Aspartame is linked to an 18% increase in stroke:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugar-substitute...

There's plenty of issues with the 'widely accepted' aspartame safety. There's indeed a lot of research that says aspartame is safe, but not as many if you exclude those that are not financed directly or indirectly by the industry. I will not even get into the circumstances around the Bressler report and the fact that it took a change of FDA leadership to get it approved.

There's a good list here: https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/event/documen...

> just because they all seem to kill me

Thing is, if by 'they' you mean processed foods, you are basically right.

A little bit of sugar that you add to a coffee or whatever won't kill you. The problem is that just about all the processed food available has been spiked with sugar.