David PerlmutterPresident,, Perlmutter Health Center · Board-Certified Neurologist | Functional Medicine Pioneer | #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author | International Speaker | Host of The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

Sweeteners That Could Be Harming Your Health

5 Jan 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:07

In this brief YouTube monologue, Dr. David Perlmutter warns about the health risks of certain sweeteners. He cites evidence that the artificial sweetener Splenda (sucralose) disrupts the gut microbiome and may impair metabolism, urging avoidance. He references a recent study linking artificial sweeteners to brain health concerns. Perlmutter then critiques agave syrup, noting it is about 70% fructose—the most harmful form of fructose. Drawing on his book Drop Acid, he explains that fructose is metabolized into uric acid, which signals a starvation state, prompting the body to conserve energy, increase fat storage, develop insulin resistance, and damage mitochondrial function. He concludes that agave is a particularly dangerous sweetener commonly found in health food stores and coffee bars.

Chapters

I just did a post on artificial sweeteners. It's getting a lot of attention. Splenda, we know, does have an effect on the gut microbiome and as such does pose threats to metabolism. So Splenda is clearly something we want to avoid. And, you know, the new study that has come out, it has looked at a wide panorama of artificial sweeteners and has recommended a consideration of them in terms of brain health. Agave, which is certainly very popular because it seems to be so natural, is in fact 70% fructose, and that is about the worst source of fructose you can imagine. I wrote about fructose extensively in the book Drop Acid. Fructose is converted to uric acid, and that stimulates, or rather informs your body, that you are basically starving, and therefore your body goes into a state of wanting to conserve energy, to make fat, to make you insulin resistant, actually damages mitochondrial function. So agave is definitely not on the list, one of the most threatening foods that is, you know, seen at the health food store, at the coffee bar. So I hope that's helpful. Bye for now.