Follow Us On
 |
 |
Home 
Articles REAL Food Toss It Out Agave Syrup
Articles REAL Food Toss It Out Agave Syrup
| Agave Syrup |
 |
 |
Agave Syrup or Agave Nectar fooled us for a while. We probably knew on some level - it had to be too good to be true - but just didn't want to believe it. How could something so sweet be good for us, right? Agave Syrup/Nectar is not a natural sweetener - it's highly processed and has more concentrated fructose than High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). It's actually processed in a similar way. According to Sally Fallon Morel and Rami Nagel of the Weston A. Price Foundation, here's the Big Dirty Secret About Agave[1]:
"In spite of manufacturers’ claims, agave “nectar” is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant but from the starch of the giant pineapple-like root bulb. The principal constituent of the agave root is starch, similar to the starch in corn or rice, and a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of chains of fructose molecules. Technically a highly indigestible fiber, inulin, which does not taste sweet, comprises about half of the carbohydrate content of agave. The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into “nectar” is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HFCS. The agave starch is subject to an enzymatic and chemical process that converts the starch into a fructose-rich syrup—anywhere from 70 percent fructose and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites. That’s right, the refined fructose in agave nectar is much more concentrated than the fructose in HFCS. For comparison, the high fructose corn syrup used in sodas is 55 percent refined fructose. (A natural agave product does exist in Mexico, a molasses type of syrup from concentrated plant nectar, but availability is limited and it is expensive to produce.)"
So, Toss Out Agave Syrup/Nectar and stick to REAL food sweeteners like maple syrup, raw honey, coconut palm sugar, date sugar, or sucanat - in small amounts of course. Moderation is key! Source: 1. Fallon, S. and Nagel, R. (2009, April). Agave Nectar: Worse Than We Thought. Retrieved on January 5, 2012 from http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-foods/agave-nectar-worse-than-we-thought
|