Although sucralose is made from sugar it is not a natural product. Sucralose is produced by a multi-step patented chemical process that replaces three hydrogen-oxygen groups with three chlorine atoms.
The replacement with chlorine atoms intensifies the sweetness to times more than table sugar and contain zero calories. In The U. Food and Drug Administration FDA approved sucralose as safe for human consumption as a general sweetener.
Some of the potential negative effects of sucralose include:. Sucralose may increase blood glucose and insulin levels: Sucralose may negatively affect the very people who are using it to decrease sugar consumption and stabilize blood glucose levels.
A study found that sucralose increased blood glucose levels and insulin levels while decreasing insulin sensitivity. Sucralose and gut health: Gastrointestinal health, gut health, has become a topic of great interest.
We tend to think of bacteria as something to avoid but bacteria also play a beneficial role in our health. A large portion of our immune system is located in the GI tract and beneficial bacteria play a major role in a healthy immune system. Additionally, they found that 12 weeks after the study the beneficial bacteria in the GI tract had not recovered.
Which means that even after sucralose was no longer being consumed the GI tract was still negatively affected. The study also found that sucralose may limit the bioavailability of certain orally administered medications which may make medications less effective. Cooking and chloropropanols: One of the proposed uses of Splenda is to reduce calories when cooking and baking. Splenda was considered to be heat resistant but research is finding otherwise.
Last year alone the food industry introduced 2, reduced-sugar and sugar-free foods, many of them made with sucralose. Chemical additives are nothing new, of course — most processed foods contain more than one artificial flavoring, emulsifier, coloring, or gelling agent — and sugar substitutes are among the most-studied additives in the world.
Yet rumors of their side effects persist, and their escalating potency demands attention. Walters himself has studied artificial sweeteners for nearly 25 years, so he's well aware of the central irony of his field: The most successful sugar substitutes have all been discovered by accident. Saccharin was invented in Baltimore about years ago by two chemists at Johns Hopkins University who were experimenting with coal-tar derivatives.
Aspartame was found in the s by a medical chemist in Illinois who was investigating a drug for gastric ulcers. Sucralose was discovered in by a graduate student at King's College London. His head researcher had told him to test some compounds, but he misunderstood and tasted them instead. Of the three sweeteners, sucralose has been touted as the most natural, but that claim "has more to do with clever marketing than with chemistry," Walters says.
Although sucralose is made from sugar, its chemical structure is significantly different: A molecule of the artificial sweetener has three chlorine atoms, whereas sugar has three pairs of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. By contrast, the only unnatural component in aspartame is a methyl ester bond that connects phenylalanine and aspartic acid, two amino acids abundant in the human body. The body's digestive enzymes recognize aspartame as a protein and break it down much as they would a natural compound.
Sucralose, on the other hand, slips through undigested, as does saccharin — a compound of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur atoms. How can such different structures all taste sweet? Until very recently, the answer was anyone's guess.
Thousands of sweet-tasting compounds belonging to more than chemical classes have been discovered, including low-molecular-weight carbohydrates, aminoacyl sugars, amino acids, peptides, proteins, terpenoids, chlorinated hydrocarbons, halogenated sugars, N-sulfonyl amides, sulfamates, polyketides, anilines, and ureas. Scientists have long known that our taste buds contain receptors that react to all these compounds, but no one knew exactly how they worked.
Then four years ago Charles Zuker, a rather aptly named neuroscientist at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, made a startling announcement: All the sweet things in life are perceived by a single receptor. Zuker used the human and mouse genomes to isolate genes associated with taste. He found more than 30 that code for bitter receptors but only a single receptor devoted to sweet. The one-receptor theory had a lot of explaining to do.
The biggest problem was what corporate chemists call synergy. That's because certain sweeteners amplify one another. A healthy weight can reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other obesity-related illnesses.
FACT: Sucralose has been tested and proven to be safe for use by children of all ages. In fact, sucralose can be part of the solution to the growing problem of childhood obesity by helping to reduce the amount of added sugars children consume daily. Foods containing sucralose — such as low-fat flavored milk, yogurt, juices and puddings — can be included in a healthy meal plan for children to help ensure they are getting all the necessary nutrients, while not getting a lot of extra calories.
In a study published in Pediatrics, researchers discovered that overweight children could prevent further weight gain simply by walking another 2, steps and eliminating just calories each day using products sweetened with sucralose. This was one of the first times clinical evidence proved that overweight children could effectively prevent excess weight gain by making small changes to their lifestyle.
FACT: Research has shown that sucralose does not have harmful effects on pregnant women or their babies. A number of studies required by the U. Food and Drug Administration FDA were conducted, with results supporting the safety of sucralose during pregnancy and nursing.
This includes studies that specifically examined the potential effects of sucralose on embryo-fetal development, which showed no birth defects or any other effect that would compromise normal development. FACT: The sucralose molecule contains three atoms of chlorine, which helps intensify the sweetness of sugar and remove the calories.
However, there is no reason to be concerned. The chlorine in sucralose does not separate in the body, nor does sucralose accumulate in the body. In fact, it is the presence of these chlorine atoms that prevents sucralose from being broken down in the body for energy, thus, making sucralose non-caloric. Extensive research shows that sucralose can be used safely by everyone.
Chlorine is also part of more complex molecules naturally found in other foods like lentils, peas and potatoes. In addition, chlorine is added to most public drinking water supplies. MYTH: Sucralose causes various side effects including headaches, allergies and gastrointestinal issues.
FACT: Scientists have conducted many studies to determine whether sucralose had any various side effects. Researchers have concluded that there are no known side effects of sucralose. No toxic effects have been seen in test animals, even in amounts equivalent in sweetness to more than 40 pounds of sugar per day for life — far in excess of the amount of sucralose that may typically be consumed in a day in real life.
For example, research does not support that sucralose would cause migraines and headaches, gastrointestinal issues or food allergies. As part of the safety assessment of sucralose, a number of environmental studies were undertaken in order to ensure that sucralose has no adverse impact on the environment. The environmental studies clearly demonstrated that sucralose is not harmful to plants or wildlife and does not bioaccumulate.
Moreover, sucralose does not interfere with the sewage treatment process. Sucralose is inherently biodegradable. In soil, sucralose breaks down to salt, water and carbon dioxide.
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