I'm bummed about agave

[greenmom4]

Up until...this week, I was under the impression that agave was a "good" sweetener to use. So much so, that I bought AN ENTIRE CASE of the stuff. Now I read that's it's WORSE than HFCS?! Poo.

[LionTigerBear]

WHAT?!?!?!?!? Off to read that article . . .

[cristeen]

Thank you for posting this. My MW has several times mentioned that she would prefer I were using agave over honey, and I couldn't find the article I was looking for to give her. This one will serve just fine.

[LionTigerBear]

Agave "nectar" (even "raw" and "organic" agave "nectar") is a highly processed sweetener, developed in the 90s, and it is not made from the sap or nectar at all, but from the starch of the bulb (just like how corn syrup is made from corn starch.) It is also listed as "chicory syrup"-- same thing.

Wow. This means my favorite dairy-free coconut milk ice cream is out.

[Thystle]

gOOD THING NONE OF US REALLY LIKED THE TASTE!


oops caps



I still have several bottles that have gone unused.

[Sasharna]

Originally Posted by LionTigerBear

Wow. This means my favorite dairy-free coconut milk ice cream is out.

This is my #1 reason for being disappointed over agave as well. I love that ice cream.

[Lisoula]

BUMMER!!!!!! I love it in my iced-tea since it doesn't crystallize like honey does. Boo-hoo!!!

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by Sasharna

This is my #1 reason for being disappointed over agave as well. I love that ice cream.

I feel SO bad for my sweet little boys. They are only 2 and 5 and they can't eat hardly anything. This one the one treat that I didn't have to laboriously prepare for them. They ate some every day. It does explain some of their continued health problems, though. I bet they'll do much better now.

[mom61508]

What about stevia? Yacon syrup?
I'm a sucker for raw honey though

[Cristiaz]

I get catchup that uses agave. I should make my own catchup, like I've come to make almost everything else myself.

[Ruthla]

My feeling is that agave isn't toxic, it's just "not the best thing for the body." I don't worry about the amount of agave in the So Delicious coconut ice cream- it's not like I eat all that much ice cream anyway, and overall the ingredients in there aren't that bad. Nor is it particularly dangerous to have a teaspoon or so a day in tea. Yes, honey is a better choice, but I don't think that small quantities of agave are particularly harmful either.

I see a big difference between having the occasional ice cream (or the occasional cup of agave-sweetened tea) and covering your pancakes with an agave/maple syrup blend. The first two examples are using the sweetener in moderation, the third is not.

What I'd probably do is try to return (or sell to somebody else) the unopened packages of agave, but use up the opened packages.

[Sailor]

Yikes! I've never had it myself, but I just got my mom a huge bottle of agave - so much for trying to help her out in the nutrition department.

And she's one of those people who pours it all over her pancakes.

[henny penny]

I've had a bottle of unopened agave in the pantry forever, it seems, since I prefer local, raw honey. Glad to know I can just toss it now! Thanks for the article.

[snowbunny]

I'm the no agave nectar camp just like I'm in the no-HFCS camp. Agave nectar actually contains MORE high fructose than HFCS! I think sweets in general should be limited and modern sweeteners should be avoided entirely.

[greenmom4]

Originally Posted by snowbunny

I'm the no agave nectar camp just like I'm in the no-HFCS camp. Agave nectar actually contains MORE high fructose than HFCS! I think sweets in general should be limited and modern sweeteners should be avoided entirely.

Well, that's the thing. Until recently I had no idea that agave WAS a modern sweetener. Behold, the power of marketing...:

[Junegoddess]

Aaaaaaaack, let me take the other side here. I don't have links or articles or studies to back me up, just overwhelming personal experience. I am extremely sensitive to corn syrup... fructose in general. There are many fruits I cannot eat because I feel awful afterward (the ones higher in fructose). I can identify a corn syrup-sweetened beverage in two sips. Corn syrup makes me feel horrible. And, no, I'm not allergic to corn.

Agave nectar does not make me feel bad at all.

I can generally tolerate no more than a tablespoon of any other sweetener. Sometimes a teaspoon is too much. But I have had several limeades (lime juice, agave, and club soda) in a row with no ill effects. That's probably 2 tablespoons or more of agave. If it were so high in fructose and so evil, it would make me feel like crap.

Where is the anti-agave information coming from? Who is doing the studies? Follow the money. That rule stays true, even in the natural/healthy community. Was agave shouldering in on honey's profits? Just curious...

If agave makes you feel sick, don't use it. If it DOESN'T make you feel sick, don't worry about it. I think most of us are healthy enough or at least in touch with our bodies enough to know when something we're eating is bad for us.

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by Junegoddess

If agave makes you feel sick, don't use it. If it DOESN'T make you feel sick, don't worry about it. I think most of us are healthy enough or at least in touch with our bodies enough to know when something we're eating is bad for us.

The agave is definitely bad for us (me and my kids). For weeks I've been trying to pin down the culprit and this makes perfect sense, unfortunately.

[Sasharna]

I actually ended up throwing out my bottle of agave weeks ago before reading anything bad about it, because it was making me feel poorly in a way that honey doesn't. When I eat certain foods, I have tachycardia, extreme brain fog, and presyncope. Agave is one of those foods, along with grains and table sugar.

Eating it in coconut ice cream probably balanced out the fructose with sufficient fat in order for me to avoid feeling poorly, but I still don't think it's a good idea to continue eating it. Diabetics should be extra careful with agave, IMO, and it's a shame it is marketed toward them. Agave may not raise blood sugar, but I'd bet my hat it prompts a hefty insulin response.

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by Cristiaz

I get catchup that uses agave. I should make my own catchup, like I've come to make almost everything else myself.

I'm starting to get to that point, too. And seriously, making catsup is fairly simple. I'll miss the ease of the squeeze bottles, though.

A little OT, but I read that link for agave and almost fell off my chair when I saw the advertisement for cola for toddlers. wow. Makes me kind of wonder what I'll look back on in 20 or 30 years and wonder what we were all thinking.

[greenmom4]

Originally Posted by Junegoddess

Where is the anti-agave information coming from? Who is doing the studies? Follow the money. That rule stays true, even in the natural/healthy community. Was agave shouldering in on honey's profits? Just curious...

The article was written by Sally Fallon and Rami Nagel for the Wise Traditions, so I don't sense any propaganda.

Agave syrup is a manmade sweetener which
has been through a complicated chemical refining
process of enzymatic digestion that converts
the starch and fiber into the unbound, manmade
chemical fructose. While high fructose agave
syrup won’t spike your blood glucose levels, the
fructose in it may cause mineral depletion, liver
inflammation, hardening of the arteries, insulin
resistance leading to diabetes, high blood pressure,
cardiovascular disease and obesity.

The crux of the article seems to be a simple "don't use sweeteners too heavily," but I think it's worth knowing that if you do chose to use a sweetener, agave is neither a sustainable nor a nourishing choice...