Artificial sweetenersare everywhere - but are they a better substitute than sugar?
Does the artificial sweetener Splenda (sucralose) cause cancer?
Is it a safe substitute for sugar in a cancer-prevention diet?
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The answers may be confusing.
For example, some articles quote studies that foundleukemiain mice and say yes.
Read on to get some explanations.
What Is Splenda (Sucralose)?
Sucralose is made from real sugar.
The Controversy Over Artificial Sweeteners
There has been controversy surrounding sugar substitutes.
Overall, sucralose has been found to have no potential for carcinogenicity or genotoxicity, even at high doses.
Genotoxicity (the ability to damage genes) usually makes a substance carcinogenic.
But what did the study actually test?
There was no increased risk of leukemia at doses equivalent to ordinary human doses.
A study such as this is difficult to interpret.
But what amount is safe?
In general, it’s thought that there is no safe limit to a carcinogen.
This is also only one study conducted on animalsthough it was relatively large compared to other studies.
In other words, it is not “inert” or completely inactive.
Some of this could have implications for the formation of cancer.
We know that inflammatory bowel disease raises colon cancer risk.
In addition, some treatments for IBD elevate cancer risk.
Safety studies have looked at sucralose’s effects and stability under normal use conditions.
However, some researchers have examined what happens when sucralose is exposed to heat, such as cooking.
There is a bit more concern in this setting (even with mild heating).
Cooking sucralose at high temperatures generates potentially toxic compounds calledchloropropanols.
If you wish to avoid this potential risk, do not cook or bake with Splenda.
As stated in the article, there were higher rates of certain cancers found in mice.
Aspartame seems to be an extremely safe artificial sweetener with no associations with cancer or other adverse health effects.
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U.S. Environmental Prrotection Agency.Health risk of radon.
2019;10(suppl_1):S31-S48.
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National Cancer Institute.Artificial sweeteners and cancer.
2016;22(8):E29-30.
