Sucralose Is Not Necessarily a Healthier Choice Than Regular Sugar—Here’s What to Know Before You Buy (2023)

FAQs

Which is worse sugar or sucralose? ›

But for overall health, table sugar or natural sugar is the way to go -- just not too much of it! "Artificial sweeteners have recent medical studies showing safety, but table sugar has centuries of chemical safety data," adds Dr. Kumar.

Sucralose is an artificial sweetener that is generally considered safe when enjoyed in moderation. However, research on its long-term effects has turned up mixed results. Excessive amounts of added sugar can have harmful effects on your metabolism and overall health ( 1 ).

A study found that sucralose increased blood glucose levels and insulin levels while decreasing insulin sensitivity. This could negatively affect people, especially those with diabetes, who consume sucralose to try to manage their blood glucose levels.

Yet scientists haven't found any direct negative health effects in people who consume sucralose long-term. That's true both for healthy people and those with diabetes. “While sucralose may cause problems at higher doses, most people consume nowhere near that amount,” says Patton.

Although more research in humans is needed, studies indicate that artificial sweeteners may disrupt the health of the gut microbiome, which plays a key role in regulating inflammation. One animal model also found that regular consumption of sucralose also known as Splenda, could cause liver inflammation in mice.

Sucralose is authorised in the EU for food use with exception for foods for young children.

Sucralose won't lose its sweetness when you put it in something hot, so it's best for cooking and baking. Stevia is very sweet, and although it can be used for food, it's sweetness makes it ideal to add to drinks, especially if you are craving sugar.

"We found two metabolites in urine and feces throughout the sucralose dosing period," Schiffman says. "Those metabolites could still be detected in the urine 11 days after we stopped giving the rats sucralose, and six days after the sucralose itself could no longer be detected.

Artificial sweeteners like sucralose are marketed as sugar substitutes that don't raise blood sugar levels, making them a safer choice for diabetics.

However, researches have confirmed that sucralose can change the composition of gut microbiome, inhibiting intestinal development, and aggravating HFD-induced hepatic steatosis in adulthood (5, 9).

What is the most harmful artificial sweetener? ›

The worst of the worst culprits include aspartame (found in Equal and NutraSweet), sucralose (found in Splenda), and Saccharin (found in Sweet 'N Low). Many people who cut artificial sugars out of their diets report the improvement of many health problems including migraines, depression, IBS, weight gain, and more.

Histopathological examination in sucralose and stevia administrated groups confirmed the biochemical results; where it revealed a severe damage in liver and kidney sections.

They are both considered generally safe for use within their stated safe limits. Sucralose is a better choice if you have phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare genetic condition, as aspartame contains the amino acid phenylalanine.

Most of the sucralose consumed is not completely absorbed by the human body and is disposed of through excretion. Approximately 8–20% of the sucralose gets into the blood and is excreted through urine without metabolism.

Acceptable Daily Intake: 5 milligrams for each kilogram of body weight. For a 150-pound person, 340 milligrams a day would be safe. A packet of Splenda contains 12 milligrams of sucralose.

Unfortunately, sucralose releases toxic chemicals as part of its chemical bond with chlorine. Neurological side effects of prolonged sucralose consumption may include nerve damage, headaches, dizziness, anxiety, depression, tinnitus and various forms of brain fog.

After 2 weeks, the researchers concluded that saccharin did not impact the gut bacteria of either mice or humans. Similarly, a study that involved two 14-day exposures to sucralose and aspartame also concluded that there was no change in participants' gut microbiomes.

Our study demonstrated that sucralose greatly aggravated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis along with causing changes in gut microbiota, the gut barrier and impaired inactivation of digestive proteases mediated by deconjugated bilirubin.

The sweetener, most famously associated with the Sweet 'N Low​ brand of sweetener, has been banned in Canada since 1977 when animal studies reported an increased risk of bladder cancer.

Sucralose is exceptionally stable, so foods and beverages sweetened with sucralose stay sweet under a wide range of conditions. This includes frozen foods like ice cream and other frozen desserts, as well as foods that need to be heated to high temperatures, like baked goods and foods that require sterilization.

What does the FDA say about sucralose? ›

Sucralose is approved for use in food as a non-nutritive sweetener. Sucralose is sold under the brand name Splenda®.

Stevia — in packet, drops or plant form — is a dietitian favorite. Not only does it contain zero calories, but stevia-based sweeteners are herbal as opposed to artificial. Stevia blended with a sugar alcohol called erythritol (Truvia®) works well in low-carb baked desserts, too.

We sweeten Coke Zero Sugar in our bottles and cans with a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium (or Ace-K).

The HDL and total cholesterol levels significantly increased after consumption of sucralose (p = 0.039) and sucrose (p = 0.001), respectively. No changes in triglycerides, LDL or oxidized LDL were observed.

Your taste buds will stop getting tricked.

"We lose our taste for natural sweetness. Because of that we need heavy levels of sweetness to satisfy that sweet tooth." Naturally sweet foods, such as fruit, lose their appeal and savory foods, such as vegetables, become unpalatable.

