Perimenopause and menopause present women with a number of challenges and some of them seem to compete. For example, anxiety is something many struggle with, and when it is accompanied by unwanted weight gain, it can lead women to adopt habits they believe will help them drop extra pounds. That’s where calorie-cutting strategies, such as consuming foods and beverages with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, can enter the picture. 

Recent research indicates that aspartame can make that picture highly undesirable, especially for women who are in the midst of managing hormonal fluctuations and their many associated symptoms. Here’s what you should know.

Read about menopause and anxiety

The aspartame and anxiety study

Researchers at Florida State University College of Medicine recently published the results of their animal study in which they linked the use of aspartame with an increased risk of developing anxiety-like behavior. In addition, they discovered that the relationship extended for up to two generations of the animals. 

On a daily basis, the researchers provided drinking water containing aspartame to the mice at a dose of approximately 15 percent of what the Food and Drug Administration has determined to be the approved maximum daily for humans to consume. In this study, which lasted 12 weeks and was conducted over four years, the dosage was equal to six to eight 8-ounce cans of diet soda daily for humans. 

The researchers noted that the mice demonstrated what they called “such a robust anxiety-like trait” that was much more than anticipated, and the anxiety was passed along to several generations by the aspartame-exposed males. When the mice were given the anti-anxiety drug diazepam, which is commonly given to humans, the anxiety disappeared in all generations of mice.

According to co-author Pradeep Bhide, the results of this study show that “we need to look back at the environmental factors because what we see is not only what’s happening today, but what happened two generations ago and maybe even longer.” The epigenetic (temporary) changes that occurred in the mice crossed generations. Although such changes do not alter DNA (like genetic changes or mutations do), they can alter how the body interprets DNA sequences and are reversible. 

What to know about aspartame

Aspartame was approved by the FDA in 1981 as an artificial sweetener. It's about 200 times sweeter than regular sugar and appears in about 6,000 food and beverage items around the world, and as a tabletop sweetener as well. 

When you consume aspartame, it transforms into the metabolites aspartic acid, methanol, and phenylalanine, all of which can have significant effects on the function of the central nervous system. For example, the use of aspartame has been associated with depression, headache, and convulsions, as the metabolites affect neurotransmitter levels in the brain. 

Aspartame also can affect the liver. Methanol is oxidized in the liver to formaldehyde and then formic acid, both of which can damage liver cells. A recent report also noted that aspartame “could have carcinogenic properties” and that “exposure to aspartame from prenatal age increase the incidence of lymphomas/leukemias in females.”

According to the FDA, the acceptable daily intake of aspartame for adults and children in the United States is 50 milligrams per kilogram (50 mg/kg) of body weight daily. Since 1 kilograms equals 2.2 pounds, a person weighing 110 pounds could safely consume 2,500 mg (or 2.5 gm) of aspartame daily, according to the FDA. 

Bottom line

Use of aspartame is not recommended for anyone, and especially women in the menopausal years. In addition to its association with anxiety—and who needs more of that!—there are other downsides of including aspartame and other artificial sweeteners in your diet, as we discuss here. Your safest bet is to keep choosing naturally sweet foods and sweeteners and avoid the chemicals that can only make your menopause and overall health worse.