Agave Nectar or Syrup is the latest health food craze in California and its popularity is spreading faster than syrup on a hot pancake.
It is is being promoted as a healthy alternative to sugar maybe it is too good to be true?
Sugar in all its various forms is bad for us, if we want to eat a healthier diet or lose weight we know we must eat less sugar but most of us enjoy eating sweet things so the idea of a healthy, low GI natural sweet product is very appealing. Here lies the problem, we truly want to believe the labeling and marketing hype and when we want to believe something we jump right in and don’t ask questions.
Having checked the facts I would never again eat Agave Nectar in any shape or form.
Agave nectar is 100% sugar and its calorie content is basically the same as any other sugar product.
Sugar does come in various shapes and sizes and the stuff in Agave Nectar is 70-90% fructose and the rest is glucose. This is a higher percentage of fructose than any food or drink . Fruits contain much lower levels of fructose so it is not accurate to compare Agave Nectar to fruit. The sugar in soft drinks such as regular Coke and Pepsi is 55% fructose and 45% glucose (it is called High Fructose Corn Syrup) so eating Agave Nectar has more in common with drinking a super fructose strong Coke than anything that ever existed in nature.
The medical community is very concerned about increasing fructose consumption as it may cause liver damage as well as obesity. (1, 2)
An important historical side note. Until the mid 80’s most sugar in the US was sucrose (the white stuff), but then the US Government subsidized corn from which high fructose corn syrup is made which lead to increasing fructose consumption. The increase in fructose consumption parallels the increase in obesity. No causal link has been proven but there are many concerns (1, 2). The body does not process fructose in the same way as normal white sugar (sucrose) which is another reason to have caution (thus the concern over liver damage.
The extremely high fructose content puts Agave Nectar in new territory and I have no desire to be a lab rat for a sugar chemistry experiment run by a bunch of tequilla makers. Agave Nectar is made from the same Agave cactus that is used to make tequila.
High fructose products need to be studied and the links to obesity and hunger need to be better understood. In the meantime I will be taking the Mayo Clinic’s advice and applying it to Agave Nectar “Avoid or limit foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup”.
References
1. Fructose, insulin resistance, and metabolic dyslipidemia Heather Basciano, Lisa Federico, and Khosrow Adeli
Clinical Biochemistry Division, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/5
2. Fructose, weight gain, and the insulin resistance syndrome American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 76, No. 5, 911-922, November 200
Hey TG – Ordinary sucrose (sugar) is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. HFCS is almost the same, 55/45. So switching from sugar to HFCS will not have increased fructose consumption much. If you are too concerned about the ratios you better stop eating apples, their sugars are 65% fructose. Or pears are even worse, they have more than twice as much fructose as glucose.
IMO all this concern over fructose is overblown. I can’t believe that apples and pears are bad for you. HFCS and sucrose are practically the same sugar mixture. And total sugar+HFCS consumption is down quite a bit in the U.S. over the last ten years – we are eating less sugars now than in the 1990s, yet obesity is still rising.
In short don’t believe everything you read. Things are more complex than the simple pictures people like to paint. We really don’t understand obesity or what is causing it. Most of the simple explanations (less activity, more food, more sugars, more fructose, whatever) are contradicted by the evidence.
Hi Hal
I don’t agree that concern over high fructose product is “overblown” but I do agree that you “should not believe everything you read” and for this reason I reference several peer reviewed articles and The Mayo Clinic’s website which states “Avoid or limit foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup”.
Sucrose and HFCS are NOT “almost the same.” Sucrose, glucose and fructose are unique, distinct molecules.Sucrose is a disaccharide whereas glucose and fructose are monosaccharides. The digestion process breaks down sucrose into glucose and fructose.
It is misleading to imply that apples and pears are healthy because they contain high amounts of fructose. Apples contain only 6% fructose whereas Agave is 70-90% fructose which is the main cause for concern regarding potential liver damage and obesity. It is also misleading to imply that since Apples and HFCS products (which would include Coke) contain similar sugar types they are both somehow healthy. One can of Coke contains as much sugar as about 7 apples and this would be the main reason for Coke being unhealthy.
As of now I am still not going to be eating any Agave
Holy Cow… this is crazy! Dude, to say that an apple is 6% fructose and Agave is 70-90% fructose is like starting on a trip and stopping only 1 block from home! You’ve got to carry your thoughts out to their logical conclusion… Its not that they contain fructose, its how much you eat silly!!! Let me take your statements to their logical conclusion: you say Agave is 70% fructose, ok, so that means that means a teaspoon of Agave (about 4 grams) has about 2.8 grams of fructose… Hmmm, a small tomato has about 2.6 grams of fructose in it, the same as a carrot!… so, by your ridiculous logic, you should run away from tomatoes and carrots as fast and as far as you can! OMG, never eat another tomato! And don’t even get me started on Apples!
Remember, HFCS, regardless of what the lying chemists say, is not a natural source of Fructose. It is a man made molecule. It is illegal to call High Fructose Corn Syrup “All Natural”. I wonder why… Agave can be found both All Natural and Organic!!! Small amounts of Fructose actually help metabolize Glucose better, plus its low glycemic, has natural inulin fiber which is amazingly beneficial.
You have to realize that Fructose, all by itself is 100% Fructose! Not 6% or 70% as you are saying about other whole foods. So the only thing that matters is HOW MUCH YOU EAT, not whether you eat it at all. Also, the studies that say that excess Fructose can be bad don’t show those same results if the person is exercising and not sedentary!
