Splenda also known as sucralose is genotoxic or a gene toxin. But I could walk into Costco, Krogers, Safeway, Wal-Mart and pull a bag off the shelf from the edible food isle.
If you are a Splenda consumer you may be saying “but is it really that bad”? I mean the FDA approved it and “health” influencers and supposed health supplement companies use it in their products.
Recognize that nobody else has to live in your body, so clearance by the FDA is sufficient for most companies to overlook toxicology studies that suggest differently. Natural words and colorful health images, can go a long ways in covering up significant health shortcomings of artificial additives like sucralose.
The Research on Sucralose
In May 2023, the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health published their review on the effects of the sucralose by-product sucralose-6-acetate.
What they found was that sucralose-6-acetate causes DNA strand breaks.
They exposed sucralose to human intestinal cells and found that it significantly increased the expression of genes that are associated with inflammation, oxidative stress and cancer.
Honey, maple syrup, molasses, stevia, date sugar are not gene toxic and do not promote up regulation of genes associated with cancer. And have minerals, vitamins, health promoting phytochemicals…they actually nourish the body.
The researchers also noted that the amount of sucralose-6-actate in just one sucralose sweetened drink, like your morning coffee or your pre-workout mix, could vary and likely far exceed the threshold for genetoxicity. Instead of the potential benefits of green tea, black tea, coffee, or a protein drink, a person could be slurping down a known gene toxin and stressing out the instruction manual needed to promote survival, regeneration and reproduction.
People talk about having leaky gut and sucralose is another artificial culprit that devours the intestinal barrier.
Recognize that the farther you get from whole foods, the closer you get to disease and dysfunction. The more challenging you make it for your body to thrive when stressors mount and the environment around you is less than optimal.
I suggest creating life margin in every area you can control. The first step towards an increase in life margin and capacity is eliminating artificial sweeteners like Splenda, aspartame, and Ace K.
Sucralose and Fat Accumulation
You may also want to consider that a 2018 study showed that sucralose bioaccumulates in the fat tissue of animals, so even if you stop consuming it, there is a timeframe of at least 2 weeks where it will still be present.
Another study of fat cells in 2020 found that sucralose increased fat accumulation and expression of genes for fat accumulation. You can read more about Splenda and the connection to fat accumulation in the post, Are Artificial Sweeteners Making You Fat?
I think it’s time to break up with Splenda.
