However, the total calories and carbs Splenda contributes to your diet are negligible, as you only need tiny amounts each time. Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. Splenda is the most popular product made from it. Sucralose is made from sugar but contains no calories and is much sweeter. Sucralose is said to have little or no effects on blood sugar and insulin levels.
However, these studies included people who regularly used sucralose 5 , 6 , 7. However, it probably has no effect on people who regularly use artificial sweeteners.
Splenda is considered to be heat resistant and good for cooking and baking. However, recent studies have challenged this. It seems that at high temperatures, Splenda starts to break down and interact with other ingredients 8.
One study found that heating sucralose with glycerol, a compound found in fat molecules, produced harmful substances called chloropropanols.
These substances may raise cancer risk 9. At high temperatures, sucralose may break down and generate harmful substances that could increase your risk of cancer. The friendly bacteria in your gut are extremely important for your overall health. They may improve digestion, benefit immune function and reduce your risk of many diseases 12 , Interestingly, one rat study found that sucralose may have negative effects on these bacteria.
Beneficial bacteria like bifidobacteria and lactic acid bacteria were significantly reduced, while more harmful bacteria seemed to be less affected. Animal studies link sucralose to negative effects on the bacterial environment in the gut. However, human studies are needed. Products that contain zero-calorie sweeteners are often marketed as being good for weight loss. Observational studies have found no connection between artificial sweetener consumption and body weight or fat mass, but some of them report a small increase in Body Mass Index BMI A review of randomized controlled trials, the gold standard in scientific research, reports that artificial sweeteners reduce body weight by around 1.
Like other artificial sweeteners, sucralose is highly controversial. For some people, it may raise blood sugar and insulin levels. It may also damage the bacterial environment in your gut, but this needs to be studied in humans.
The safety of sucralose at high temperatures has also been questioned. The company claims that using Splenda instead of sugar can help people with diabetes manage their blood sugar levels. But what does the science say? This article discusses the pros and cons of using Splenda, particularly for people who have diabetes.
Read on for answers to commonly asked questions about Splenda and how the sweetener may affect your health. Splenda is made from the FDA-approved artificial sweetener sucralose.
Table sugar sucrose and sucralose have similar chemical structures. Sugar is made from the sugar cane plant, and sucralose is made in a laboratory. When you eat sugar, your body breaks most of it down into glucose. This explains why Splenda is considered a zero-calorie sweetener, even though each packet contains 3.
Splenda is times sweeter than table sugar, so a little goes a long way. You can purchase Splenda in individual packets or in bulk, and it comes in both white and brown sugar baking forms. Splenda is heat stable, which means that it will not lose its sweetness when baked at high temperatures. This makes it a popular sugar substitute for baking. Artificial sweeteners like sucralose are often referred to as non-nutritive sweeteners or low-calorie sweeteners because they contain little to no calories.
Many sugar-free and reduced-calorie foods and beverages contain Splenda. This allows manufacturers to sweeten their products without the added carbohydrate calories that come with sugar. If you're wondering if a product contains Splenda, read the ingredient list and look for the word sucralose. You can find Splenda in many foods and beverages, including:. The FDA approved sucralose as safe for human consumption in They reviewed over human and animal studies, looking for possible links between sucralose and cancer as well as reproductive and neurological issues.
No links were found. Since then, research has shown that sucralose can be healthier than sugar for some people, but it may also have some disadvantages for some people. Many studies suggest that people who use low-calorie sweeteners are able to lose weight more easily, maintain a healthier weight, and control their blood sugar levels better.
For example, one trial found that people who drank beverages sweetened with sucralose lost more weight than people whose beverages contained sugar or another artificial sweetener. Another analysis of more than 20 studies published in found that low-calorie sweeteners helped people lose weight and fat mass. They were also able to trim their waists down.
It has been suggested that consuming artificial sweeteners triggers more sweet cravings. The theory is that artificial sweeteners, which are far sweeter than table sugar, overstimulate your sweet taste buds, causing you to overeat and gain weight. One study set out to investigate this theory. Over people were recruited for a series of taste tests. They were asked to drink a variety of sweetened beverages, some of which contained sugar, while others contained low-calorie sweeteners.
During the taste test, participants rated the sweetness of each beverage on a scale of 0 to Overall, sugar tasted much sweeter than the low-calorie sweeteners, but less low-calorie sweetener was needed for beverages to taste sweet. The authors concluded that low-calorie sweeteners do not excite your sweet taste buds more than sugar, and using them does not lead to more sweet cravings.
Everyone is different. Splenda may not trigger sweet cravings in some people. But for others, the only way to stop craving sweets may be to stop eating them completely. Sucralose has been studied closely to determine if consuming it could cause cancer. So far, there is no reason to believe that using sucralose in your diet increases your cancer risk.
After years of animal studies, they reported that Splenda is safe and does not cause cancer—in mice. Although the existing research shows that sucralose consumption does not cause cancer, more human studies are needed to be certain. Evidence from many studies suggests that consuming artificial sweeteners—sucralose included—does not affect blood sugar levels.
These studies show that sucralose should be safer than sugar for people with diabetes. However, there is evidence that drinking diet sodas increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity , along with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and other symptoms of metabolic syndrome that could ultimately lead to diabetes.
In one study, individuals in a group each added 15 milligrams mg of Splenda—about one packet—per day to the food or beverage of their choice. After 14 days, those who ate Splenda had higher insulin resistance than people in another group who were not given Splenda at all. If you have insulin resistance, it is more difficult for your body to take glucose blood sugar from your bloodstream and convert it into energy.
This leads to high blood sugar that, if untreated, could eventually lead to type 2 diabetes. Researchers stress that more studies are needed to identify the health effects that consuming sucralose over the long term could have. Research suggests that sucralose doesn't typically have a substantial effect on gut microbiota, which is the normal bacterial composition of the digestive system that is necessary to digest food and protect you from infections. However, sucralose and other artificial sweeteners can have an effect on your gut microbiota and worsen your symptoms if you have inflammatory bowel syndrome.
If you are looking to reduce calories, carbohydrates, and sugar in your diet, you can add Splenda to your beverages and baked goods. Keep in mind that Splenda tastes much sweeter than sugar so you don't need to use as much. Instead of adding sugar, try this instead:. Splenda offers a whole lot more than their little yellow packets. You can find Splenda products for all your cooking, baking, and mixing needs. Go figure. More recent research suggests it could even help inhibit cancer cell growth Even though the National Cancer Institute says it's safe for consumption , the times-sweeter-than-sugar sweetener hasn't been as popular since the whole late-'70s debacle.
Stevia, which is about times sweeter than sugar, has been touted as the latest, healthiest artificial sweetener because it comes from the Stevia rebaudiana plant. A plant, that must be good! It has zero calories, and Dr. Kumar says it can result in lower glucose and insulin levels after meals than sugar. But overall, the hype could be more marketing than scientific fact; while Rebaudioside A, also known as stevia extract, has been deemed generally recognized as safe by the FDA , pure stevia has not been given the same stamp of approval.
Overall, artificial sweeteners are generally all on the same playing field anyway. Kumar explains. That's where things get a bit trickier. The verdict is still out on whether sugar-free sweeteners cause people to consume fewer calories overall.
Although they would appear to diet soda is calorie-free! But most of the research on it is conflicted , so doctors can't really say for sure either way. Conventional wisdom still holds; moderation is key both with artificial sweeteners and natural sugars. For someone looking to lose weight, artificial sweeteners are probably your best bet. Kumar says. But for overall health, table sugar or natural sugar is the way to go -- just not too much of it!
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