Tuesday eats: the deal with agave (plus, the sweetener you should be using)
A little while back, my friend Gez got fired up with me that I included some info about agave syrup, without explaining the downside of the stuff. So, I’ll try to rectify things here…
Never heard of it? It’s a sugar substitute made from a Mexican succulent. Tequila is made from the same plant. The “nectar” tastes a little like honey, but is clear in colour, and is 1.5 times sweeter than sugar. Thing is, it’s popping up everywhere as a “healthy” and “natural” alternative to sugar. And, I have to say, I was sucked in by the sell. Until…
I got naturapath Angela Hywood to explain, eloquently, as always, the real deal:
My view overall: it’s a shame Agave has snuck into the “health natural sweetener” category when its of absolutely no nutritional value at all and as highly caloric as corn syrup.
[From me, Sarah: Actually, Dr Mercola at Huffington Post argues agave is worse than corn syrup, containing up to 97% fructose. Why's this bad? Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. Unlike glucose, fructose is broken down in your liver just like alcohol and produces many of the side effects of chronic alcohol use, right down to the "beer belly. Most cells in your body can directly use glucose as a fuel source, so it's normally "burned up" immediately after consumption.]
The Pesticides. There are also concerns that some distributors are cutting agave syrup with corn syrup – how often and to what extent is anyone’s guess. In addition, the FDA has refused shipments of agave syrup due to excessive pesticide residues.
The Saponins. Agave is known to contain large amounts of saponins. Saponins are toxic steroid derivatives, capable of disrupting red blood cells and producing diarrhea and vomiting. There is also a possible link between saponins and miscarriage by stimulating blood flow to the uterus, so if you’re pregnant, you should definitely avoid agave products.
It’s Nutrient Void. Agave syrup is not a whole food. Nearly every brand is fractionated and processed, devoid of the nutrients contained in the original, whole plant.
Dr Mercola posts this helpful guide to which sweetners are best to use:
- Avoid ALL artificial sweeteners.
- Avoid agave and high fructose corn syrup
- Limit sugar of all types as much as possible. You can buy pure glucose (dextrose) as a sweetener, which has none of the adverse effects of fructose if used moderately. It is only 70 percent as sweet as sucrose, so you’ll end up using a bit more of it for the same amount of sweetness.
- Use raw, organic honey in moderation or avoid it completely as it is 70 percent fructose which is higher than HFCS. However the fructose is not in its free from so that moderates the damage. But each teaspoon of honey has nearly four grams of fructose so you will want to carefully add the total grams of fructose (including fruits) and keep them under 15 grams per day.
- Use regular stevia in moderation, but avoid stevia-based sweeteners like Truvia and PureVia because they have undergone more processing.
To his list, I would suggest using maple syrup (the pure stuff). Dates (added to a smoothie or melted in hot water) are also good.
* An update:
Luke The Reader just emailed this, too: http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400722/Is-Agave-Syrup-Dangerous.html
On the flipside xx sent this link (from an agave producer): http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/articles/truth-agave.pdf
Someone else with this avatar:idontreallywanttobecontactablebutilikeyourblogcoolchick@me.com sent this http://betterworldcookies.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-i-use-agave-nectar-examination-of.html
dammit, why did I succumb to this trend?
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Another great post, thanks Sarah! I read your blog daily and I was wondering if you have suggestions of other blogs that you enjoy/read regularly?
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Now raw honey is unhealthy too? Great. Eating is too hard. Call me when they create food replacement tablets that can sustain life.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sarah wilson, Laura Curtis. Laura Curtis said: @bellelumiere Have you read this? "the deal with agave" http://bit.ly/cEZvpr (via @_sarahwilson_) I was sucked in too… [...]
What about rice malt syrup? Apparently that is better to use compared to maple syrup.
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it is worth looking into this further, check this out and then decide: http://betterworldcookies.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-i-use-agave-nectar-examination-of.html
and this other page too, it is worth familiarising ourselves with fructans, not just fructose:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructan
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You may find this perspective on agave interesting — take a peek:) I was confused and upset about this bad rap that agave was getting- it’s so political really-a stroke against mexican farmers in my mind- I was relieved to read this. If you buy a good source then you are fine.
http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store2/articles/truth-agave.pdf
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July 14th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Thanks Julie, I added it to the blog. Hope that’s ok
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Great blog Sarah! Any thoughts on xylitol? Even my dentist recommends it as it’s good for preventing cavities and has no affect on insulin levels.
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i had no idea. i completely feel into using that as my sugar replacement. interesting that its fallen into the mainstream as the ideal natural alternative. thanks for the heads up.
