Hidden Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Chronic Pain
If you are living with chronic back or neck pain, you've probably tested everything—stretches, heating pads, over-the-counter medications. But have you considered what's in your diet drinks and "sugar-free" snacks? Developing research suggests that artificial sweeteners might be sabotaging your pain relief efforts through an unexpected pathway: your gut. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries is here to explore any possible avenues to help you get back to enjoying your life!
THE GUT-PAIN CONNECTION
Your gut does more than digest food—it houses trillions of bacteria that bear on inflammation in your spine, neck, back, and throughout your body. New research has pointed to a direct connection between artificial sweeteners, gut health, and how sensitive you are to chronic pain.
A 2025 Mendelian randomization study by Zhao and colleagues pointed out that artificially sweetened foods can actually cause chronic pain by disrupting the gut microbiota. (1) This isn't just correlation—the research shows a causal relationship between using these sweeteners and elevated pain levels.
HOW SWEETNERS TRIGGER PAIN
When you eat artificial sweeteners, they modify the composition of your gut bacteria. These disturbed microbes trigger inflammatory responses that go throughout your body. Research published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia by Guo and colleagues depicts how that gut bacteria impact pain levels by altering immune responses and how sensitive your nerves become. (2)
For back and neck pain sufferers seeking help at Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries, this inflammation can heighten pain sensitivity in already weak 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 eliminating artificial sweeteners from your diet. This would involve reading labels on diet sodas, protein bars, yogurts, and sugar-free desserts for ingredients like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin
Chiropractic physicians understand that pain management requires a whole-body approach. While spinal adjustments address mechanical dysfunction, lowering inflammation through dietary modifications can significantly boost treatment outcomes. By sustaining your gut health, you're establishing an internal environment more advantageous to healing and less receptive to pain signals. Small dietary changes might be a valuable extra to your pain relief strategy with Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries.
Your way to back pain relief and/or neck pain relief may begin with what you remove from your grocery cart.
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
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 benefit of chiropractic care like The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management that Manchester chiropractic patients may experience.
