Dangers of Aspartame for Pregnant Women Are Far From Sweet

I am often asked by pregnant women if the artificial sugar Aspartame is safe for them and their developing babies. Postnatal mothers also ask me if it is safe for them to drink aspartame sweetened diet drinks for postpartum weight loss. My answer to both questions is an emphatic No!

Here’s why:

Aspartame is sold as NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure. These artificial sweeteners are all aspartame, just with different names. Neuroscientist, Dr. Russell Blaylock discusses in his book Excitotoxins that there are several toxic breakdown chemicals from these aspartame products that make them dangerous for a developing fetus but also for mothers.

The major concerns about pregnant women ingesting aspartame during pregnancy are birth defects and damage to certain areas of the brain. This potential brain damage includes the parts of the brain involved in complex learning and hormone control.

Aspartame Disease

Since the FDA gave this Aspartame it’s “blessing” in 1981, aspartame has accounted for more than 75 percent of all complaints reported to the FDA’s Adverse Reaction Monitoring System!

Aspartame disease refers to a constellation of symptoms attributed to the use of products containing aspartame. Out of the over 90 documented symptoms, the most common occurrences include:

*Headaches/Migraines
*Dizziness
*Mental Confusion
*Slurred Speech
*Ringing in the ears
*Nausea
*Numbness

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Read more: Family, Health, Obstetrics, Pregnancy, Women's Health

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Ellie D.

6:15PM PST on Nov 11, 2011

I love diet pop & can't stand real pop

send a green star

Megan K.

1:55PM PST on Dec 19, 2010

wow, good to know. I have been soda free for over 3 years now, but that is great info thanks for posting!

Dean R.

9:27PM PST on Nov 11, 2010

As a doctor with 34 years experience treating real patients and watching the aspartame scam unfold over the years, I will continue to strongly caution pregnant women to avoid the very real risks to fetal health if they ingest too much aspartame.

Dr. Dean Raffelock

Jim S.

8:47PM PST on Nov 11, 2010

I had granted Dean that a couple of the rat-dose studies he linked to were suggestive, and would normally be cause for concern. Nor would I trust any FDA safety finding alone.

But the underlying problem remains that it's incredibly difficult to construct a causal pathway by which a ester dipeptide of two of Earth's most abundant amino acids, found in virtually every protein of the body and everything you eat, could cause harm. It would be akin to suggesting that trace amounts of, say, calcium cause cancer, when it's already abundant everywhere you look. Dean's theory is not physically possible - you cannot get a "rush of neurotransmitter precursors" (i.e. phenylalinine and aspartic acid) from a half-gram of aspartame, when they are far more abundant in everything else you eat.

If there's any harmful effect, another theory of causation will be needed.

And incessant repetition of one's profession and credentials is what soldiers do under interrogation, not what a "doctor" does on a comment thread.

8:43PM PST on Nov 11, 2010

John G.

8:32PM PST on Nov 11, 2010

Hey Jim:

Also ask him if he knows what a placenta is? For the reader it is that maternal organ that gathers as many nutrients and most of the phenylalanine and certain other key amino acids that it can for the growing developing fetus, so that the fetus can develop properly. Fortunately, (as mentioned) the fetus doesn't have a blood-brain barrier that would prevent this vital uptake that the placenta works so well to achieve.

John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)

8:22PM PST on Nov 11, 2010

3:48PM PST on Nov 11, 2010

Do you even know what amino acids are, Dr. Dean?

9:59PM PST on Nov 9, 2010

As a doctor with 34 years experience treating real patients and watching the aspartame scam unfold over the years, I will continue to strongly caution pregnant women to avoid the very real risks of fetal brain damage if they ingest too much aspartame.

Dr. Dean Raffelock