Does Your Dietary Supplement Contain Sucralose?
20.08.23

If your answer is yes, then you should pay attention!
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that sellers usually praise as harmless. However, I took a closer look at the "teeth" of this substance and it certainly doesn't look so clearly in its favor. Research into its long-term effects on health has shown very embarrassing and ambiguous results.
Sucralose was originally invented during the development of insecticides, it was supposed to be part of a substance that helps kill insects. It was not intended for consumption. However, it was later introduced to the masses as a "natural sugar substitute". Sucralose is made from sugar in a multi-step chemical process in which three hydroxyl groups are replaced by chlorine atoms.
Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar and contains no calories by itself. Since about 1998, it has been marketed as a healthy product that can help patients with obesity and diabetes. In favor of its "safety", there are claims that it does not remain in the body, but is supposedly excreted in the stool. In 2018, a study was done on rats that showed the opposite, that sucralose is metabolized and accumulated in the bodies of rats. Sucralose could be seen in the tissue of the rats "two weeks after the end of the 40-day feeding period, although the compound had disappeared from the urine and feces."
Although sellers of products containing sucralose still refer to studies (mostly not exceeding 1 year) that prove its safety, there are other studies that they prefer not to comment on. Several studies have shown that sucralose can reduce insulin sensitivity and increase blood sugar and insulin levels. Another 2010 study says that when sucralose is added as an ingredient to baking, it can react with fat at high temperatures and increase the risk of cancer.
An animal study found that after 6 months of sucralose use, the quality of their intestinal microflora was greatly reduced. A 2016 study by researchers at the Ramazzini Institute published in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health examined sucralose consumption in mice. As a result, leukemia and malignant tumors were detected. Other studies have shown that sucralose causes liver inflammation, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, and genotoxicity.
A 2019 study in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition of 34 breastfeeding women concluded that "sucralose appeared in breast milk two hours after ingestion, with concentrations that varied significantly between individuals." Another 2020 study published in Gut Microbes concluded that sucralose consumption in pregnant mice "inhibited gut development, induced gut microbiota imbalance and low-grade inflammation, and further disrupted gut barrier function in three-week-old offspring."
Sucralose is not only part of nutritional supplements. You can find it in low-calorie and low-carbohydrate foods such as diet drinks, energy bars, proteins, but also toothpaste and chewing gum.
Johana Karasová
Nontoxic.sk
Sources:
https://usrtk.org/sweeteners/sucralose-emerging-science-reveals-health-risks/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28790923/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814609005378
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35208888/