See, this is the reason I blog.
I must admit, agave syrup had even me fooled for four years. Not that I am all knowing and all seeing, but I do but a lot of personal work and research into everything I put into my mouth.
This one slipped past me until I kept hearing more and more about how agave syrup and agave nectar, those guys that we are seeing more and more of in the ingredient list of our favorite products, in not a natural product, and it is actually worse than high fructose corn syrup.
Below is the one paragraph version to sum it all up.
There was a food called "miel de agave" that the native Central Americans used for centuries. The modern day agave that is now being produced has nothing to do with Miel De Agave. The modern agave is merely a highly processed, concenrated fructose, similar to High Fructose Corn syrup, but often it is EVEN MORE CONCENTRATED THAN HIGH FRUCTOSE SYRUP!!!!!!.
Just as a refresher, all fruit contains fructose in it's natural state, but obviously nature has that small amount of fructose in perfect balance with the fiber, flesh, vitamins, and nutrients in the fruit. No where in nature is there fructose as concentrated as Agave Syrup and High Fructose Corn Syrup. The only natural product I have run across in this area is real maple syrup.
My personal favorite product I use when I need a thick liquid sweetener is an extremly healthy, tasty honey called Soliga Honey.
All this is so important because I am convinced these unnatural concentrated fructose syrups and sweeteners are one of the main roots of childhood obesity, adult obesity, and a myriad of other ailments.
In the end, there seems to be a war between big business and the likes of avdocates like Mercola on agave, with billions of dollars at stake in the sweetener industry. I don't have a pony in that race, just trying to stay healthy. Both sides have tons of info saying agave is either good or bad, leaving consumers dazed and confused (and some, I fear, hoping we will just eat it shut up without looking into it any further).
For me it's not that complicated, it comes down to a simple question. Is the agave being produced today being processed in the same way as in centuries past? I personally don't think so. I know I could be wrong, but I trust my own judgement and I keep researching .We all have freedom of choice and have to decide for ourselves. The opponents of agave admit that there are some quality products agave products available as with anything, but it's up to us to dig into what agave is in the food we consume. Now that the perception is in the public's mind that agave is the savior of sweeteners, every company wants to use that name on their product, and the quality or lack thereof can be questionable.
Stay vigilant, big business has a knack for marketing unhealthy foods, and fooling us into believing they are healthy.
~stay healthy~
More info in links below
(remember no one internet link is absolute truth in and of itself, including my blog, but is a basepoint to investigate information in your personal quest make sound decisions for yourselves and your family)
Why modern day agave is NOT natural
Agave nectar: worse than we thought
You might also like my article:
My Top 10 Sweeteners to avoid, the Devil is in the Details
~stay healthy~
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check out all my articles in "Eat Smart", the science of food (click here or on the photo below)
7 Responses
I used to use agave too. Now it's honey, maple syrup, or sucanat for me. I sometimes use date sugar for toppings. But that's about it. This whole stevia and xylitol stuff scares me too. I might be ok with stevia if I knew it came only from the plant, but often the commerical versions are mixed with other things. It's a constant learning curve for sure . . . . 🙂
You are falling for the internet trap. If you by the raw blue organic agave, these things you say are not true. Read on here:
******Link deleted because the persons is advertising a product using agave**********************
You are making false assumptions on me falling into a trap and my ability to understand and make sound decisions on what I read. I have read all that stuff in your link before, and it all seems to me a fight between Mercola and big business, all meant to confuse the consumer. The High Fructose Corn Syrup industry has their arsenal of of facts on the internet. Your link which I deleted also promoted your agave based product. If I posted your dispute of agave with the link to your product using agave, then that would be the trap. For me, I can make a sound decision about this or any other product for me. So don’t assume I am not smart enough to look at the facts from both sides and make some sound decisions myself. I think everyone is making this more confusing than it needs to be, because that confusion forces people to give up and just eat it without thinking.. All I really need to do, If I wanted to, is the research how the plant was processed and used throughout history and if the current production process is the same as the traditional approach, then I would use it. Similar to looking at maple syrup. I think however agave is processed totally different that the traditional processing.
Dr Mercola does not advocate agave. See this 2009 article:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/07/02/agave-a-triumph-of-marketing-over-truth.aspx