I jumped on the bandwagon early. I started using Agave Nectar
What could be better than a natural “nectar” that even has a low glycemic index? Agave Nectar seemed like the perfect sweetener for a health conscious person like me.
Today, I have to admit that I was duped. Yep, I said it. I was duped.
Agave “Nectar” is not at all what it seems. Rather, it’s another processed food product backed by a very good marketing campaign… a lab-generated super-condensed fructose syrup. Not at all natural or safe. Great news, right?
What’s all over the news these days is to avoid high fructose corn syrup (still very good advice – more on that in a later post). What I’ve recently discovered, much to my dismay, is that Agave Nectar is actually worse than high fructose corn syrup in some ways.
It has the highest fructose content of any commercial sweetener – ranging from 70-97%, depending on the brand. This is much higher than high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which averages 55%.
Our bodies are designed to get our energy from glucose, not fructose. This article does a much better job than I could of explaining why fructose is such a problem when consumed in large amounts.
When I first bought Agave Nectar, I believed that the “nectar” went straight from the Agave plant into the bottle. After all, I was buying a “raw” product. Unfortunately I was wrong. Agave Nectar is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant.
It’s actually made from the starch of the plant’s pineapple-like root bulb. This root is comprised mainly of starch (similar to corn) and a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of fructose molecules.
The process by which agave starch and inulin are converted into "nectar" is very similar to the process by which cornstarch is converted into HFCS.
The agave starch is converted into fructose-rich syrup using genetically modified enzymes (genetically modified is bad) and a chemically intensive process. Here is a partial list of the chemicals involved:
- Activated charcoal
- Cationic and ionic resins
- Sulfuric and/or hydrofluoric acid
- Dicalite
- Clarimex
- Inulin enzymes
- Fructozyme
(Source: "US Patent 5846333—Method of producing fructose syrup from agave plants," Patent Storm")
I don’t know about you, but that does NOT sound natural to me!
So, basically, I have been duped by this marketing campaign around Agave Nectar. I have been spending my money on highly processed high-fructose syrup thinking that I’m being healthy for years. Ouch.
It’s sad that companies can market processed food products as being healthy alternatives, when they’re really much worse than the alternative!
Have you been duped by a deceptive marketing campaign? How did it make you feel?
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m glad you found out about it. The Weston A. Price Foundation did a great article on agave. Maybe you would want to read that. You should be able to find it on http://www.westonaprice.org In the end it’s better to stick with truly natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.
Holy agave. I had no idea. I have been on the bandwagon for years as well … and have come to prefer the taste and texture in everything from oats and tea to baking. I am glad you posted this, because I would have kept paying high prices for a “natural” product as well. Thanks! What a scam and I am so disappointed. Oh well, back to honey. I’ll start spreading the word …
Isn’t it crazy what manufacturers will claim in advertising campaigns? I never bought any, but I stopped longingly every time I saw it at Costco.
Perhaps if use plain old sugar in moderation it wouldn’t be so bad. I there’s almost as much dishonesty in the “healthy and organic” segment of the American food market as in the traditional. Unfortunately, I and many others, are paying top dollar to be lied to. I just read something about the organic tea designation being given to teas that are not really organic. As a heavy tea drinker and one who has been drinking only organic teas for years, I feel pretty angry.
What can we do? There’s so much dishonesty in advertising these days.
The real deception comes from food companies that claim that one kind of sugar, for instance table sugar, is better than high fructose corn syrup or agave nectar. They all have the same number of calories.
A lot of the debate surrounding sweeteners these days is exactly that—a marketing campaign—as you found out looking into agave nectar. But just as you lament jumping on the pro-agave nectar bandwagon; carefully consider before you jump onto another bandwagon. There is no shortcut to losing weight and being healthy. You can’t simply switch from one sugar to another to lose weight. That’s because sugar is sugar, no matter whether it comes from corn, beet, agave, or cane. The key is moderation.
While it’s easy to fall into a trap of pointing a finger at one ingredient—or in the this case, embracing one ingredient—it’s also easy to see how crafty marketers and the diet fad du jour can be damaging to a well balanced, healthy lifestyle. By doing their homework, consumers avoid these traps and lead truly healthy lives.
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