Splenda: what impact does it have on those with obesity?
A study was published at the end of last month in JAMA Original Investigation about Sucralose/Splenda (see reference 1 below). Yesterday, NPR published an article explaining the study (see reference 2 below). Let’s review the study.
The investigators compared sucrose (a combination of fructose and glucose) to Sucralose (Splenda) and water.
Sucrose vs Sucralose was associated with greater production of certain hormones:
glucose, insulin, and glucagon-like peptide–1 and suppression of acyl-ghrelin. This means Splenda did not cause an increase.
On the other hand, no differences were found for peptide YY or leptin. This is not what you would hope. Splenda and sucrose caused the same response to both of these hunger hormones which cause appetite suppression i.e. they make you feel full.
They also looked at brain regions which control our reward responses in response to food or drink. After drinking sucrose vs Sucralose (Splenda):
• Individuals with a normal weight or with overweight had no difference in response to savory food cues whether they had sucrose or Sucralose beforehand.
• Individuals with obesity had an increased response in these brain areas when they had consumed Sucralose (Splenda) beforehand.
• What was interesting is that the difference was seen in women and not in men. Male responses did not differ.
Finally, they looked at participants who drank sucrose vs Splenda and then later were presented with a food buffet.
• Male participants had no difference in calories consumed at the buffet whether they had consumed sucrose or Splenda beforehand.
• Female participants consumed more calories at the buffet if they had consumed Splenda beforehand versus drinking sucrose beforehand.
• Of note, neither males nor females consumed enough calories to fully compensate for the 300 kcal sucrose preload.
So what should we do with this information? First of all, it tells us nothing about the long term effects of sucrose versus Sucralose (Splenda) such as changes in our gut microbiome or the many other effects we worry about. What it does tell us is that, in the short term, those who suffer from obesity and females may have a non-desired effect from Sucralose (Splenda).
Seth Jarrell, MD