Hidden Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Chronic Pain
If you're living with chronic back or neck pain, you've probably experimented with everything—stretches, heating pads, over-the-counter medications. But have you considered what's in your diet drinks and "sugar-free" snacks? Evolving research intimates that artificial sweeteners might be harming your pain relief efforts through an unexpected pathway: your gut. Aaron Chiropractic Clinic is here to explore any potential avenues to help you get your pain under control!
THE GUT-PAIN CONNECTION
Your gut isn't just responsible for digestion—it's home to trillions of microorganisms that impact inflammation throughout your entire body, including your spine and neck. Recent groundbreaking research has revealed a direct link between artificial sweeteners, gut health, and chronic pain sensitivity.
A 2025 Mendelian randomization study by Zhao and colleagues pointed out that artificially sweetened foods can truly cause chronic pain by disturbing the gut microbiota. (1) This isn't just correlation—the research shows a causal relationship between using these sweeteners and higher pain levels.
HOW SWEETNERS TRIGGER PAIN
Artificial sweeteners can alter the balance of beneficial bacteria living in your digestive system. These disturbed microbes generate inflammatory responses that travel throughout your body. Research released in the British Journal of Anaesthesia by Guo and colleagues depicts how that gut bacteria impact pain levels by affecting immune responses and how sensitive your nerves become. (2)
For back and neck pain sufferers seeking help at Aaron Chiropractic Clinic, this inflammation can raise pain sensitivity in already vulnerable areas. Your spinal nerves become more reactive, making an already uncomfortable situation worse and potentially slowing your recovery.
TAKING ACTION
Before you see us again, consider removing artificial sweeteners from your diet. This would involve checking labels on diet sodas, protein bars, yogurts, and sugar-free desserts for ingredients like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin
Chiropractic physicians recognize that pain management demands a whole-body approach. While spinal adjustments tackle mechanical dysfunction, lowering inflammation through dietary modifications can significantly enhance treatment outcomes. By supporting your gut health, you're creating an internal environment more conducive to healing and less open to pain signals. Little dietary changes might be a big addition to your pain relief strategy with Aaron Chiropractic Clinic.
Your route to back pain relief and/or neck pain relief may start with what you remove from your grocery cart.
CONTACT Aaron Chiropractic Clinic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox, on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he illustrates the impact inflammation has on the immune system and the help chiropractic care like The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management that Fort Wayne chiropractic patients may experience.
