Agave bad news?

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Dr Mercola posts an article on dangerous sweeteners (fructose) and I was quite surprised to see this statement:

"Avoid agave syrup since it is a highly processed sap that is almost all fructose. Your blood sugar will spike just as it would if you were consuming regular sugar or HFCS. Agave’s meteoric rise in popularity is due to a great marketing campaign, but any health benefits present in the original agave plant are processed out."


I always used this! :eek: Thoughts on this subject, anyone?

[Aleesha Sattva]

oh cindy we have sooooooooo many threads on this subject. if you do a search on here... you'll find many. here's a few to get you started:

Interesting info on agave syrup (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=19671)

and

here (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=55825)

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Well, thanks, Aleesha! Guess my options are honey, or grow my own Stevia. Oh man, I'm planning to go raw again, last time I was raw, agave was a staple for me. I'm in the middle of watching 'Food, Inc." and this is the first time I've felt the need to go organic. Hmmm, lotsa changes...

[Broken Aquarian]

Any food that's been processed and/or condensed should not be used as a staple because it is not in it's natural form, so it cannot be taken into the body and processed in a normal, healthy way.

That includes powders - things eaten naturally will be chewed and passed through the body, leaving chunks unused as it leaves the body. If it's ground into a powder, we absorb all of it - which may not be a good thing.

More whole foods, less processed foods :D

[Mnbordergirl]

Wait a minute! I got my RAW, blue agave syrup at wholefoods. ARe you guys telling me that it is not RAW!!! :eek:

If so, manufacturers are not meeting their duty to disclose and this is blatant false advertising!!

????:confused:

[Mnbordergirl]

This is the best darn thread ever (the agave syrup).
I am tempted to throw mine down the drain but it cost too darn much.

I am so steamed..

[Sugar Snap Pea]

I have a bottle of it too!!

[snoops]

And yet I use is as well as maple syrup occasionally and it falls into the % that I am not raw and am OK with that.

[RawKnitster]

Agave and maple syrup are useful sweeteners and very helpful during transition. Dr. Mercola is not the last word on this. All agave is not equal. Some agave is high fructose corn syrup. It is my understanding that there is a drug cartel in Mexico that is in the agave business and is less than honest about what is in the agave they produce. That may have given the entire industry a bad rap.

The owners of the raw store I buy from are looking into it. Whatever brand of agave they continue to carry, I will continue to buy.