Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, recently appeared in a feature interview with WHDT 9 World News' Gary Franchi to explain the dark secrets of artificial sweeteners.
For millennia, humans have used honey and sugar to sweeten foods, but in modern times, people concerned with calories have turned to artificial sweeteners. "Some early sugar substitutes were found to cause cancer, and other[s] have ill effects on health. Many critics charge these artificial additives pose danger of their own. And many people point out unusual ingredients that go into some sweeteners; Splenda, for instance, is manufactured using chlorine, and skeptics say such food additives also play havoc with the human metabolism. Aspartame has even been charged with causing brain tumors, heart attacks and even seizures," said Franchi, as he introduced Adams.
Adams then says that artificial sweeteners came into existence because people began saying that sugar was "bad." "[O]f course, there is a lot of evidence that processed, refined sugar does have detrimental health effects, but the artificial chemical sweeteners were then pushed as a healthy alternative that would help you lose weight [and] that was safe for diabetics, for example," the Health Ranger stated. "But as the evidence started coming out, because the American people were treated as, in essence, human guinea pigs by these companies manufacturing these chemicals, it turns out, well, saccharine then had to have cancer warnings and then aspartame now, for many years in fact, has been linked with those side effects that you mentioned."
"Part of the problem is that aspartame can break down into a small amount of formaldehyde, and formaldehyde is a neurotoxic chemical compound that has devastating effects on neurology, and this is why many scientists believe that aspartame is linked to seizures, or blurred vision, or headaches, or even possibly brain tumors as well."
Since artificial sweeteners were first introduced, we have "gone full circle," as many people would prefer natural sugar, and now businesses that sweeten "their products with real, unprocessed sugar are finding very wide consumer acceptance," said Adams.
"Aspartame is actually created with a genetically modified bacteria. Aspartame is really a special kind of amino acid compound, so it's created in a... factory, but it was first discovered in a laboratory. ... [I]t's really the waste product of a certain strain of bacteria, and then that is usually substantially cut or diluted, because raw, straight aspartame is very, very potent. You know, 200, 300, maybe 400, times sweeter than sugar gram per gram, so they tend to cut it and put fillers in it."
The fillers can be of major concern to consumers, Adams explains, because maltodextrin is often used, and that, in turn, is derived from corn, a huge amount of which is genetically modified. Another huge concern is high-fructose corn syrup, which can contain mercury because of the way that it is extracted. "Corn syrup, of course, is linked to diabetes and obesity and many other potential disorders and health issues, so everywhere you turn in this industry, there's something to really be concerned about. And that's why more people are getting back to honey and unrefined sugar or evaporated cane juice crystals and stevia... which is also a very safe and very likeable sweetener."
To watch the complete interview with Mike Adams explaining the hidden dangers of artificial sweeteners, watch the video above or click here.
