Sugar and additives can hurt your gut barrier
Effect of dietary additives on intestinal permeability in both Drosophila and a human cell co-culture
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists tested how food additives affect the gut's protective barrier using fruit flies and human cells in a dish. They found sugar makes the gut leaky, while some additives like salt and emulsifiers also cause leaks. Probiotics can help but depend on sugar levels.
Surprising Findings
Antibiotics increased gut permeability in flies on normal diet but not in high-sugar diet
Most people assume antibiotics always harm gut health, but here they only made things worse when sugar was low, not high.
Practical Takeaways
Reduce sugar intake to protect your gut barrier
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists tested how food additives affect the gut's protective barrier using fruit flies and human cells in a dish. They found sugar makes the gut leaky, while some additives like salt and emulsifiers also cause leaks. Probiotics can help but depend on sugar levels.
Surprising Findings
Antibiotics increased gut permeability in flies on normal diet but not in high-sugar diet
Most people assume antibiotics always harm gut health, but here they only made things worse when sugar was low, not high.
Practical Takeaways
Reduce sugar intake to protect your gut barrier
Publication
Journal
Disease Models & Mechanisms
Year
2018
Authors
M. T. Pereira, Mridu Malik, Jillian A Nostro, Gretchen J. Mahler, L. P. Musselman
Related Content
Claims (10)
Eating a lot of sugar makes the gut more leaky in fruit flies and human gut cells in a lab setting, which can be seen when blue dye leaks out of the gut in flies or when a special dye passes through gut cells more easily.
Eating a lot of sugar makes a protective enzyme called intestinal alkaline phosphatase less active in fruit flies and human gut cells in a lab setting.
A common food emulsifier called TWEEN 20 makes the gut more leaky in fruit flies and also makes them die sooner.
Eating a lot of salt makes the gut more leaky in fruit flies and also makes them die sooner.
A common food additive called titanium dioxide nanoparticles doesn't seem to make the gut more leaky in fruit flies or human gut cells in a lab setting.