This story has been updated since it was originally posted on 09/18/2021
Gastritis, or an inflamed stomach, can cause a number of uncomfortable and concerning symptoms. From bloating to vomiting to loss of appetite, when left untreated for too long it could leave you susceptible to dangerous effects. Caused most commonly by bacterial infections and reflux, it can be made worse by eating acidic or inflammatory things like dairy, gluten, and sweetened or processed foods and beverages. Coffee, for example, is one acidic beverage that can become inflammatory if you’re not careful.
“There’s a lot of benefits to drinking coffee, but there’s one huge downside – it’s loaded with acid, and acid drives up inflammation, causes irritation, and drains you of the essential minerals you need to perform mentally and physically every day.,” he says. This is why it’s important to add acid-fighting minerals and coconut oil to your favorite cup of coffee, to neutralize the acids so that you can enjoy all the upside, minus the downside,” says Dr. Daryl Gioffre, celebrity nutritionist and founder of Alkamind. Unfortunately, some of your favorite ingredients may add flame to fire when it comes to inflammation—including one popular sweetener.
To get down to the bottom of things, we asked Dr. Gioffre about the worst sweetener out there that you should never add to your coffee if you want to avoid an inflamed stomach. He said sucralose is the biggest culprit.
Sucralose leads to inflammation
As stated above, coffee does have a number of health benefits in its simplest form, most notably of those being its high concentration of antioxidants. However, when you load up you daily cup of joe with sweeteners and creams, it could be cancelling out those benefits. “Sugar and artificial sweeteners are the most toxic offenders of the gut because they destroy the terrain,” Dr. Gioffre says, "Sugar breaks down to lactic acid, which is highly inflammatory and corrosive to your stomach and entire microbiome." When you eat too much sugar over a long period of time, it creates leaky holes in your gut, which gives free entry to all kinds of toxins, mold, fungus, and undigested proteins. When your gut is vulnerable to things like this, it can affect everything from your digestive system, immune function, and mental health.
Dr. Gioffre says that one of the worst offenders found most commonly in coffee creamers and sweeteners is Sucralose. "One study found that [sucralose] can reduce your healthy gut bacteria by up to 50 percent," he says, "This is because it isn’t broken down during the digestion process, so it arrives in your large intestine fully intact; your gut bacteria feast on it and die. It also accumulates in your fat cells."
Functional nutritionist Amy Lippert agrees that artificial sweeteners can take a serious toll on your body. She warns that options like sucralose are "ultra-refined, full of chemicals, and are highly inflammatory and toxic to the body" and therefore should be avoided as much as possible. "Consuming these on a daily basis leads to gut health issues, inflammation, and potential chronic symptoms, including weight gain, and may make losing weight harder," Lippert says. Yikes!
What to add to your coffee instead of sucralose
To reduce your risk of leaky gut and stomach inflammation, look closely on the coffee sweeteners and creamers you purchase to make sure they don’t contain this ingredient. Additionally, Dr. Gioffre has a few recommendations for things you can add to your coffee instead of sweeteners to maximize your benefit. "Acid-fighting minerals like magnesium, potassium, sodium bicarbonate, and Himalayan pink salt not only reduce cravings for sugar, but also prevent the irritation and reflux that many coffee drinkers suffer with." He suggests coconut and MCT oils as healthy plant based coffee supplements that help suppress hunger, satiate, and provide energy and fuel for the body.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to cut out coffee to reach optimum health. Instead, focus on how you’re drinking your coffee. Avoiding creamers and sugars with artificial sweeteners, specifically sucralose, is one way you can maximize the benefits that come with drinking coffee everyday.
