"Right now, the simple answer is this is science versus the food industry," says Robert Lustig, a neuroendocrinologist at the University of California. When asked about all the conflicting research, Lustig says those conflicts evaporate when you remove studies funded by makers of artificial sweeteners.

You don't have to take his word for it. One analysis from the Center for Behavioral Medicine at Northeastern Ohio University found that 100 percent of industry-funded aspartame studies concluded that the sugar substitute was safe, while 92 percent of independent studies came to just the opposite conclusion. Another meta-study, this one from Johns Hopkins, determined that industry funding and study authors' "financial conflicts" introduced bias into their flattering or benign findings on artificial sweeteners.  

The fewer sweet foods in my diet, the less food I tend to eat.

Doesn't matter if the sweet foods are naturally or artificially sweetened. When I eat sweet things, I tend to eat more.

Still it's scary that the studies sponsored by food industry members seem so one sided. 

Same here re sweet foods, unless berries.

You do love berries. They seem like a good exception to the rule. 

One dose of splenda also wreaks havoc on gut bacteria.

And a digestive byproducts of aspartame is formaldehyde. 

I've eaten Splenda in the past but I have not had it lately.

Hopefully I haven't unknowingly ingested Splenda or aspartame lately.

Does gut bacteria recover?

Yes, with effort to eat and drink to replenish and protect the bacteria.