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Artificial sweeteners used in a variety of foods may lower sperm
count, according to Japanese researchers.
Male infertility is often due to disabled sperm, including low
sperm count syndrome, which is likely caused by environmental changes
or changes in lifestyle and eating habits that have occurred over
the past 30 years, according to one researcher.
In the study, 16 rats were spilt into four groups. One group was
fed water while the other groups were fed varying levels of aspartame,
an artificial sweetener.
Aspartame, which was created in the United States in 1965, is used
in such brands as Equal and Nutrasweet and is found in a number
of low-calorie foods and drinks.
Results showed that water-fed mice had an average of 25 percent
healthy sperm, while the other groups averaged only 16 percent healthy
sperm.
Even small doses of less than one-thousandth of accepted safety
levels had adverse effects on sperm levels, according to researchers.
Some experts, as well as food giant Ajinomoto, which has a patent
to use aspartame in food manufacturing, were skeptical of the study’s
findings because only a small sample of animals was used and the
study only lasted one week.
More studies are needed to determine whether artificial sweeteners
actually cause a drop in sperm counts, according to researchers.
Tokyo
Mainichi Daily News April 14, 2003
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