ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Are you harming yourself and not knowing it?

The more and more I look at patients' symptoms and the amount of artificial sweeteners they consume the more I’m amazed at the connection. They get in a cycle and can’t figure out what’s triggering their symptoms. But, new research has come out on concerns with these products.

The latest research has found that sucralose, found in many widely used sugar substitute brands, is "genotoxic" and can break up DNA and also cause other issues in the human body. 

The paper, published in the Journal of Toxicology, found that one of the fat-soluble compounds (sucralose-6-acetate) that is found in the gut after ingestion of sucralose is genotoxic. The problem is sucralose, a zero-calorie sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sugar, according to the FDA. 

"Sucralose is utilized in tens of thousands of food, beverage, and pharmaceutical products worldwide," Susan Schiffman, an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University who led the study. The most frequently encountered form of sucralose in the United States is marketed under the brand name Splenda. Splenda is the most popular brand of sugar substitute in the country, with over 50 million users.

One thing that should concern you is that Splenda is already being monitored in Europe with the European Food Safety Authority. They have determined “a threshold of toxicological concern for all genotoxic substances of 0.15 micrograms per person per day,” meaning you shouldn’t consume more than this amount in a single day. Unfortunately, more bad news for diet soda drinkers: “the trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate in a single, daily sucralose-sweetened drink exceed that threshold,” and that’s not even counting what happens inside your body after you ingest and metabolize the sweetener.  So let’s put that into perspective, according to Coke’s website (some Coke products do contain sucralose) a can of diet Coke has 9000 micrograms per serving. One can. In the study, Schiffman and her team found that the components in sucralose can affect our cells at the DNA level. But they found other interesting effects of sucralose.

When we ingest sucralose, it is broken down in our gut and our gut bacteria can transform it into a structurally similar molecule called sucralose-6-acetate.

Schiffman reported that the findings of this study were not good.

"Sucralose-6-acetate was genotoxic in human blood cells," Schiffman said. "Genotoxic compounds can cause breaks in DNA with microscopically visible damage to chromosomes. This can cause inflammatory diseases such as IBD and even cancer." Another definition of genotoxicity is, “Genotoxicity refers to the capability of a substance to damage the genetic information of cells (changes of the structure, sequence, and/or number of genes), which can have direct or indirect effects, such as induction of mutations, activation or inactivation of genes.” So simple put, DNA, is a complex molecule that contains all of the information necessary to build and maintain an organism. This is something you do not want to break down.

While sucralose might help you cut back on calories, research has shown that it can have negative impacts on your gut. "Independent scientific studies show that ingestion of sucralose can damage the cell membranes of the gut and cause irritable bowel syndrome," Schiffman said.

When sucralose is exposed to the cells that line our gut walls, it can damage the junctions that hold these cells together, causing the gut to become leaky.

"A leaky gut is problematic because it means that things that would normally be flushed out of the body in feces are instead leaking out of the gut and being absorbed into the bloodstream," Schiffman said.

The study has raised concerns about the safety of sucralose, which is found in many diet sodas, sugar-free gum, and other products. With many people’s diets consisting of these products on a daily basis, the research team is concerned that it is damaging their health. They are calling for a review of the safety and regulatory measures for these sugar chemicals. At any rate, they suggest you do your best to limit your sucralose intake to as close to zero as you can get it.

• • •

Dr. Wayne M. Fichter Jr. is a chiropractor at Natural Spine Solutions. The business is located at 3913 Schreiber Way in Coeur d’Alene. For more information, please contact us at 208-966-4425.