Ten-Week Sucralose Consumption Induces Gut Dysbiosis and Altered Glucose and Insulin Levels in Healthy Young Adults.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Open-label randomized controlled trial
PubMed 35208888 · doi:10.3390/microorganisms10020434
What was done
In an open-label randomized trial, 40 healthy young adults consumed either water (control, n = 20) or 48 mg of sucralose (n = 20) daily for ten weeks. At baseline and week 10, participants underwent a 3-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with serum glucose and insulin measured every 15 minutes. Fecal samples were collected to quantify bacterial species within Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes using quantitative PCR.
What was found
Sucralose intake altered Firmicutes abundance without affecting Actinobacteria or Bacteroidetes. Compared to controls, participants consuming sucralose showed a 3-fold increase in Blautia coccoides and a 0.66-fold decrease in Lactobacillus acidophilus. Sucralose consumption also increased serum insulin levels and the area under the glucose curve during the OGTT compared to water (exact glycemic and insulin values were not reported in the abstract).
Why it matters
This study provides randomized human evidence that daily sucralose consumption over ten weeks shifts specific gut bacterial species and impairs glycemic and insulin responses during a glucose challenge.
Limits
The study is small (n = 40 total) and open-label, which risks behavioral confounding. Microbiome analysis was restricted to targeted qPCR rather than comprehensive metagenomic sequencing, and the abstract does not report exact numerical values, standard deviations, or post-intervention follow-up to test reversibility.
Cited by
- supports A study investigating sucralose found it increased the proportion of the gut bacterium Blautia coccoides.