When the researchers conducted spatial learning and memory tests using the Barnes maze, the aspartame mice at four months consistently moved more slowly and covered less distance during training than animals in the control group. They also took nearly twice as long on average to locate the target escape hole, showing impaired memory recall (however, this was inconsistent and not seen as statistically meaningful). By eight months, performance gaps widened even further, with two out of six aspartame-treated mice failing to complete the task at all.
It makes you dumb, unfit and fat (around the organs).
The liver will happily make enough glucose for the human brain from fat and protein, let alone the mouse brain (gluconeogenesis). It’s not true that the human brain requires glucose, just a couple of cell lines (obligate glucovores), like red blood cells and some parts of the eye. The rest of the body, including the brain, can use ketones derived from fat, muscles can use triglycerides directly, in fact as we age the brain preferentially uses ketones. Here mouse models fail because they’re evolved as primarily carbovores (grains etc, although they do eat (low fat) insects for extra protein) and really, really hard to get into ketosis, while humans drop into it with 12 hours fasting. Which makes this study an interesting datum, but inconclusive (and likely false in detail) in humans. That said, seems like a no brainer to drop artificial sweeteners and limit sugar to me, evolutionarily we got a big burst at the end of summer (fruit) which we used to fatten up for winter and little the rest of the year.
TLDR: “Mice lie and monkeys exaggerate.”
Fruit is bad, apple is like sand with splenda, you need to buy the expensive kind of grapes and oranges, or else tastes like so fckn acid. Bananas are ok as long as you eat with bread and are on point, the same as watermelon, but a lot of em needs more sugar.