For those of you who are aware of the health dangers posed by artificial sweeteners and dutifully avoid them, the featured study findings may come as a shocking surprise.
Researchers have found that the artificial sweetener sucralose (Splenda) is a widespread contaminant in waste water, surface water, and ground water. In a recent test, water samples from 19 U.S. drinking water treatment plants serving more than 28 million people were analyzed for sucralose. The sweetener was found to be present in:
- The source water of 15 out of 19 of drinking water treatment plants tested
- The finished water of 13 out of 17 plants, and
- In 8 out of 12 water distribution systems
The average amounts of sucralose in source water and finished water was 440 ng/L and 350 ng/L respectively.
According to the study:
“Further, in the subset of [drinking water treatment plants] with distribution system water sampled, the compound was found to persist regardless of the presence of residual chlorine or chloramines … The results of this study confirm that sucralose [is] an indicator compound … for the presence of other recalcitrant compounds in finished drinking water”.
Recalcitrant compounds are organic or synthetic compounds that resist being broken down by chemical processes, such as those employed by water treatment facilities. This is troublesome, particularly as sucralose can be quite detrimental to human health, and the contamination appears to be very widespread in US water supplies.
Sucralose Destroys Healthy Bacteria
Three years ago, an animal study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health reported that sucralose:
- Reduced the amount of good bacteria in the animals’ intestines by 50 percent
- Increased the pH level in the intestines
- Contributed to increases in body weight, and
- Affected P-glycoprotein (P-gp) levels in such a way that crucial health-related drugs could be rejected. In terms of human health, this P-gp effect could result in medications used in chemotherapy, AIDS treatment and treatments for heart conditions being shunted back into your intestines, rather than being absorbed
- Is absorbed by fat cells (contrary to previous claims)
Splenda Has NEVER Been Proven Safe for Human Consumption
Recent Comments