CAN SPLENDA CAUSE OR WORSEN CROHN'S DISEASE?

An increase in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) began about the same time as the obesity epidemic. However, this does not necessarily mean that obesity cause IBD. Maybe, the use of artificial sweeteners to manage weight increased IBD rates. In fact, some studies show that the use of alternative sweeteners doubles the risk of developing Crohn's disease. However, other risk factors include smoking and eating a Western diet.

One study fed Splenda to mice prone to Crohn's-like symptoms and to healthy mice without Crohn's symptoms. (A Rodriguez-Palacios and others, Inflamm Bowel Diseases 2018, pages 1005-20, with an editorial, pages 1055-6)  As a result, all of the mice had a change in their intestinal bacteria, but  only the Crohn's-prone mice had increased inflammation.

Several things to note:

Anything we eat changes the bacteria in our intestinal microbiome, just as it did in this study. However, in this study, the Splenda also triggered an immune response in the Crohn's prone mice. That is a hallmark of dysbiosis.

Splenda is made from sucralose and maltodextrin. Studies are currently examining whether maltodextrin, an additive used in 60% of processed foods, causes inflammation.

For now, it is not clear why Splenda increased inflammation in the Crohn's-prone mice. Since the study was done on mice, it is still unclear the effect that Splenda could have on humans. Take the results with a grain of salt until further research is done, preferably in human participants.