"After chronic exposure to a diet that contained the artificial sweetener sucralose, we saw that animals began eating a lot more," said study author Greg Neely. "Through systematic investigation of this effect, we found that inside the brain's reward centers, sweet sensation is integrated with energy content.

Pros and Cons of Sucralose

Examples of these include: Pro: It is calorie free and therefore doesn't contribute to weight gain. Con: It is typically mixed with bulking agents (like dextrose) that do contain calories and sugars, so these available sweeteners are missing some of the purported benefits of pure sucralose.

No, zero sugar soda uses artificial sweeteners, which increases people's weight. Increased weight, in turn, is linked to the worsening of diabetes. Hence, zero soda is not suitable for diabetes.

Generally, there's no advantage to substituting honey for sugar in a diabetes eating plan. Both honey and sugar will affect your blood sugar level. Honey is sweeter than granulated sugar, so you might use a smaller amount of honey for sugar in some recipes.

Sucralose, which has almost the same molecular structure as table sugar, does not have much, if any, effect on blood pressure.

Can sucralose cause leaky gut? ›

Associated with the consumption of the artificial sweetener named Splenda, are many sucralose side effects. Linked to Splenda dangers have been many health conditions. Some of these include causing leaky guy, irritable bowel syndrome, and even diabetes. Toxic compounds are believed to be the cause of this.

As for saccharin, humans would need to drink the equivalent of 800 twelve-ounce diet sodas with saccharin daily to reach the carcinogenic doses that induced rat bladder cancer. Saccharin was banned in 1981 because of fear of possible carcinogenesis.

"It found that aspartame is associated with higher risk of cerebrovascular events (strokes) and acesulfame potassium and sucralose were associated with increased coronary heart disease risk." The study can be an effective resource for health providers, she adds.

Will Splenda® (sucralose) cause adverse health effects or diseases like cancer or negatively impact the liver or kidneys? No. Around the world, sucralose has been confirmed safe.

It would be reasonable to expect health food stores up and down the country to be selling stocks of this apparent miracle of nature faster than they can get them in. Instead, they are barred by the European Union from selling the plant, called stevia, as a food or food ingredient because of concerns over its safety.

Stevia is often approached in the opposite effect to sucralose, in that is it praised for what it doesn't do – It doesn't add calories. It also doesn't contain artificial sweetener at all, as it is derived from plants. The stevia plant is part of the Asteraceae family, related to the common daisy in the UK.

Both animal and human studies have suggested a link between sucralose ingestion and raised insulin levels. In one study, 17 people were given either sucralose or water and then administered a glucose tolerance test ( 10 ). Those given sucralose had 20% higher blood insulin levels.

What does sucralose do to your metabolism? ›

These findings indicate that consumption of sucralose in the presence of a carbohydrate rapidly impairs glucose metabolism and results in longer-term decreases in brain, but not perceptual sensitivity to sweet taste, suggesting dysregulation of gut-brain control of glucose metabolism.

When sucrose is digested it breaks down into fructose and glucose, which then go their own separate ways in your body. This process raises your blood sugar, and too much can rupture blood vessels and cause mouth problems such as cavities and gum disease.

The groups that drank beverages containing sucralose, aspartame or Reb-A, a derivative of stevia, saw little change in their weight. But people who consumed beverages sweetened with sugar or saccharin, which is marketed as Sweet'N Low, experienced “significantly increased body weight” after three months.

Stevia (or stevia extract) is considered to be a type of natural sweetener, while sucralose is an artificial sweetener. Natural sweeteners come from natural sources that contain calories and nutrients that are metabolized by the body.

Granular sucralose is the form used when baking. Substitute 1 cup granular sucralose for each cup of sugar called for in the recipe.

Artificial sweeteners are many times sweeter than sugar. Because of this, it takes only a small amount of artificial sweeteners to sweeten foods. This is why foods made with artificial sweeteners may have fewer calories than those made with sugar. Sugar substitutes don't affect your blood sugar level.

Both sugar and artificial sweetener are addictive. But artificial sweeteners may be likelier to make you get hungry, eat more throughout the day and develop diabetes. Sugar is OK in limited amounts and in the context of a healthy diet. (Eating a cookie you've made yourself is fine.

More than 90 studies support its safety. Sucralose is approved for use in food as a non-nutritive sweetener. Sucralose is sold under the brand name Splenda®. Sucralose is about 600 times sweeter than sugar.

However, researches have confirmed that sucralose can change the composition of gut microbiome, inhibiting intestinal development, and aggravating HFD-induced hepatic steatosis in adulthood (5, 9).

The science suggests that neither stevia nor sucralose disrupt blood-glucose levels in the same way that sugar does. As such, both are relatively safe options for individuals who have or are at risk for developing diabetes.

What is the safest sweetener instead of sugar? ›

"Honey's advantages over sugar include a slightly lower glycemic index (i.e. it doesn't affect your blood-sugar levels as much)," Dr. Dixon says. "It also contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids."