Sugar additives can cause these bad influence to your metabolism and overall health.
For this reason, many people turn to artificial sweeteners like sucralose (Splenda).
However, while health authorities believe that sucralose is safe enough to use, some studies show it is related to health problems.
This article provides an objective view of sucralose and its effects (both good and bad) on health.
What is Sucralose / Splenda?
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener without calories, and Splenda is the most popular product made from sucralose.
Sucralose is made from sugar, in a multi-step chemical process with 3 hydrogen-oxygen groups replaced by chlorine atoms.
Sucralose was discovered in 1976, when a scientist at a college heard the wrong instructions for testing a substance. Instead, he tasted it, realized it was very sweet (testing: testing and tasting: tasting the same pronunciation).
Later, Splenda products were co-developed by Tate & Lyle and Johnson & Johnson. It was introduced in the United States in 1999, and is one of the most popular sweeteners in the country.
Splenda is often used to replace sugar in cooking. It also added thousands of food products worldwide.
Sucralose looks like this:
Sucralose contains no calories, but Splenda contains starch dextrose and maltodextrin, content calories up to 3.36 calories / gram .
However, the amount of calories and starches that Splenda provides is insignificant because you only need to use a small amount each time.
Sucralose is 400 to 700 times sweeter than sugar, and has no bitter aftertaste like many other popular sweeteners .
Summary: Sucralose is an artificial sweetener, and the most popular product from it is called Splenda. Sucralose is made from sugar, but does not contain calories and is sweeter.
Sucralose can affect blood sugar and insulin
It is thought that sucralose has little or no effect on blood sugar and insulin.
However, this may depend on each person individually and whether or not you are familiar with using artificial sweeteners.
A small study of 17 severely obese people who did not regularly use artificial sweeteners reported that sucralose increased 14% in blood sugar and increased by 20% in insulin levels .
Other studies in healthy, normal weight people do not detect any effect of sucralose on blood sugar and insulin. However, these studies include people who regularly consume sucralose .
So if you don't consume sucralose regularly, you may experience some changes in blood sugar and insulin levels.
If you've ever consumed sucralose, it probably won't have any effect.
Summary: Sucralose can increase blood sugar and insulin in people who don't eat artificial sweeteners regularly. However, it may not work in people who regularly use artificial sweeteners.
Baking with Sucralose can be harmful
Splenda is considered heat-resistant, and good for cooking and baking. However, recent studies have challenged this.
It seems that at high temperatures, it starts decomposing and interacting with other components .
A study showed that when heated sucralose with an important component of fat molecules, will produce harmful substances called . These substances may increase the risk of cancer .
We need more research to verify this, but in the meantime, it's best to use other sweeteners when baking at temperatures above 350 ° F or 120 ° C .
Summary: At high temperatures, sucralose can decompose and create harmful substances.
Does Sucralose affect intestinal health?
The intestinal bacteria are extremely important for health.
They can improve digestion, enhance immune function and reduce the risk of many diseases .
Interestingly, a study in rats showed that sucralose can cause negative effects on these bacteria.
After 12 weeks, the mice consumed reduced sweeteners 47-80% amount anaerobe (oxygen-free bacteria) in their gut ( 14 ).
Probiotics like and also significantly reduced, while many bacteria appeared to be less affected.
Furthermore, 12 weeks after the experiment ended, intestinal bacteria still did not return to normal levels.
However, this is a study in mice. To find out if intestinal bacteria are really affected, similar studies are needed in humans.
Summary: Animal studies show a link between sucralose and negative effects on the intestinal bacteria environment. However, human studies need to be confirmed.
Sucralose makes you gain weight or lose weight?
Products with a calorie-free sweetener are often advertised as beneficial weight loss .
However, sucralose and artificial sweeteners do not seem to have any major impact on your weight.
Observational studies show that there is no link between the consumption of artificial sweeteners and body weight or fat mass, but some studies report that there is a small increase in the index. IBM body block .
A review of randomized controlled trials, the gold standard of studies, reported that an average of artificial sweeteners reduced about 1.7 lbs (0.8 kg) of body weight .
Summary: Sucralose and other artificial sweeteners do not seem to have any major impact on body weight.
Is Sucralose safe?
Like other artificial sweeteners, sucralose is controversial. Some argue that it's completely harmless, but new studies suggest it may have some effect on your metabolism.
For some people, it can increase blood sugar and insulin. It may also damage the intestinal bacteria's environment, but this needs to be studied in humans.
The safety issue of sucralose at high temperatures is also set. Maybe, you will want to avoid cooking with it, as it can release harmful compounds.
As mentioned above, the long-term health effects are still unclear, and health agencies such as FDA say it is safe.
Summary: Health authorities believe that sucralose is safe, but studies have raised questions about its health effects. The long-term health impact of its consumption is unclear.
Should you avoid it?
If you like the taste of sucralose and your body is well tolerated, you can use it. Surely there is no clear evidence that it is harmful, at least not in humans.
However, it can be a bad choice for cooking and baking at high temperatures, and if you constantly have problems related to gut health, the use of sucralose should be carefully considered. .
If you choose to avoid using sucralose or artificial sweeteners in general, there are still many great alternatives.
This article is listed .
