In healthy subjects , appetite and short term food intake , risk of cancer , risk of diabetes , risk of dental caries , weight gain and risk of obesity are the most investigated health outcomes .
Overall there is no conclusive evidence for beneficial and harmful effects on those outcomes .
In subjects with diabetes and hypertension , the evidence regarding health outcomes of NNS use is also inconsistent .
Background Food products containing non-nutritive sweeteners ( NNSs ) instead of sugar have become increasingly popular in the last decades .
Their appeal is obviously related to their calorie-free sweet taste .
However , with the dramatic increase in their consumption , it is reasonable and timely to evaluate their potential health benefits and , more importantly , potential adverse effects .
The main aim of this scoping review was to map the evidence about health outcomes possibly associated with regular NNS consumption by examining the extent , range , and nature of research activity in this area .
Adverse reactions to aspartame: Double-blind challenge in patients from a vulnerable population
This study was design ed to ascertain whether individuals with mood disorders are particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of aspartame . Although the protocol required the recruitment of 40 patients with unipolar depression and a similar number of individuals without a psychiatric history , the project was halted by the Institutional Review Board after a total of 13 individuals had completed the study because of the severity of reactions within the group of patients with a history of depression . In a crossover design , subjects received aspartame 30 mg/kg/day or placebo for 7 days . Despite the small n , there was a significant difference between aspartame and placebo in number and severity of symptoms for patients with a history of depression , whereas for individuals without such a history there was not . We conclude that individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener and its use in this population should be discouraged
In healthy subjects , appetite and short term food intake , risk of cancer , risk of diabetes , risk of dental caries , weight gain and risk of obesity are the most investigated health outcomes .
Overall there is no conclusive evidence for beneficial and harmful effects on those outcomes .
In subjects with diabetes and hypertension , the evidence regarding health outcomes of NNS use is also inconsistent .
Background Food products containing non-nutritive sweeteners ( NNSs ) instead of sugar have become increasingly popular in the last decades .
Their appeal is obviously related to their calorie-free sweet taste .
However , with the dramatic increase in their consumption , it is reasonable and timely to evaluate their potential health benefits and , more importantly , potential adverse effects .
The main aim of this scoping review was to map the evidence about health outcomes possibly associated with regular NNS consumption by examining the extent , range , and nature of research activity in this area .