Splenda, Sucralose: What it Does

Just to remind everyone that thinks using this product is good.  And if you are watching A1C you might want to avoid it all together.


Studies have shown that sucralose can:

* Cause the thymus to shrink by as much as 40% (the thymus is your immune powerhouse - it produces T cells)
* Cause enlargement of the liver and kidneys
* Reduce growth rate as much as 20%
* Cause enlargement of the large bowel area
* Reduce the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%
* Increase the pH level in the intestines (a risk factor for colon cancer)
* Contribute to weight gain
* Cause aborted pregnancy low fetal body weight
* Reduce red blood cell count

Particular warning to diabetics:  Researchers found that diabetic patients using sucralose showed a statistically significant increase in glycosylated hemoglobin, a marker that is used to assess glycemic control in diabetic patients. According to the FDA, "increases in glycosolation in hemoglobin imply lessening of control of diabetes."

The Lethal Science of Splenda

Safe Sweetening: natural stevia herb with no additives, Just Like Sugar (see info in right hand column)

SOFT drinks with artificial sweeteners and kidney damage

As we have said for decades on aspartame, and in the past several years on Splenda (sucralose, which has already shown it calcifies the kidneys) - artificial sweeteners  have a serious health impact on the kidneys.   Time will tell about Truvia and similar erythritol based products.

SOFT drinks with artificial sweeteners could cause kidney damage, according to new research.

By Lucy Johnston

Just two colas or sodas a day were found to double the risk of a faster-than-average decline in kidney function, ­scientists said. However, this problem was not linked to drinks that had been sweetened with sugar.

The researchers in the United States looked at the effect of fizzy drinks on more than 3,000 women, comparing those who consumed artificially sweetened drinks with those whose drinks were sweetened with sugar. They took into account factors such as age, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and heart disease.

But the survey looked only at older white women. The scientists admitted that it was not clear whether their findings also applied to men or people of different ethnic backgrounds.

Dr Julie Lin, who co-led the survey, with a team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, said: “While more study is needed, our research suggests that higher sodium and artificially sweetened soda intake is associated with greater rate of decline in kidney function.”

The research, presented last week at the American Society of Nephrology’s annual conference in San Diego, California, was carried out as part of a major health and lifestyle investigation in the US.

A spokesman for the Beverage Association, which represents soft drink manufacturers, said it was too soon to comment on the research as it had not yet been properly evaluated by other scientists.

However, he did point out that the two main causes of chronic kidney disease were diabetes and high blood pressure “not consumption of diet soda”.

Here in Britain, the artificial sweetener aspartame is coming under more scrutiny. The government watchdog, the Food Standards Agency, is calling for volunteers to help test claims that aspartame, used in more than 4,000 products, causes illnesses.

Splenda Potentially Harmful to Humans

1/2/10: This article is ranked 4 of 433,000

UPDATE: 12/23/09  Natural Health News has about 35 articles regarding artificial sweeteners like Splenda.  The newest is here

You can sign a petition to the FDA at CFH

Chairman of Citizens for Health Declares FDA Should Review Approval of Splenda

New Study of Splenda and Sucralose Reveals

Shocking New Information About Potential Harmful Effect on Humans !!!

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 22, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- James Turner, chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health expressed shock and outrage after reading a new report from scientists at Duke University. "The report makes it clear that the artificial sweetener Splenda and its key component sucralose pose a threat to the people who consume the product. Hundreds of consumers have complained to us about side effects from using Splenda and this study, published this past week in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health Part A, confirms that the chemicals in the little yellow package should carry a big red warning label," said Turner.

Among the results in the study by Drs. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, Eman M. El-Masry, Ali A. Abdel-Rahman, Roger E. McLendon and Susan S. Schiffman is evidence that, in the animals studied, Splenda reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines by 50%, increases the pH level in the intestines, contributes to increases in body weight and affects the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the body in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected. Turner noted that the P-gp effect "could result in crucial medications used in chemotherapy for cancer patients, AIDS treatment and drugs for heart conditions being shunted back into the intestines rather than being absorbed by the body as intended."

The study was conducted using male rats over a period of twelve weeks. The manufacturers of Splenda also used a rat study when they applied for and received approval to market the product from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At the time, the findings from their rat studies were extrapolated as to possible effects on humans. This is standard FDA practice and this study is consistent with that practice.

