Greetings humans,
Before I begin I would like to point out the I am well aware that the amounts of Sucralose used in Huel Vanilla are very low (13% of the recommended daily limit). However, I would like to know if anyone has some insight into the effect of Sucralose on gut microbiome as there are many conflicting studies available online. For instance, some claim that Sucralose, as well as other sweeteners, actually reduce the amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut whilst others claim that it alters your microbes entirely
I would love to hear @JamesCollier âs opinion ď¸
Thank you
Iâm always for real, even when I said jokes, theyâre always true
Feel free to argue against what Iâve just said.
You really think sucralose is a safer choice than sucrose?
Do you know of any alternative that is safe and has same taste on the mouth?
Iâve heard about Erythritol but it has an unwanted âcooling effectâ in the mouth. And itâs very costly. So why not add some table sugar? I donât think 20 extra calories of sugar will make anyone fat.
Iâve forgot to say, if table sugar is too humble food for you, then let me recommend honey!
Honey is one of the few non-vegan food that actually has proven health benefits (at reasonable dosages). Probably itâs because bees make it from flowers so itâs a good mix of phytonutrients.
âThere may be a link between sucralose and a reduction in beneficial gut bacteria, with concerns this could result in digestive issues.[21]â
âA 2017 review found that zero-calorie sweeteners such as sucralose may increase rather than decrease weight.[6]â
Sucralose seems to kill bacteria and decrease their caloric expenditure, so it does actually contribute to your caloric intake. Their metabolism maybe confuse it with sugar.
âThe amount absorbed from the GI tract is largely removed from the blood stream by the kidneys and eliminated in the urine, with 20â30% of the absorbed sucralose being metabolized.[5] This means that only between 2â8% of sucralose consumed is metabolized, on average.â
Where this 2%-8% that is absorbed will go? Will it kill some of my cells? All the other artificial sweetened were eventually proved toxic, so why should we expect this to be different? The only good thing about sucralose is that itâs very sweet so only a small dosage is needed.
I think itâs an artificial pollutant and I donât want pollutants going around in my body.
P.S: Sucrose (i.e. table sugar) happens in nature and it makes things taste better. Why should we fear a few grams of sugar? Itâs what our palate wants. We should respect that.
2nd P.S: In fact I also recommend adding salt to Huel for the same reason. I want to respect our taste preferences. Theyâre fine-tuned by evolution. I donât want fake sugar and fake salt!
Sugar is sugar, whether or not its coming from honey or fructose syrup.
Honestly I canât see the issue at all with Sucralose at all, itâs safer than sugar in my opinion, it doesnât contain calories, doesnât raise insulin or wonât give a sharp rise in blood sugar.
Itâs absorption is relatively low too, so the majority of it comes out of the other end one way or another. As youâve said, yes 8% or whatever is absorbed, but I bet you donât worry about the plastic packaging your food comes in? Or that paracetamol taken for a headache? I wonder how much deodorant gets absorbed upon application? See my point here? Like most things âabsorbedâ our bodyâs do a remarkable job of clearing it though our liver and kidneys.
It doesnât increase weight, the studies donât account for people eating more due to thinking they can get away with it because itâs artificially sweetened rather than loaded with sugar, so then eat more, at this point its more of an issue with human physiology than anything else.
Donât tell me, youâre going to say Stevia is safer next because itâs natural⌠?
In nutrition, natural doesnât imply safe, but safe almost always implies natural. Sucrose is safe because it occurrs naturally almost everywhere. Stevia occurs only in stevia plant.
Safety of sucralose? Nobody knows. Probably not good. Many cholorine compounds are toxic.
You lose your bet, i worry about plastic too. And deodorants or lotions. Theyâre all health hazards.
By the way, Iâve never used deodorants because Iâve always trusted my own natural body odor (and because Iâve never trusted the magic things that are for sale).
There is also some evidence that vegans smell better than meat eaters. If you donât want to smell like dead animal flesh, then donât eat a lot of dead animal flesh. Itâs that simple and logicalâŚ
All the so called sugars are different. Fructose is different from Glucose. Lactose is different from both. The various industrial syrups are all different. Different ratios. Different ingredients.
Theyâve also different level of sweetness. And theyâve different health concerns.
Sucrose occurs naturally everywhere and the amount necessary for sweetening Huel would be only a few grams. Maybe 5 grams? Do you fear 5 grams of sucrose when itâs used in place of another sweetener?
I think you suffer from an eating disorder, and itâs called âcarbophobiaââŚ
Hmm, fair response, I donât agree, but I respect your opinion, I donât see Stevia as safer than Sucralose either, I was just trying to make a point. I also agree plastics to some degree are worth worrying about especially the effect on hormones etc, that one is certainly out for debate stillâŚ
You might be onto something with diet and body odour, I know animal protein can increase b/o to some degree, I wonder if its a particular amino acid or something, Carnitine can increase b/o for sure. Although having been vegan, vegetarian, low fat, low carb, amongst other diets I havenât ever noticed much difference to tell you the truth, apart from whenever Protein is ramped up.
And no. I donât suffer from âcarbophobiaâ. I just donât like shoving shit like refined table sugar down my neck tbh.
Iâve just finished eating sweet potatoes . Theyâre ânaturally sweetenedâ with sucrose and the dosage is similar to what we discuss here, a few grams for 2000 calories. I recommend them especially for Huel users because theyâre also approximately ânutritionally completeâ.
About body odor, there is a video somewhere on nutritionfacts. Itâs basically a proven fact but I donât remember the details. Iâve also seen another source report the same thing and theyâve also discovered the responsible gas. But I wonât reveal my sources. I like old-style secrecy.
Yes, however youâd need far more than 5g of sugar per day to equate an equal level of sweetness that is in the Vanilla version of huel.
Either way sugar or sweeteners are going to be bad for the gut which ever way itâs looked at, mental gymnastics aside. However one means extra calories from crap, instead of something nutritious, like even sweet potatos as you mentioned.
itâs 100mg per 2000 calories. Assuming itâs 500 times sweeter than sucrose, we would need 50g of sucrose. If itâs only 333 times sweetened, then itâs 33g of sucrose. Well, itâs more than my estimate. But itâs still lower than numbers cited in your studies.
My recommendation actually is to get used to less sweetened food. I think there is some evidence that people are addicted to sweetened food. In my view, people with properly developed taste preferences should prefer the unsweetened version or unsweetened version with a minimum of sucorse added.
When I was using Huel, i was using unsweetened version (without sucrose added). In fact I was adding some oil and salt to it. I was ignorant back then. Today I would add salt and a FEW grams of sucrose.
I would need to study your study in detail to provide a decent reply. But a quick look shows that they didnât report any negative effect. They only reported changes. When you change your diet, there are changes in digestive tract. No surprise here.
My stance is that 5g a day are extremely safe and 50g are at the limit of safety. In fact itâs also (approximately) the limit recommended by authorities. They recommend no more than 10% of calories from refined sugars.
I think 50g a day is drastically safer than sucralose. Sucralose may accumulate over time in your body (where? I donât know). Iâm afraid that nobody knows much about long term sucralose consumption.