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Long decried, aspartame could have other hitherto unknown disadvantages. Indeed, a scientific study has just revealed a link between this sweetener and anxiety in mice.
Very often studied, aspartame still questions scientists. Indeed, researchers from the Florida State University College of Medicine analyzed it to determine the link between taking this synthetic sweetener and the occurrence of anxious behavior.
An animal study with 15% of the maximum daily intake
The scientists therefore subjected the rodents to a rather special diet: they drank drinking water containing aspartame to stay hydrated for 12 weeks, or three months. This water contained aspartame up to 15% of the maximum daily intake approved by the American authorities for humans (all proportion kept for the size of the rodent).
For humans, this corresponds to a quantity of aspartame equivalent to approximately 7 cans of 230 ml of diet soda per day. The mice were then subjected to a variety of maze tests to assess their behavior.
Anxious behaviors over two generations
Result: the researchers observed anxious behavior in male mice in particular, during the tests. More worryingly, these behaviors persisted in the next two generations of mice. “What this study shows is that we need to look back on environmental factors, because what we see today is not just what is happening today, but what happened there. two generations and maybe even longer“said Pradeep Bhide, co-author of the study, in a press release.
Disorders resorbed by diazepam
The researchers also note that: “When given diazepam, a drug used to treat anxiety disorders in humans, mice of all generations stopped showing anxious behavior”.
These results, “completely unexpected“according to the authors, further work is needed to confirm this possible link and then to determine how aspartame would affect memory. The objective being to identify the molecular mechanisms that influence the transmission of the effect of aspartame across generations.