Turner said, "This report followed accepted policies and procedures and the results make clear the potential for disturbing side effects from the ingestion of Splenda. It is like putting a pesticide in your body. And this is at levels of intake erroneously approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A person eating two slices of cake and drinking two cups of coffee containing Splenda would ingest enough sucralose to affect the P-glycoprotein, while consuming just seven little Splenda packages reduces good bacteria." Although the effect of consuming Splenda does not result from a onetime use, the side effects do occur after accumulated use. Turner also noted unmistakable evidence that Splenda is absorbed by fat, contrary to the claims of Johnson & Johnson.

Turner announced, "We are calling today on the FDA to immediately accept our petition filed over a year ago and initiate a review of its approval of sucralose and to require a warning label on Splenda packaging cautioning that people who take medications and/or have gastrointestinal problems avoid using Splenda. The new study makes it clear that Splenda can cause you to gain weight and lose the benefits of medications designed to improve and protect your health. The FDA should not continue to turn a blind eye to this health threat."

Citizens for Health will testify in Sacramento, CA, on October 3, 2008, before the California Assembly Committee on Health which is examining the use of deceptive advertising to promote sales of potentially unhealthy food additives, particularly artificial sweeteners.

About Citizens for Health - Citizens for Health ( www.citizens.org ) is an international non-profit consumer advocacy group working to broaden healthcare options, create an integrative health system based on wellness, and advance the freedom to make health choices. The group promotes the fundamental policies needed to improve health choices and information in the U.S. and internationally. The group works with grassroots and education organizations and partners to ensure consumer access to dietary supplements, safe foods, a healthy environment and a wide range of healing therapies. Citizens for Health fosters active citizen leadership and organizes natural health consumers to create political and legislative solutions that support those rights.

Splenda Lawsuit Agreement Not to be Disclosed

Yes sucralose, or Splenda, is a chlorinated hydrocarbon first developed as an insecticide. We certainly wonder why the terms of the settlement are confidential as the data may impact consumer health and should be public.

I does have some untoward effects on health which may have been concealed from the FDA at the time the manufacturer was seeking approval.

Splenda is known to cause seizures, shrinkage of the thymus gland, effects endocrine function, may lead to liver swelling and calcification of the kidneys. The chemical structure is 1,6chloro-1,6-dideoxy-beta-D-fructofuranosyl-4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranoside. More information on sucralose can be found here: Holistic Med.

Safeer and natural sweeteners are agave, Just Like Sugar or stevia.

McNeil Nutritionals and the Sugar Association Inc. jointly announced Monday that they have reached a settlement of a lawsuit regarding the sugar substitute Splenda marketed by McNeil.

Terms of the settlement are being kept confidential.

The association sued McNeil in 2004 claiming McNeil falsely promoted Splenda as a natural product “made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.” The association argued in its lawsuit that Splenda is actually a chlorinated, artificial sweetener.

McNeil filed its own lawsuit against the Sugar Association in 2005 accusing the association of conducting a “smear campaign” against Splenda and creating a Web site, truthaboutsplenda.com, that contained allegedly false statements about the product.

The details of the settlement agreement have been filed at U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The Sugar Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group that represents the sugar industry, and McNeil said they have agreed to make no additional comments on the terms of the settlement.

McNeil Nutritionals, of Fort Washington, Pa., is a division of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) of New Jersey.

Philadelphia Business Journal - November 17, 2008
http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2008/11/17/daily13.html
© American City Business Journals Inc.

Requests for Information Regarding Sucralose

I notice that there are many people searching for information about the side effects of sucralose (Splenda). As I am in the tedious process of updating one of my web sites I just happened to locate some information I have had there for quite a few years about sucralose. There are links to more information as well. This BLOG has a number of posts on sucralose and aspartame dangers.

And from another source:

Is Splenda Really As Safe As They Claim It to Be?

As of 2006, only six human trials have been published on Splenda (sucralose). Of these six trials, only two of the trials were completed and published before the FDA approved sucralose for human consumption. The two published trials had a grand total of 36 total human subjects.

36 people sure doesn't sound like many, but wait, it gets worse, only 23 total were actually given sucralose for testing and here is the real killer: The longest trial at this time had lasted only four days and looked at sucralose in relation to tooth decay, not human tolerance.