Artificial food colorings cause leaky gut

[NHE]

Are Your Children Getting High Doses of Food Dye and Sugar?

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/article ... -and-sugar

Some popular brands of cereals and candies contain unexpectedly high levels of food dye. Research in mice links this to bowel inflammation.

Some parents are unwittingly feeding their children high doses of food dye. Pediatricians may worry about the effects on kids’ behavior. In addition, a recent study suggests we should be looking at the digestive tract.

Red Food Dye Alters the Lining of the Digestive Tract:

Researchers have discovered that Allura Red food dye, also called FD&C Red 40, disrupts gut barrier function (Nature Communications, Dec. 20, 2022). As a result, experimental animals develop inflammation in the digestive tract. Exposure to this dye early in life can lead to colitis and to symptoms similar to Crohn’s disease. This is troubling, since many of the foods containing this color are designed to appeal to young children: candy, cereal, soft drinks and some dairy products.

Scientists have long known that consuming lots of processed foods increases people’s risk of inflammatory bowel diseases. This food colorant is present in numerous processed foods. Perhaps that helps explain, in part, the damage such foods can do. According to this research, the dye increases the secretion of serotonin in the gut and disrupts the balance of microbes living there.

Previous Study–Food Dye Is Common:
In earlier research, investigators at Purdue University found that some popular brands of cereals and candies contain unexpectedly high levels of artificial colorings, up to 40 mg a serving (Clinical Pediatrics, online April 24, 2014). Most of the highly colored foods are also highly sugared, with up to 15 grams a serving, so they appeal strongly to children.

Scientists worry that some children may be especially sensitive to these chemicals and could react by developing behavioral problems. As a result, parents might have to deal with temper tantrums, irritability or trouble sleeping. These vulnerable youngsters may also develop attention difficulties and hyperactivity.

It is difficult to argue that any child actually needs foods that contain such high levels of coloring and sugar. Most parents might want to leave them on the shelf.

[NHE]

Chronic exposure to synthetic food colorant Allura Red AC promotes susceptibility to experimental colitis via intestinal serotonin in mice
Nat Commun. 2022 Dec 20;13(1):7617.

Chemicals in food are widely used leading to significant human exposure. Allura Red AC (AR) is a highly common synthetic colorant; however, little is known about its impact on colitis. Here, we show chronic exposure of AR at a dose found in commonly consumed dietary products exacerbates experi- mental models of colitis in mice. While intermittent exposure is more akin to a typical human exposure, intermittent exposure to AR in mice for 12 weeks, does not influence susceptibility to colitis. However, exposure to AR during early life primes mice to heightened susceptibility to colitis. In addition, chronic exposure to AR induces mild colitis, which is associated with elevated colonic serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) levels and impairment of the epithelial barrier function via myosin light chain kinase (MLCK). Importantly, chronic exposure to AR does not influence colitis susceptibility in mice lacking tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1), the rate limiting enzyme for 5-HT bio- synthesis. Cecal transfer of the perturbed gut microbiota by AR exposure worsens colitis severity in the recipient germ-free (GF) mice. Furthermore, chronic AR exposure elevates colonic 5-HT levels in naïve GF mice. Though it remains unknown whether AR has similar effects in humans, our study reveals that chronic long-term exposure to a common synthetic colorant promotes experimental colitis via colonic 5-HT in gut microbiota-dependent and -inde- pendent pathway in mice.

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