The simple and correct answer is that in moderation like anything else, and especially in our exercising clients, there is no possibility of negative health effects from any of these sources. Moderation means you are not consuming foods/drinks all day long where the majority of the foods consumed contains these sweeteners. As far as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is concerned, only overweight people who do not lose weight should do their best to avoid products unnaturally sweetened with fructose or HFCS. That also means pure sucrose or white table sugar because it contains 50% fructose. Any sugar or simple carbohydrates can exacerbate negative lipid profiles and insulin resistance in sedentary, overweight people. Aspartame is the most studied food additive in our history and continues to remain considered safe when consumed in normal amounts and many times greater. Swirling controversy will continue as long as artificial sweeteners continue to financially hurt the sugar industry but artificial sweeteners are now proven to provide assistance in weight control compared to caloric beverages. Weight gain is a far greater health problem than artificial sweeteners will ever be. This is because one of the primary causes of weight gain is calorically sweetened beverages - NOT diet beverages.