Sucralose: A Treatment for Auto-Immune Disease?

In test-tube and rodent research, researchers have found that sucralose given in high amounts may help reduce the immune response, thereby preventing the body from attacking itself, which is the essence of an auto-immune disease. How about that? For all the negative comments about sucralose, wouldn’t it be a kicker if it turns out that this artificial sweetener may actually help people?

But let’s take a closer look at what they found and what they didn’t find. The researchers made sure to point out that when the amount of sucralose necessary in rodents is translated to human amounts, they would be at the top end of the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI).

In reality, humans don’t normally get that much sucralose. It would be logical to think that perhaps lower amounts of sucralose may be compromising the immune system for normal users, but researchers tested it and didn’t find any issue. They found the blunting of the immune response only in high amounts.

There is a lot of research to go before any clinical trials are done to eliminate or test other factors such as the microbiome. Still what has been cursed by many might be their treatment plan in the future.

The Bottom Line

I think these two studies on sucralose and eyedrops illustrate the unintended consequences of pharmaceuticals and artificial foods and that the consequences may be positive or negative. They just might have a function that can be beneficial to our health beyond what we know today. Of course, we may find out other substances may be more detrimental than we thought. We have to understand both are possible. In the meantime, we still must sustain a good diet and exercise program.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05801-6 Received: 15 September 2021