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 considered what's in your diet drinks and "sugar-free" snacks? Developing research intimates that artificial sweeteners might be harming your pain relief efforts through an unexpected pathway: your gut. Johnson Chiropractic is here to explore any potential avenues to help you get your pain under control!
THE GUT-PAIN CONNECTION
Your gut isn't just in charge of 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 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 elevated pain levels.
HOW SWEETNERS TRIGGER PAIN
When you eat artificial sweeteners, they change the composition of your gut bacteria. These disrupted microbes generate inflammatory responses that travel throughout your body. As described in a comprehensive 2019 review by Guo and colleagues in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the gut microbiota directly controls pain through multiple molecular mechanisms, including immune system activation and nerve sensitivity. (2)
For back and neck pain sufferers seeking help at Johnson Chiropractic, 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 your next chiropractic appointment, consider removing 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 get after mechanical dysfunction, decreasing 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 receptive to pain signals. Small dietary changes might be a great extra to your pain relief strategy with Johnson Chiropractic.
Your path to back pain relief and/or neck pain relief may start with what you remove from your grocery cart.
CONTACT Johnson Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. James Cox, on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the impact inflammation has on the immune system and the help chiropractic care like The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management that Richmond chiropractic patients may experience.