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Christina Pirello recently blogged about Agave as well: http://christinacooks.com/_blog/WELL_Said/post/Agave,_Oy_Vey!/
She recommends brown rice syrup…
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Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
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Another perspective.
http://www.raw-chocolate.net/superfoods.php?low-GI=agave
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Hi Sarah,
It’s good to see you elaborated further on the difference between Fructose and Glucose. Still, I find the scientific reasoning of your post a little thin. I think it’s a bit rough to label any food as ‘bad’ or ‘good’, especially without people understanding the full reasoning behind it. Your readers may find this article from Precision Nutrition http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-natural-sweeteners a clearer explanation of natural sweeteners effects on the body.
Personally, I don’t believe we should be too concerned about our fruit intake as it would take 10 apples to consume the same amount of fructose as in a can of soft drink
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July 27th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Thanks Michelle…nice resource. Ta xx
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wow, thanks for that! There has been something inside me that always makes me pull my hand back when reaching for a bottle at the health food store. Yes it does seem like a fad, and I’m really really glad I read this before buying into it! Cheers
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Thanks for this post!
I was surprised that there was no mention of stevia based sweeteners here.
Stevia is 100% natural, low in calories, low GI (perfect for people with diabetes) and some of the stevia derived sweeteners on the market taste great (not all of them do).
My pick is Natvia (available at Coles, health food stores etc.) – it tastes beautifully and naturally sweet (no bitterness). Nothing artificial and made by an Australian company to boot!
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You are definitely right there Fiona, Natvia is amazing stuff. Tried it about 3 weeks ago and wouldnt go back to either sugar or any of the artificial nasties. It tastes great with my coffee, cereals and great with baking as well. check out their site with some great recipes: http://www.natvia.com.au/natvia-sweetener/recipes-2
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About a year I started going to a cafe serving organic everything. Best breakfast ever. I also started putting Natvia in the coffee as a sweetener. Was really happy until over that year I also mysteriously developed what semed like irritable bowel syndrome. Visits to doctors had merunning allsorts of tests to ascertain or eliminate the problem. No luck. Nothing came up on the tests. No ciliac, lactose, fructose or any of the modern intolerance’s. Refusing to stop eating at the cafe – I ran my own experiment. One by one I had the same meal with one of the “ingredients” missing. Still no respite from the symtoms of stomach cramps and diarrhea.
Then one day I realised the remaining ingredient not yet substituted was the Natvia. So I put sugar in the coffee as I do elswhere. No symptoms that day. Did the same the next time and again, no symptoms. Pulled up my iPad and google’d “stevia stomach cramps” – stevis is the active ingredient in the Natvia product.
5 pages of Google results of folks describing the same symptons I had suffered for over a year.
Moral of the story. Any “alternative” product, medicine or folk story needs to be rigorously tested and the “side effects” need to be clearly spelt out and published. There’s a reason why modern medicine does this. My doctor reads those articles. The better informed he is, the less time and money is wasted looking for a cure to what is clearly in my instance – consumption of a toxic product.
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With cramping, bloating, and loose bowel movements, perhaps Sean, you are just have a sensitive to natvia. I think it is reckless to consider a product unsafe to the public due to a sensitivity. For example, I’m allergic to processed chocolate; would it be foolish to insist that candy bars or fudge be banned or come with a warning label or call it toxic.I am aware of my adverse reaction to chocolate so I simply don’t consume it.
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Sean Kelly–have you thought that perhaps it have been the xylitol in the Natvia that was causing the stomach cramps? I suffer with IBS and can tolerate Stevia quite well. I haven’t tried Natvia because I eat very little sweetener. I purchased the little bottle Nirvana Stevia years ago and still havent run out of it. I realise people react differently to various substances and I appreciate your blog. When I get some Natvia for baking (for my husband–who has a very sweet tooth) I will purchase it in a minimal amount until I see how he tolerates it. Thanks guys for the imput. It’s all very interesting. . .
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[...] trap. In actual fact, Agave could be doing more damage that high fructose corn syrup. Sarah Wilson wrote a great article about the agave syrup con here. Positive affirmation for the day: I can go [...]
Hi Sarah,
I’ve been methodically reading through your wonderful site since I stumbled upon it a few weeks ago after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. For many years I haven’t eaten wheat, dairy or sugar. When I do wish to bake something delicious or have a treat, I use Xylitol. Reading through your ‘i quit sugar’ posts, I came across dextrose. However, I still don’t quite have my head around it and wonder if you could write a bit more about it – I understand that it doesn’t contain fructose, which is a good thing, but is it suitable for someone who doesn’t eat sugar? If I bought some and baked a (wheat free, dairy free
) cake with it, would it effect me in the same way that sugar does (migraine) or is it different? And if it is a good substitute for people who don’t eat sugar, can you explain why? I’d love to hear this in your words..
Many thanks,
Nadia.
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I’ve just stumbled across your site after excitedly bringing home organic coconut sugar…. oh dear. Ive read things about agave not being the miracle sweetner before but recently got re-sucked into buying it.
Im off to throw the agave out….might keep the coconut sugar though for the odd asian recipe….
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