Mmany consider the sweetener to be a healthy alternative to regular sugar. However, according to a new study, it is possible that the widely used artificial sweetener is linked to anxiety behavior in rats.

It’s a type of sweetener called aspartame that’s easily found in nearly 5,000 foods and diet drinks, researchers explain in a study published in a scientific journal. PNAS.

Read also: Rethink your habits. This leads to a sharp jump in blood sugar levels.

After conducting experiments, the researchers concluded that anxiety symptoms were common among mice that consumed aspartame, and that its effect lasted more than two generations in male mice that were exposed to the sweetener.

Citing the authors of the study, The Independent explains that these effects may be due to epigenetic changes in mice. According to the journal, “unlike genetic mutations, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change the DNA sequence, but they can change how the body reads the DNA sequence.”

By the way, in the course of this study, it was found that in mice, exposure to aspartame led to changes in the expression of genes that regulate anxiety and fear.

During the study, rats consumed drinking water containing about 15% of their daily intake of aspartame. The dose is equivalent to consuming six to eight cans of diet or soft soda per day for a person. The study lasted a total of four years.

Read also: Anxiety at work increases with prolonged Covid

The Russian President also acknowledges that the country has faced some problems with the provision of equipment and clothing for ground troops, and that this has affected the fighting in recent months in the neighboring country.

Vladimir Putin said this Friday that Russia is ready for agreements, writes Reuters. The President of Russia spoke at a press conference in Bishkek, the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan.

Despite being willing to look for deals, Putin accused the parties to the Minsk agreements of deceiving Russia and sending arms to Russia. Ukraine🇧🇷 For a new stage, President Putin says he needs guarantees and proceeds from the fact that there is a trust problem, Reuters adds.

The Russian President also acknowledged that the country is currently facing some problems in supplying equipment and clothing for the field troops, and that this has affected the fighting in Ukraine in recent months. The restrictions are related to the 300,000 people mobilized in September and October for the combat front.

That is why he argued that Russia does not yet need a new wave of mobilizations, if only because 150,000 people have been detained and are waiting to be sent on a campaign. That is, of the 300,000 mobilized Russians, only half went to Ukraine.

Despite the president’s words about mobilization, which according to Reuters are not new, the Kremlin has refused to suspend an official decree allowing the mobilization of Russian men for the conflict, and the population continues to fear that more will be called.

On the same day that the EU Council gave the green light to Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area, from 1 January next year, Bulgaria and Romania, two countries that have been waiting for approval for more than a decade 27 , again failed to achieve the necessary unanimity in the Council today, because Vienna vetoed the entry of both countries and the Dutch of Bulgaria.

The decisions were taken today at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels, and the European Commission expressed its regret that, despite repeated claims that Bulgaria and Romania meet all the requirements for joining the free movement zone, their entry is still blocked.

“Today is a big day for the citizens of Croatia, welcome to Schengen. To the citizens of Bulgaria and Romania, I say this: they deserve to be an integral part of the Schengen area. I will support every step that will be taken to achieve this goal during my mandate,” said EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.

With today’s green light, Croatia, a country of about 3.5 million people, will no longer have internal borders with other Schengen countries, becoming the 27th member of the free movement zone.

Sofia and Bucharest faced their membership being blocked in 2011, then by the Netherlands and Finland, and have been waiting for a green light for more than a decade, despite repeated positive feedback from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

Last month, shortly after the Commission issued its latest recommendation to open the Schengen area to Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania, Austria, one of the European destinations and transit points for migrants entering Europe via the so-called Balkan route, announced its decision . objection, considering the extension of the Schengen Agreement “inappropriate”.

The Schengen Free Movement Area allows citizens to travel within the area without a passport, and controls are lifted, although there are temporary exceptions.

This zone currently includes 26 countries representing 420 million inhabitants, of which 22 are EU member states, including Portugal, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Once Croatia’s accession is completed, within a few weeks, besides Romania and Bulgaria, the only non-Schengen EU member states will be Ireland and Cyprus.