Indonesian Health Ministry says sweetener aspartame consumption needs to be limited

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian Health Ministry classifies the artificial sweetener aspartame as a chemical in food and beverages, so its consumption needs to be limited to reduce health risks.

The ministry’s Director of Disease Prevention and Control, Maxi Rein Rondonuwu, cited research published by Nutrients in 2021, which showed that aspartame has a sweetness level 180-200 times greater than sucrose.

“Aspartame is often used as a dietary sugar substitute for people with diabetes,” he said in Jakarta on Sunday.

Aspartame is a compound made from phenylalanine and aspartic acid, which functions as a sugar or sweetener replacement in food and beverages sold in the market, he added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a maximum limit of 40 mg of aspartame per kilogram of body weight per day to prevent adverse health effects.

Rondonuwu also mentioned that excessive daily consumption of aspartame can contribute to increased body weight.

“This condition could disrupt the body’s metabolism, leading to weight gain. Additionally, foods containing aspartame are often made from high-calorie ingredients,” he said.

Such foods can cause obesity if consumed beyond reasonable limits, he added.

He also stated that aspartame can exacerbate migraines, as it can produce glutamate when metabolized by the human body.

High glutamate levels can lead to headaches and worsen migraine symptoms, he added.

According to Rondonuwu, excessive consumption of aspartame is also linked to behavioral disorders and can affect cognitive function, mood, motor activity, sleep patterns, and appetite.

He added that aspartame can complicate matters for individuals with phenylketonuria, a genetic disorder affecting phenylalanine metabolism.

“Therefore, people with phenylketonuria need to avoid consuming products that contain phenylalanine, such as aspartame, due to the risk of various complications, including brain damage,” he suggested.

Rondonuwu stated that one of the health problems caused by aspartame is diabetes. While it is often used as a sugar substitute for people with diabetes, excessive consumption of aspartame can actually increase blood sugar levels, potentially leading to pancreatic damage.

“As a result, the production of the hormone insulin in the body becomes disrupted, increasing the risk of diabetes,” he warned.

He further explained that methanol, produced by the human body during aspartame processing, carries the risk of increasing levels of free radicals, thereby contributing to cellular damage, including in the nervous system.

“Therefore, excessive and long-term consumption of aspartame can exacerbate nervous system damage, increasing the risk of progressive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” he added.

Based on research published in PLOS Medicine in 2022, excessive consumption of artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame and acesulfame-K, has the potential to increase the risk of developing cancer, such as breast cancer and blood cancer.

“However, further research is still needed to determine the impact of aspartame consumption on cancer risk,” he remarked.