How do foods and beverages sweetened with aspartame fit into healthful eating?
Health experts agree that eating well and being physically active are keys to a healthful lifestyle. To help people achieve a more healthful lifestyle, the U.S. government provides “Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” which encourages consumers to “Choose and prepare foods and beverages with little added sugars or caloric sweeteners.” The World Health Organization also recommends a number of dietary guidelines to combat increases in chronic diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes. One recommendation is to limit sugars added to some foods and beverages. As a sweetener, aspartame can reduce or replace the calories in foods and beverages while maintaining great taste, offering one simple step to help people move closer to achieving a more healthful diet. Simply substituting a can of diet soft drink for a regular soft drink saves about 150 calories; substituting a packet of low-calorie tabletop sweetener for two teaspoons of sugar three times daily (e.g., in coff
