4min chapter

The Stronger By Science Podcast cover image

Aspartame: The Surprisingly Interesting Science and History

The Stronger By Science Podcast

CHAPTER

Saccharin and Cyclomate Cause Bladder Cancer

Both saccharin and cyclamate give rats and mice a bunch of bladder cancer. But the mechanism by which they do that is not relevant to humans because human physiology is way more similar to rodent physiology than I think a lot of us would like to think about. The important discriminating factor here is the composition of our urine. Rats have very concentrated urine. So they have way higher concentrations of protein and sodium in their urine than humans do. And under the right circumstances, you can get spontaneous reactions between those chemicals and the high concentrations ofprotein and sodium ions to form like little microscopic crystals. That leads to cell damage, elevated levels of inflammation, and eventually cancer.

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