I would trust the Mayo Clinics recommendations as regards to High Fructose Corn Syrup… it is poison. But really, Apples, Carrots, Tomatoes etc all bad for you? Stop it.
The way I see it, even tho Agave Nectar has lots of fructose, we don’t need to use much of it because its so sweet (3 times sweeter than white sugar). One teaspoon of agave in a cup of tea contains about 3.4g of fructose. A medium sized apple has about 6g of fructose. The main difference is the fructose/glucose ratio. I dont know if this ratio in food makes a difference in health.
A can of coke has 15g of fructose, a cup of orange juice has about 22g of fructose. Many people have these drinks on a daily basis and these drinks obviously have more fructose than just a teaspoon or less of agave that it would take to sweeten your tea.
I don’t know if high fructose agave syrup is as bad as high fructose corn syrup (found in coke, some juices, cookie ect..). The way I see it, as long as 10% of your daily calories come from sugar ( fructose,glucose, sucrose, whichever) than you’re ok. I use one teaspoon of agave nectar per cup of tea, smoothie or coffee three times a day ( total of 10g of fructose) instead of white sugar. This seems to me like a very reasonable way of consuming less sugar while satisfying your taste buds. I eat as much fruit as I want and stay away from soda, juices, pastries ect… Like Dave said above :
“Its not that they contain fructose, its how much you eat ” I totally agree: its not how much fructose Agave contains but your total intake of fructose daily.
The real question is : ” How is high fructose agave syrup ” metabolized compared to fructose found in fruit ??”
Forgive my ignorance, I am not a nutritionist, just a human that believes that simplicity is often best. It seems to me that how a food is processed and handled is a very important factor. I’m not at all a raw food fanatic, but it makes sense to me that you would best benefit from foods in it’s whole form. It does not make sense to me that someone would be comparing the fructose levels between a whole piece of fruit to a processed food such as agave, high fructose corn syrup, etc. Even if the fructose levels are similar or higher, doesn’t the whole food have all the other nutritional components to make it a totally different metabolic experience?
It’s like the difference between drinking a juice that has the fiber removed, it’s not the same as drinking the whole juice, fiber and all. It seems to me that our fruits/vegetables/herbs are a unique blend of nutrients that are meant to be used as a whole and not in fragmented components.
Again, I’m not a nutritionist, it just feels instinctually right to me. Thanks for listening!
Agave isn’t three times sweeter. It is 25% sweeter, which is 1.25x sweeter. Better safe than sorry. There is no reason to use agave in place of sugar. I will be consuming all my agave in the form of tequila, the way god intended.
Where is your real scientific proof. Has any research been done on your claim?
Any you must use everything in moderation I use 1 tbsp on my pancakes. Any 1/2 tsp in my tea and my smoothies. Everything we consume in excess are unhealthy for you
I have to agree with those that think the negative hype over agave is overblown. Dave says above, it’s how much you eat of any given substance. And as Lara says, the manner of processing is also key.
Agave has been consumed for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years in its natural form. When it’s processed in the traditional manner, it’s a natural sweetener, in the same league as pure maple syrup (which is also basically “100% sugar”–but nobody’s suggesting we boycott maple syrup).
I see agave as very different from HFCS. Traditional peoples have been extracting agave nectar from the cactus for generations. If I had a cactus in my backyard, I could get agave nectar from it. Without a laboratory, however, I couldn’t make HFCS in my home. That’s a huge difference to me.
Someone had mentioned previously that an apple is 6% fructose. WRONG. It’s sugars are 80% fructose. Grapes are 98% fructose. Now all of a sudden grapes and apples are bad for us??
Agave has a LOWER fructose/sucrose ratio that apples!
This “agave is bad for you” stuff is complete tomfoolery.
I think Lara’s point is key. Agave is hydrolyzed during processing to make it sweet. This definitely is a huge sidestep from how most natural sugars are formed before we consume them. Quantity is obviously relative to any overall effect – ie: Too much water is a direct cause of drowning.
Thursdaygirl’s article is detailed enough to provide the evidence for all of the arguments made. There is no need to read a large volume of text to backup a small article.
:)
I have diabetes and all the artificial sweeter made me sick and honey will make my sugar levels go up and down. When I heard about agave I gave it a try. I was shocked that I was able to handle agave better than other sweeter out there. I only use a small amount for my oatmeal and teas and coffee. Like everything else, moderation is the key.
Thank you Lara for the common sense reply! I don’t eat by numbers, I could not care less how many grams of fructose are in an apple or pear, they are good for me (unsprayed please) and that’s that…. a refined sugar, a processed sugar, whatever you want to call it, something that has been messed with by man, will always by inferior and probably detrimental to health. That is they way I see it anyway.
You fail to mention that agave syrup has an extremely low glycemic index, which makes it desirable for diabetics and others who want to avoid a sugar hit. And the points above about the total amount of fructose eaten are right to the point. No one would suggest avoiding ALL fructose. The idea to use it in the correct proportion.
A friend of mine recently threw out all of his Agave so I’m here searching, wondering why. I’m pretty ignorant of how Agave is made but Lara seems to have grounded the debate for me. Staying with a whole food, one with all of it’s chemical and physical parts intact, seems more wise. I suppose if the cactus were dripping the nectar onto the ground and some little body were collecting and bottling it, that would be another thing. Jeez, now you’ve got me wondering about Maple syrup.
Use the agave nectar that has USDA certification…..this is the highest standard for pure, organic ingredients….