Artificial sweeteners linked to liver damage, studies show

Evidence continues to grow that artificial sweeteners are dangerous for your health. On the heels of research linking artificial sweeteners to cancer comes another study revealing that they disrupt liver detoxification.

The latest research involves the non-nutritive sweeteners acesulfame potassium and sucralose, which are widely used as no-calorie sugar substitutes.

Study author Laura Danner, a Medical College of Wisconsin doctoral student, estimated that 40% of Americans regularly consume artificial sweeteners.

“In fact, many people don’t realize that these sweeteners are found in light or zero-sugar versions of yogurts and snack foods and even in non-food products like liquid medicines and certain cosmetics,” she said in a news release.

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Your liver is a major organ for detoxification, responsible for more than 500 functions in your body. It’s via your liver that nutrients, medications and toxins are processed and, if necessary, sent back into your bloodstream to be eliminated by your bowel and kidneys.

In research presented at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s annual meeting in April, in Philadelphia, however, it was revealed that artificial sweeteners — specifically acesulfame potassium and sucralose — may interfere with your liver’s delicate detoxification process.

The study found that acesulfame potassium and sucralose — brand name Splenda — inhibited the activity of P-glycoprotein, a “defense protein” that’s important for protecting organisms against environmental toxins.

The featured study’s lead author, Stephanie Olivier-Van Stichelen, Ph.D., explained that the potentially detrimental effects occur at common levels of exposure:

“We observed that sweeteners impacted PGP activity in liver cells at concentrations expected through consumption of common foods and beverages, far below the recommended FDA maximum limits … To our knowledge, we are the first group to decipher the molecular mechanism by which non-nutritive sweeteners impact detoxification in the liver.”

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The findings could therefore have significant implications for people who take antidepressants, antibiotics and blood pressure drugs, which use PGP as a primary detoxification transporter.

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“If future studies confirm that non-nutritive sweeteners impair the body’s detoxification process, it would be essential to study the potential interactions and determine safe levels of consumption for at-risk groups. It might also be important to include specific amounts of non-nutritive sweeteners included on food labels so that people can better track their intake.”

In a study of 102,865 adults from France, published in PLOS Medicine, dietary intakes and consumption of artificial sweeteners were obtained and analyzed for associations with cancer incidence. The large-scale cohort study found that people who consumed higher levels of artificial sweeteners had a higher risk of overall cancer compared to non-consumers.

Among the artificial sweeteners studied, aspartame and acesulfame-K, in particular, were associated with increased cancer risk, while aspartame intake was linked to higher risks of breast cancer and obesity-related cancers, including stomach, liver, colon and rectal cancers.

Specifically, total cancer risks increased by 13% among artificial sweetener consumers, while the risk of breast cancer rose by 22% and the risk of obesity-related cancers increased up to 15%. “These results suggest that artificial sweeteners, used in many food and beverage brands worldwide, may represent a modifiable risk factor for cancer prevention,” the researchers noted.

If you’re interested in eliminating your exposures to these toxic products, be aware that they’re hidden in many products beyond beverages, including dairy products, ketchup, salad dressing, baked goods and medications.