Agave Nectar: Healthful or Harmful?

When agave nectar burst onto the health food market, many people were excited about it as a substitute for refined sugar. But a growing body of research indicates that agave nectar — which is not, in fact, a nectar and is processed in much the same way as high-fructose corn syrup — might be as unhealthy as HFCS is purported to be.

One article even states that "agave products should carry a warning label indicating that the product may cause a miscarriage." In the highly competitive, high-stakes business of selling alternative sweeteners to a demanding public, how do we know what to believe?

If you believed that agave nectar is similar to honey or maple syrup in being a simple, naturally derived product, you're in the majority. As this recent post on Food Renegade says:

Based on the labeling, I could picture native peoples creating their own agave nectar from the wild agave plants. Surely, this was a traditional food, eaten for thousands of years. Sadly, it is not... It’s not traditional, not natural, highly refined, and contains more concentrated fructose than high fructose corn syrup.

This article at the Weston A. Price Foundation website -- dated last April, when "Agave-gate" started to gain momentum -- explains how agave nectar is manufactured:

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.

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 [as HFCS is reported to do], 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.

What's your take on all of this? Do you plan to investigate further? Will you pour your agave nectar down the sink? Or will you modify your intake and recognize it as a sweet treat that is acceptable in moderation?

(Image: House of Sims, via Creative Commons license)

Posted originally from: TheKitchn

Comments (6)

Thanks for the article.
I have to say however that I looked up the Weston Price Foundation who gave this "information" about Agave Nectar, and they are widely criticized by several people.
Also it's interesting to note that they are very anti-vegan, anti-vegetarian and very pro-dairy. Guess what cows are fed in droves? Corn. Guess what high fructose corn syrup is made of? Corn. Guess who is competing with corn syrup? Agave Nectar. I might be wrong but to me this "research" from the Weston Price Foundation smells of corporate interest to me.

Also, the description is innaccurate in terms of how Agave Nectar is produced. While I can understand the concern of processing Agave Nectar with heat etc.. such as high fructose corn syrup, the authors of said research conveniently leave Raw Agave Nectar out. Raw Agave Nectar is not processed like high fructose corn syrup and so is not comparable at all to high fructose corn syrup. It is safe from what I know and from the research I've done.

I just feel that this research from Weston Price Foundation smacks of undercover corporate interests who don't like the competition Agave Nectar is providing...however I do appreciate the investigation, b/c after all it's important to know what we are eating, so thanks for this article.

Interesting. I was all prepared to jump on the agave nectar bandwagon last year until I discovered the powdered version had corn starch in it. I have a corn allergy. So I figured the nectar wasn't for me. Good thing, I guess.

I don't necessarily agree with Weston Price, but they have nothing to do with corn. They only recommend completely grass fed dairy products.

My husband is familiar with Miel de Agave from Mexico which is made from the sap of agave. He told me that it was crazy expensive and was surprised that it was sold so cheaply here. We were both very disappointed to find out that agave syrup is not the same thing.

Unless you have a medical condition that requires you to avoid sugar, why not just use plain old sugar? It's reasonably low in calories and sweetens well. And it typically comes from natural sugarcane. There are several brands of evaporated cane juice available, and all of them are excellent sweeteners.

I just watched an interesting lecture on sugar. The important take home message from this that a lot of fructose is horrible for you. Much of it turns into the bad fat that causes cardiovascular disease. It also messes with insulin and makes your brain not get the signal that you are full. It is at least one cause to obesity. Also your body treats it a lot like alcohol. You end up with much of the same physical problems an alcohol wood if you ingest too much fructose.

So you might be wandering what this had to go with agave nectar. Well according to Wikipedia, it probably has a ton of fructose! It seems like you can get it with different amounts of fructose. Wikipedia had one source say 56% and another 92%. Maybe there is one with a lot less. This makes it very similar to high fructose corn syrup which is has a 45-55% fructose syrup and a 90% fructose syrup. Sugarcane isn't a better choice. It is a bunch of sucrose which is 50% fructose. Sugar is fruit is also sucrose. Fruit juice is as bad for you sugar-wise as soda. (Fruit isn't a problem because it contains enough fiber to counteract the problems fructose can cause and you end up ingesting less sugar then you would with an equal amount of juice.)

I haven't finished researching if there is actually good alternative outside of not eating it. Honey and maple syrup seem better, but it seems they still have between 30-40% fructose which makes me what avoid using them with anything that isn't also giving me a decent supply of fiber. Of course, there is always the solution of only consuming a little.

Wholesome Sweeteners posted a response to this debate:

http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/NWillertonAgaveStatement1.html