Agave Syrup worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup
When I attended the National American Dietetics Association conference in Denver a few months back I heard 2 female biochemists discussing the nitty gritty of carbohydrate metabolism and how different sources of carbohydrate are digested and used by the body.
One fascinating detail they discussed was Agave syrup. I had not paid much attention to it since I don’t recommend anything other than 100% raw sugar or honey to sweeten foods or recipes. Most people know that high fructose corn syrup is not good for us but did you know that agave is actually more harmful? How can that be true?
When I was at Whole Foods today I noticed how Agave is in everything from coconut ice-cream to cookies and crackers. The power of marketing has played a large part of this phenomenon.
High fructose corn syrup is approximately 55-60% fructose and not the natural kind like in fruit. When you consume a large percentage of this type of fructose it goes directly to the liver, which not only increases your triglyceride levels but causes fatty liver, increased hunger levels and a plethora of other health issues you would rather avoid. High levels of fructose make your brain deaf to leptin, the hormone responsible for making you feel full.
Agave is 85-90% fructose. According to the experts, Agave plants are crushed and the collected sap is heated to 140 degrees to concentrate the liquid into a syrup. The heating process is necessary to hydrolyze it into fructose to obtain the desired sweetness. Therefore, Agave is not a natural or whole real food by any sense of the imagination. It is actually a fractionated and processed food to be avoided that comes from Mexico with very few quality controls.
AND it has more fructose than high fructose corn syrup. If you want to sweeten a recipe or add something sweet to your hot beverage use a little cane sugar or honey. Your body and liver will thank you!
May 13, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
Hi Susan,
Melissa Balmer sent me your blog as she’s aware that I’ve been a big proponent of using agave nectar to replace sugar and other artificial sweeteners.
I’ve been reading quite a few studies lately that are against replacing sugar and other artificial sweeteners with agave nectar and the information provided has perked my ears since I’ve converted many of my customers and use the sweetener myself for my family.
But there is still so much that is unclear that makes me not stop in my tracks with using agave.
Based on my own personal studies, when you use an organic (certified) blue agave, it’s actually produced below 118 F which does not destroy the saponins and fructans that have been known to have immune system boosting properties and the inulin which has been proven to be effective in weight loss for its low impact on blood sugar.
I think the important fact in your blog is that WHERE the agave comes from and HOW it’s produced makes the difference. There are many companies that produce the sweetener in Mexico which has very few standards for making erroneous claims, but the companies that take care to have their agave tested in the United States by an FDA recognized company do in fact back up their claims with evidence for agave’s beneficial uses.
There have been studies that Blue agave from a particular company (which i will not name as I’m not trying to promote any particular brand here) is substantially lower on the glycemic scale (High fructose syrup has 89 whereas organic agave has about 27).
I think it’s important that we bring these companies to task and have them provide evidence of their findings.
I’ll continue to take heed and educate myself on new findings as they come out. Thank you for taking the time to share your research and let’s continue to dialog.
Best,
Naja
Owner of Naja Tea – An organic tea company
May 14, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
Dear Naja:
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I have attached 2 links below that are very long explanations to your questions and inquiries. The controls on the manufacturing are still quite a question since it does require a higher temperature to actually get the Agave syrup as sweet as it is. Also, the percent fructose of a food versus the glycemic index are separate issues. The glycemic index indicates how much a product raises your blood sugar which is separate from how a high percentage of fructose a food contains and how it is digested.
Since the body does not readily utilize fructose (as it does with glucose) it goes to the liver and if a product is over 50% (as with HFCS at about 65% and Agave at about 85-90%) it is a setup for fatty liver and leptin resistance. I hope that helps.
Susan
http://www.westonaprice.org/Agave-Nectar-Worse-Than-We-Thought.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=micro-blog&utm_campaign=twitter
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/agave.html