1.) High Fructose Corn Syrup
It’s hard to find a processed food without High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), although it’s easier than it used to be.

The Corn Growers Association and other special interest groups that have a direct monetary stake in the continuance of turning genetically modified corn into a sweetener that populates seemingly every product on every grocery store aisle are constantly insisting that HFCS is the same as sugar or any other sweetener – except that it’s not.

Part of what makes HFCS such an unhealthy product is that it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar, and, because most fructose is consumed in liquid form, its negative metabolic effects are significantly magnified.

HFCS has been linked to diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. Additionally, HFCS is made from genetically modified corn, which brings on a host of other issues.

2.) Aspartame
Aspartame (NutraSweet, Spoonful, Equal-Measure, and Equal) is 180 times sweeter than sugar. It’s composed of three primary ingredients – phenylalanine (50 percent), aspartic acid (40 percent), and methanol (wood alcohol – 10 percent). Discovered accidentally when a G.D. Searle chemist testing an anti-ulcer drug licked his finger after spilling one of the chemicals he was using.

The problem is not so much the amino acids in aspartame, but the ratios and chemical manipulation involved, which causes the body to break them down into free amino acids. Unable to recognize them in that form, it tries to metabolize them anyway, causing the central nervous system to flood and (potentially) causing brain neurons to fire excessively. This condition, called ‘excitotoxicity,’ can cause a whole host of physical and neurological problems. Additionally, the menthol in aspartame, having no natural binder (in nature, menthol is bound to pectin), turns into cancer-causing formaldehyde in the body.

3.) Monosodium Glutamate
Monosodium glutamate (MSG), another excitotoxin added by the ‘big-food’ manufacturers as a ‘flavor-enhancer’ designed to mask the lack of ‘real’ ingredients in processed food, has been linked to brain damage, migraines, ADD, ADHD, obesity, and other health issues. MSG is well known for its prevalence in Chinese food, but it’s also found in certain processed soups, snack foods, and even infant formula and baby food! MSG can be tough to avoid because the ingredient labels aren’t always clear.