Chronic sucralose consumption induces elevation of serum insulin in young healthy adults: a randomized, double blind, controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) are widely consumed by humans due to their apparent innocuity, especially sucralose. However, several studies link sucralose consumption to weight gain and metabolic derangements, although data are still contradictory. Objective: To determine the effect of acute and chronic consumption of sucralose on insulin and glucose profiles in young healthy adults. Material and methods: This was a randomized, parallel, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted in healthy young adults from 18 to 35 years old, without insulin resistance. A hundred thirty seven participants were randomized into three groups: a) volunteers receiving 48 mg sucralose, b) volunteers receiving 96 mg sucralose, and c) controls receiving water as placebo. All participants underwent a 3-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) preceded by consuming sucralose or placebo 15 min before glucose load, at two time points: week zero (Wk0) and week ten (Wk10). Serum insulin and glucose were measured every 15 min during both OGTTs.

The effects of low-calorie sweeteners on energy intake and body weight: a systematic review and meta-analyses of sustained intervention studies

“…(2) LCS vs water/nothing Included Studies: In the LCS vs water/nothing category, we included 21 studies: 17 parallelgroups 21,22,24,25,27,42,43,[46][47][48]55,[69][70][71][72][73][74][75] and four cross-over studies , 65,76,77 . All studies were conducted with solely adult participants.…”

“…Eighteen studies involved the consumption of LCS in beverages 21,22,24,25,27,42,43,48,55,65,[69][70][71][72]74,75,77 , two studies included consumption of both LCSsweetened beverages and foods 73 , while in another study participants sucked two tablets containing aspartame before meals 76 . In 14 studies water, either still and/or carbonated, or unsweetened beverages were the comparators 21,2224,27,42,43,46,48,55,69,70,74,76,77 , and in 7 studies 'nothing' was the comparator (i.e., the comparator was the omission of the LCS treatment 65,71,72,73,76 ). The LCS was aspartame in eight studies 21,22,55,65,72,73,76 , sucralose in two studies 74 , aspartame and acesulfame-K in one study 77 , acesulfame-K, aspa...…”

“…In 14 studies water, either still and/or carbonated, or unsweetened beverages were the comparators 21,2224,27,42,43,46,48,55,69,70,74,76,77 , and in 7 studies 'nothing' was the comparator (i.e., the comparator was the omission of the LCS treatment 65,71,72,73,76 ). The LCS was aspartame in eight studies 21,22,55,65,72,73,76 , sucralose in two studies 74 , aspartame and acesulfame-K in one study 77 , acesulfame-K, aspartame and sucralose in one study 75 , stevia in one study 71 , and was not specified for the other studies 24,27,42,43,46,48,69,70 . The minimum duration of the interventions was 3 weeks 65 and the maximum was 77 weeks 27 (median duration = 12 weeks).…”

“…Judgements of low ROB for use of ITT analyses were given to six studies 24,70,71,75,76 , and judgements of low ROB for low drop out were given to 13 studies 24,27,42,43,48,[70][71][72][73][75][76][77] . For ten studies 24,27,42,43,48,65,70,74,77 the authors report that the researchers and/or analysts were blinded to the intervention allocated to respective participants. Blinding was not possible for participants due to the nature of the intervention.…”

Letter: Non-Nutritive Sweeteners May Have a Bell-Shaped Dose Response for Dysbiosis-Related Adverse Effects That Contributed to Discrepancies between Prospective Cohort and Randomized Controlled Studies

“…6 More importantly, this bell-shaped dose-response also was shown in randomized controlled clinical trials in humans. A study by Bueno-Hernández et al 7 showed that healthy volunteers receiving 48 mg sucralose daily for 10 weeks had significantly higher levels of blood insulin and glucose during an oral glucose tolerance test and reduced insulin sensitivity, while the 96 mg sucralose daily group failed to show such effects. The randomized controlled clinical trial by Romo-Romo et al 8 found that healthy placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial showed no effect on insulin sensitivity or glucose tolerance in healthy subjects who consumed 1 g sucralose daily for 12 weeks.…”