This is one of the most bizarre discoveries we have ever heard about.
A scientist noticed that when he got up out of his chair after watching a football game, his arthritis pain was greatly diminished.
During the course of the game he had consumed a six-pack of diet soda containing aspartame. Putting two and two together, he thought this artificial sweetener might have contributed to his relief.
He organized a placebo-controlled trial involving aspartame (aka Equal, NutraSweet) and confirmed that doses of 76 to 152 mg did indeed provide pain relief, roughly comparable to anti-inflammatory agents.
This research was published in the very respectable scientific journal, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.*
*Edmundson, A. B., and C. V. Manion. "Treatment of Osteoarthritis with Aspartame." Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 1998; 63:580-593.