartame or what the article refers to as "poison".

https://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/aspartame.html

bim38106

Well, technically it's not completely safe anytime... pregnant or not. But, like pp mentioned, all in moderation.

My OB, last pregnancy, told me not to eat/drink any artificial sweeteners at all, and specifically mentioned aspartame.

THIS site is really great at listing all food additives and all the research/info done on them (not just PG related, for everyone). Here is what they say about aspartame. It's scary reading all of the info they have, but, again, a lot of this is "worse case" and .. all in moderation

ASPARTAME
Artificial sweetener: "Diet" foods, including soft drinks, drink mixes, gelatin desserts, low-calorie frozen desserts, packets.

Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), a chemical combination of two amino acids and methanol, was initially thought to be the perfect artificial sweetener, but it might cause cancer or neurological problems such as dizziness or hallucinations.

A 1970s study suggested that aspartame caused brain tumors in rats. However, the Food and Drug Administration persuaded an independent review panel to reverse its conclusion that aspartame was unsafe. The California Environmental Protection Agency and others have urged that independent scientists conduct new animal studies to resolve the cancer question. In 2005, researchers at the Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy, conducted the first such study. It indicated that rats first exposed to aspartame at eight weeks of age caused lymphomas and leukemias in females. However, the European Food Safety Authority reviewed the study and concluded that the tumors probably occurred just by chance.

In 2007, the same Italian researchers published a follow-up study that began exposing rats to aspartame in utero. This study found that aspartame caused leukemias/lymphomas and mammary (breast) cancer. It is likely that the new studies found problems that earlier company-sponsored studies did not because the Italian researchers monitored the rats for three years instead of two.

In a 2006 study, U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers studied a large number of adults 50 to 69 years of age over a five-year period. There was no evidence that aspartame posed any risk. However, the study was limited in three major regards: It did not involve truly elderly people (the rat studies monitored the rats until they died a natural death), the subjects had not consumed aspartame as children, and it was not a controlled study (the subjects provided only a rough estimate of their aspartame consumption, and people who consumed aspartame might have had other dietary or lifestyle differences that obscured the chemical?s effects).

The bottom line is that lifelong consumption of aspartame probably increases the risk of cancer. People?especially young children?should not consume foods and beverages sweetened with aspartame, should switch to products sweetened with SUCRALOSE (Splenda), or should avoid all artificially sweetened foods. Two other artificial sweeteners, SACCHARIN and ACESULFAME-K, have also been linked to a risk of cancer.

 

mkbs1085

Hi, I'm normally a lurker but thought I'd respond to this question.  I think for normal people, consumption of Aspartame isn't going to be a huge deal during pregnancy in moderation.  However, if you were born with Phenylketonuria (PKU), you want to make sure to keep your levels of Phenylalanine down during pregnancy.  Phenylalanine is found in Aspartame, and naturally in some other foods.  The reason for this is that it can cause mental retardation or heart defects in your baby, because your body doesn't break down Phenylalanine the way normal people's bodies do.  It's a genetic disorder.  Most people know if they have this though because they would have had to be on a special diet during their childhood.  I have a minor form of it, called "non-PKU hyperphenylalanemia" which basically means I was born with elevated levels of phenylalanine in my blood.  So far no issues w/ my baby but the doctor is monitoring my levels.

 Anyway long story short, don't consume Aspartame while pregnant if you have PKU... otherwise listen to your docs

Coursey-Bride

I didn't get a warning on Aspartame specifically, only to watch the consumption of artifical sweeteners carefully (Dr's words were EXTREME MODERATION). The thing I couldn't wrap my mind around was that there are so many foods and drinkgs with artifical sweeteners in them, and as an athlete, I'm not used to eating full sugar foods. I'm trying really hard tho - Sprite Zero is my heroin.

BabyBowensMommy

Drinking just water makes me sick... so the only way I get my water down daily is to drink crystal light in my water... which has aspartame in it. The doctor said if that is the only way I get me water down then it is better than not having enough water.

mrsnewlywed2005

i'm diabetic.  this is my second pregnancy.  my nutritionists from both pregnancies say go with splenda.