A Killer Sweetener Nearly Everyone
Trusts -- Do You?
Cynthia’s trouble began when she developed Bell’s palsy and electric-like shocks through the left side of her face. (Bell’s palsy is an oft-spontaneous disorder of the facial nerve. It makes blinking, smiling, or moving half the facial muscles impossible.)
Fourteen months later, the palsy returned, this time on the right side of her face. When the nerve pain also reappeared, her doctors were completely stumped. They diagnosed her with “atypical facial pain” and a bonus disorder of “complex regional pain syndrome”.
The diagnosis was relatively useless. The only good it did was warrant a prescription for heavy painkillers, including a morphine patch and Percocet … which only helped some of the time.
After two years of suffering, Cynthia was exhausted. She was sick of fighting the pain … sick of the doctors’ clueless faces … sick of being sick.
With nowhere else to look, she finally decided to examine her nutritional history from the past two years. She hoped and prayed that her struggle against the faceless enemy causing her pain would finally be revealed.
Stunned, she suddenly realized she had begun drinking her favorite, go-to beverage around the same time the palsy had taken her by storm—an artificially sweetened water she’d picked up as a low calorie way to start drinking more water.
She feverishly began researching the side effects of sucralose.
When she saw the lists and lists of people who’d had negative reactions to the chemical sweetener, on top of alternative doctor’s advice and clinical studies, she tried an experiment.
Cynthia had suffered for two years. Within just six days of being off sucralose, she noticed a difference. Her symptoms began to retreat. Not only did her feet stopped tingling, but a month later, she was free of pain and the heavy medications she had needed just to get through the day.
When Cynthia picked up that bottle of sweetened water two year ago, she didn’t realize she was walking into a two year battle that would cost her thousands of dollars in medical bills, and the loss of time to pain and fatigue.
Cynthia eventually won her battle against palsy and extreme pain, but it came at a high cost. (1)
The Chemical Creation of Sucralose
Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than sugar. It’s so sweet, using it alone would be sensationally overpowering. That’s why manufacturers add bulking agents like maltodextrin or dextrose to give it some “padding.” (That’s also why you can use it like sugar in baking.)
But before you reach for that “yellow packet” for your coffee, you may want to know exactly how this palsy-causing poison is made.
Sucralose is the chemically processed form of chlorinated sugar. Yes—sucralose contains chlorine, the same stuff they clean the pool with.
And by the way… the labels say sucralose is a “no-calorie sweetener.” Technically, they’re right. We can’t absorb sucralose itself, so it has no caloric value.
But, those bulking agents maltodextrin and dextrose can be absorbed, and they do add calories. One “yellow packet” actually has about 4 calories.
It’s an FDA labeling loophole. Based on the amount of sucralose actually in the product, manufactures can claim that there are no calories. It’s a web of lies!
What Does the Science Say?
Surprisingly few human studies have been done on this low calorie sweetener. The manufacturer says that over 100 studies have been performed on their product, which was enough to fool the FDA and doctors the world over.
Public concern continues to grow, despite the manufacturer and FDA’s insistence that sucralose is safe. Thankfully, independent researchers are finally getting on board.
One 2009 study showed sucralose reduces the amount of beneficial bacteria in the intestines. It showed that sucralose…
- reduced the amount of good intestinal bacteria by 50%...
- increased the intestinal pH level…
- and affected a glycoprotein that can have crucial health effects, particularly if you're on certain medications.(2)
This is actually a huge deal when it comes to your overall health. We need beneficial bacteria in our intestines to get the most out of our food.
Plus, over 50% of your immune system is housed in your gut. Destroying those healthy, helpful bacteria opens you up to unfriendly micro-organisms, gut proliferation, and a score of health problems.
Bad News for Diabetics
The worst part is how sucralose affects diabetics. Diabetics have been known to use sucralose in large quantities because they think it’s perfectly safe. After all, the label specifically says no calories and no sugar. Why wouldn’t they use it?
But a new study published in the Diabetes Care journal showed sucralose does indeed have diabetes-promoting effects.3 It was shown to increase insulin levels by 20% and decreased insulin sensitivity.
On top of it all, it’s affecting the environment. Our inability to absorb the stuff is now showing up in soil, sewage systems, and rivers. Animals that ingest it or absorb it through water are displaying odd behavior. (4)
And despite all of this proof of poison, there have still been no long-term human toxicity tests done.
Though the hundreds (probably thousands) of people who are seeing increased weight gain, headaches, and more severe effects like Cynthia’s would probably be happy to volunteer.
References:
(1) Schmidt, C. The Potential Dangers of Sucralose.
(2) Abou-Donia MB. Splenda alters gut microflora and increases intestinal p-glycoprotein and cytochrome p-450 in male rats. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. 2008;71(21):1415-29.
(3) Pepino MY. Sucralose affects glycemic and hormonal responses to an oral glucose load.
Diabetes Care. Sept. 2013.
(4) Wiklund, AKE. Sucralose represents an ecotoxicological contaminant that significantly affects the behavior of animals. Chemosphere. 2012 Jan ;86(1):50-5.
