Sneaky Soda Additive Harms Thyroid
And if you have diabetes, you are at increased risk of thyroid disease. When these conditions occur together, they can also exacerbate each other's symptoms and interfere with treatment. The detailed mechanism as to why cerebral infarction, but not cerebral hemorrhage, increases is unclear. Experiments using cholesterol-loaded ApoE knockout mice have been reported to promote atherosclerosis. Currently, several artificial sweeteners are used as food additives 1.
Autoimmune Thyroiditis with Hypothyroidism Induced by Sugar Substitutes
Your weight can be affected by thyroid disease and diabetes, and being over- or underweight can trigger either condition. As such, weight control is another important strategy when it comes to the prevention of these conditions. The complex links between these two disorders are not fully understood. The connection is believed to be related to multiple factors, including an increased tendency to develop an autoimmune disease, glucose level irregularities, and alterations in fat metabolism. This panel of tests will not only tell you whether you have hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, but Hashimoto’s thyroiditis as well.
Free Webinars on Natural Thyroid Health
- Unfortunately, research is lacking regarding advantame and its impact on overall health.
- If you have questions about artificial sweeteners, consider meeting with a health provider, such as a registered dietitian nutritionist, to address your individualized nutrition and health needs.
- There has been a lot of controversy over aspartame, which is an artificial sweetner that has been linked to numerous health issues.
- Artificial sweeteners do not activate ChREBP 53; FGF21 mediates the endocrine regulation of simple carbohydrate intake and sweet taste preference by the liver, so the intake of artificial sweeteners does not suppress sweet intake 49.
- Finally, a small piece of dark 70-80% chocolate with unsweetened coffee helps me if everything else fails.
Thus, cyclamate acts as a competitive antagonist for these two receptors. These data suggest that combining some artificial sweeteners is beneficial to mask a bitter aftertaste. Six artificial sweeteners are permitted in Europe, each with an acceptable daily intake. Consumers cannot be expected to calculate cumulative daily intakes of each.
Artificial Sweeteners, Gut Health & Your Thyroid
Unrefined brown sugar comes from natural sources like sugar beets and cane and not from a laboratory so I believe it is still better in small amounts than artificial sweeteners. I sometimes use small amount of honey, blackstrap molasses or maple syrup in baking also. Blackstrap molasses is a thick, brown liquid which also contains B vitamins, iron, chromium and other minerals. The presence of chromium in blackstrap molasses is very beneficial as chromium deficiency is connected to increased sugar cravings. Aspartame may deplete chromium nutrient, which is important for hormonal balance and it may make you crave sugar more.
- Raw honey is high in sugar but also has antimicrobial and other beneficial properties so it is a better alternative to plain white sugar when used in small amounts.
- While artificial sweeteners have mixed reviews regarding their long-term safety, many can offer health benefits in the short term.
- NASHVILLE, TENN.– You might want to discourage your patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis from using artificial sweeteners, according to investigators from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
- Despite its sweet flavor, it doesn’t cause tooth decay like regular sugar does.
It can actually help reduce the decay-causing bacteria found in our saliva and is widely used in chewing gum and mints. This reaction of the immune system might have to do with the way your body metabolizes aspartame or how sucralose affects immune system organs like the thymus gland and spleen. Even though I will focus on thyroid autoimmunity in this blog, it is important to mention the questions raised about aspartame as our body works as a whole system and to focus on thyroid alone would be irrational.
thoughts on “Aspartame and thyroid autoimmunity”
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, also called chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, is a disease characterized by the gradual failure of the thyroid gland due to an immune-mediated destruction and apoptosis of the gland 12-14. The two main types of Hashimoto thyroiditis include goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis and atrophic autoimmune thyroiditis. Both of these types have a common serological and pathological manifestation. These include lymphocytic infiltration and follicular destruction as well as high serum concentrations of antibodies to thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (TG) 15. Their association with sugar substitutes has not been studied in detail or reported earlier. The use of sugar substitutes (non-nutritive sweeteners or artificial sweeteners) has dramatically increased as a substitute for table sugar in people with diet-related disorders 16.
The FDA requires foods that contain sugar alcohols to display a warning that states, “Excessive consumption can cause a laxative effect.” One study showed that malabsorption is more likely to occur with an intake of 10 g. But what does your gut have to do with the thyroid gland located in your neck? Sugar substitutes, synthroid antacids like Equal and Splenda, are inflammatory foods, just like the sugar they are trying to replace. “When patients come to me for Hashimoto’s and I diagnose them, I ask them if they use artificial sweeteners. If they do, I mention this study and highly suggest they stop using them,” he said at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.
2.4. Intestinal Glucose Absorption and Incretin Secretion
Both blackstrap molasses and maple syrup are believed to have some antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities. Raw honey is high in sugar but also has antimicrobial and other beneficial properties so it is a better alternative to plain white sugar when used in small amounts. It was made accidently in 1965 by James M. Schlatter while doing a research in a laboratory.
As teduglutide, a GLP-2 analog, is beneficial for parenteral support (PS) reduction in patients with short bowel syndrome, especially Crohn’s disease 54, artificial sweeteners might be effective for the treatment of digestive diseases. In recent years, there have been many important reports on the relationship between intestinal microbiota and artificial sweeteners 6. In rats and mice, aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose were reported to affect the composition of the microbiota. The sweet taste receptor complex T1R2/T1R3 is expressed in the oral cavity and extraoral tissues, such as the intestine, colon, pancreas, and brain. Artificial sweeteners activate sweet taste receptors and show several effects, such as insulin and incretin secretion and intestinal glucose absorption.
Similarly, ACE K (37.5 mg/kg body weight/day) caused body weight gain with changes in microbiota-derived metabolites in male CD-1 mice 35. Unfortunately, ACE K (15 mg/kg BW) consumption in 4-week-old rats in the juvenile and adolescent periods did not affect body weight or total calorie intake in male rats. The glucose tolerance test and the gut microbiome were unaffected by ACE K; however, chronic ACE K consumption suppressed sugar taste responsiveness and reduced lingual sweet taste receptor expression.
