Hidden Link Between Artificial Sweeteners and Chronic Pain
If you're dealing with chronic back pain or neck pain, you've likely checked out many options—from stretches and heating pads to over-the-counter pain relievers. But have you thought about the impact your diet drinks and “sugar-free” snacks may have? Emerging research suggests that artificial sweeteners might be harming your pain relief efforts through an unexpected pathway: your gut. Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office is here to explore any possible avenues to help you get your pain under control!
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 demonstrated that artificially sweetened foods can actually cause chronic pain by disturbing the gut microbiota. (1) This isn't just correlation—the research shows a causal relationship between consuming these sweeteners and higher pain levels.
HOW SWEETNERS TRIGGER PAIN
When you consume artificial sweeteners, they alter the composition of your gut bacteria. These disrupted microbes trigger inflammatory responses that travel throughout your body. As documented in a comprehensive 2019 review by Guo and colleagues in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the gut microbiota directly regulates pain through multiple molecular mechanisms, including immune system activation and nerve sensitivity. (2)
For back and neck pain sufferers seeking help at Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office, this inflammation can heighten pain sensitivity in already susceptible areas. Your spinal nerves become more reactive, making existing discomfort 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 things like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin
Chiropractic physicians recognize that pain management requires a whole-body approach. While spinal adjustments get after mechanical dysfunction, reducing inflammation through dietary modifications can significantly boost treatment outcomes. By supporting your gut health, you're establishing an internal environment more favorable to healing and less responsive to pain signals. Small dietary changes might be a valuable extra to your pain relief strategy with Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office.
Your path to back pain relief and/or neck pain relief may start with what you don’t put into your grocery cart.
CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office
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 Groton chiropractic patients may experience.
