Artificial sweetener (commonly used) can be a concern, study says.

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.

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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.

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