Another Sweet and Sour Study – Nutrition – Artificial
Dogmatism often eats its own words and in this case, sweet words have turned into a sour lunch. Splenda was touted for its safety not only by industry, but by scores of doctors encouraging diabetics and overweight to ingest this near zero calorie sweetener. Now newer research methods pose a question, did we miss something with Splenda? They would say that yes, we did miss something.
Rats may have enjoyed this study as they were fed sucralose (Splenda) and were monitored for changes in their stool and urine. Later, fat samples (maybe no so fun for the rats) were analyzed for presence of sucralose or its metabolites. For sucralose to be approved in the United States and other countries, industry scientists touted how this organochlorine substance, 600 times sweeter than sugar, was practically excreted unchanged in stool and urine. Lack of metabolites implied lack of clinical effects.
Using newer methods, this study revealed that sucralose is metabolized to a significant degree to a lipophilic compound. Even days after the sweet diet was stopped for the rats, they continued to excrete these metabolites in their urine and stool. Two weeks after stopping, fat samples in the rats still had sucralose metabolites. Basically, when something is fat soluble, it sits in our fat tissue longer and requires much more time to “wash out”.
Several areas of concern arise from these new findings. Accumulation of fat soluble sucralose metabolites with organochlorine properties may lead to long term health effects. Accumulation in breastmilk for nursing infants may be a long-term concern. Beyond direct implications sucralose may also alter gut flora.
The authors are not calling for an instantaneous recall of Splenda, but a further evaluation whether good or bad effects result from sucralose ingestion long term. In the meantime, I continue to warn my patients away from sucralose and a few other artificial sweeteners. These sweeteners can worse inflammation, disrupt the gut, and trigger childhood behavioral symptoms. Living a healthier more abundant life requires paying attention to what goes in your mouth on a daily basis.
Primary Study
North Carolina State University. “Sucralose produces previously unidentified metabolites.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 27 August 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180827134437.htm>.
Study indicating rat gut microbiome is altered by sucralose:
Abou-Donia, M. B., E. M. El-Masry, A. A. Abdel-Rahman, R. E. McLendon, and S. S. Schiffman. 2008. Splenda alters gut microflora and increases intestinal P-glycoprotein and cytochrome P-450 in male rats. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A 71:1415–29. doi:10.1080/15287390802328630.
Study describing excretion of sucralose in human breastmilk at high enough concentrations to change sweet flavor of milk:
Sylvetsky, A. C., A. L. Gardner, V. Bauman, J. E. Blau, H. M. Garraffo, P. J. Walter, and K. I. Rother. 2015. Nonnutritive sweeteners in breast milk. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A 78:1029–32. doi:10.1080/15287394.2015.1053646.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
