The latest news on aspartame

Allegations made in presentations at the American Diabetes Association's conference in June 2011 do not reflect the body of science on aspartame, its role in products that can help us to maintain/lose weight and its usefulness for diabetics who need to manage their blood-glucose levels.

April 15, 2011: A new study published by researchers from Harvard University and published in the prestigious American Journal of Clinical Nutrition confirms that diet soda and other beverages sweetened with low calorie sweeteners do not increase the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

That may sound like commmon sense, but a few have suggested the opposite could be possible. This large scale investigation should put those concerns to rest. The results suggest that earlier work failed to adequately take into account other factors, such as the fact that individuals who are heavier are more prone to development of diabetes - and more likely to be drinking diet beverages.

More than 40,000 men were followed for twenty years - the very large number of subjects followed prospectively for such a long period of time make the study robust. The authors say that substituting diet beverages for sugar-sweetened ones is a reasonable alternative.