If you have not heard about aspartame by now, you should better read carefully. About 6,000 products contain it, so pay more attention to the food you eat.

Aspartame (NutraSweet, aminosweet, Equal) is one of the most popular artificial sweeteners, but the controversy about it is even more popular. It has been lasting for 30 years after the chemical passed through the regulatory process supported by a major pharmaceutical interest, without taking in consider every side-effect known to the public.

Even today, many people know nothing about its disastrous history, what it is made from and its effect on the body and brain. People usually think that aspartame is another sugar alternative approved by FDA, and that it is safe, because if it is not so, it will not be on the market. Well friends, you are making a huge mistake here.

Aspartame is surrounded by darkness, and even darker is the story of how it got market approval, not to mention the other aspect that you are probably not aware of. If you had no reason to be thankful to the government until now, its conflict of interest with powerful drug companies should be more than enough.

We have listed the top 5 important reasons that will hopefully stop you from consuming products with aspartame ever again.

1. Your body converts aspartame into formaldehyde -- a chemical that has proven to cause cancer

Aspartame contains three unique compounds, and it is synergistically toxic chemical, meaning that the sum of the individual substances it contains is exponentially more toxic than just one by itself. Even isolated, phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol -- the three main compounds found in aspartame, are toxic in their own right.

Free methanol is know to be extremely toxic. After the consumption it converts into formaldehyde, then into formic acid. Hopefully you know that it is not like the methanol contained in alcohol or fruit and vegetables. It is not accompanied by ethanol, which actually protects against the poisoning with methanol.

Methanol not only embalms the tissues and damages the DNA structure, it can also cause leukemia, lymphoma, and other types of cancer.

2. Aspartame causes obesity and metabolic syndrome

People accept artificial sweeteners as a healthier alternative to sugar, but not many know the truth -- instead of helping people lose weight, when consumed in excess, these sweeteners are the main cause for obesity and metabolic disorders, including diabetes.

Moreover, many experiments have shown that even the smallest amount is dangerous, so it is best to avoid artificial sweeteners at all. In 2013, the journal Appetite published a study which found that aspartame is worse than regular sugar when it comes to promoting weight gain, and this is completely opposite of what consumers think when choosing a healthier sugar alternative!

The Yale journal of Biology and Medicine (YJBM) published a similar research explaining how aspartame affects the natural production of hormones in the body, increases the appetite and the craving for sugar. This is not what you need while you try to lose some weight, right?