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A few highlights from Sally Fallon in the latest Wise Traditions:
- Agave Nectar is advertised as a “diabetic friendly”, raw, and “100% natural sweetener.” Yet it is none of these.
- Agave nectar is a newly created sweetener, having been developed during the 1990’s.
- Even though, like corn, agave is a starch and fiber food processed with enzymes, it does not require the label “High Fructose Corn Syrup”.
- While high fructose agave syrup won’t spike your blood glucose levels (due to its inulin content), 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.
If you become a member of the Weston A. Price Foundation, you will receive the quarterly Wise Traditions Journal – I devour mine as soon as it comes. You can read the rest of this article there. (It’s $40/year unless you’re a senior, a student, disabled or unemployed, then it’s $25.)
By the way, there are a lot of intelligent commenters here at my site, and at the My Dark Secrets post, scroll down to the comments and you’ll learn a LOT more about Agave Nectar. 
Read more on sugars and the best choices!
photo by Health Guy
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Well, I’m glad to learn this. I had no idea, and was using agave from time to time when I could afford it. Thanks for the info, back to raw honey for us!
Katie’s last blog post..I’m back, and I won!
Do you know anything about “Honey Succanat”? A friend is procuring some for me, and I was wondering if you know anything about it and your thoughts on it.
Katie’s last blog post..I’m back, and I won!
I had such hope for agave. Sigh. Need to stick to raw honey and organic maple syrup I guess!
Julie’s last blog post..How to Make Buttermilk
Katie, sorry I haven’t heard of that, keep us posted!
Julie, I know, I was sad too, because it worked so well in everything, now I know why!
Volcanic Nectar blue agave nectar (and no, I”m not affiliated with them) is certified “Diabetic Friendly” by the Glycemic Research Institute (GRI) of Washington, D.C., a non-profit agency that is the only one of its kind accredited by the FDA: http://www.glycemic.com/index.htm . I don’t think anyone should guzzle sweeteners of any kind, especially if blood sugar is an issue, but tarring them all with the same brush is irresponsible.
Kelly,
As a user of agave for several years now, I admit that I am dismayed to hear this. On the whole, my family limits use of sweeteners. But still, we like to make the best choices for health, so I can see that I am going to have to delve in on this topic! I appreciate all the links in your post to guide me in further research.
~Wardeh
I love agave in my tea. Honey just isn’t as yummy to me in my orange peako cut tea, but it delisious in green teas of all kinds. I don’t like stevia. Maybe I could try coconut or palm sugar…..Off to the little viatnam to the Big Orental Mart!
I don’t have agave nectar and have a recipe that calls for this. Can I replace this with honey or maple syrup? It is for a Fudgy Black Bean Brownines. Can’t wait to make this tomorrow afternooon.
The person who stated that it didn’t raise blood glucose; fructose does not raise blood glucose, that is true. However, fructose raises blood triglycerides tremendously. Hardening up your arteries until you have coronary disease is no great health achievement regardless of what the bg meter says.
Fructose is much more dangerous to diabetics than even plain white sugar (which is only half fructose) since a diagnosis of diabetes already increases the risk of heat disease to the equivalent of someone who’s already had a heart attack.
Tight bg control is necessary for health, but not sufficient. And in particular, fructose is nearly poison for diabetics.
Karen, I get your point, but I don’t totally trust the FDA and rely much more on other information instead.
Wardeh, feel free to post any new findings here!
Rebecca, sorry I didn’t see this earlier, hopefully however you did it it turned out this afternoon. I replace sugars with maple syrup or honey with a lot of success, especially chocolate recipes. Maybe even half of each?
Thanks everyone for jumping in the discussion!
I thought the book SAID to use agave nectar??? Now I’m confused, why all the contradictory info. in the book?
Oh NO! It doesn’t say anything about Agave! Not sure WHY I thought it did?!!! anyone have any info. on the Yes Rapadura/No Sucanat contradiction? I was at the health food store yesterday, and used my best guess that the sucanat made by rapadura was what she was speaking of in the book? no? I couldn’t find anything called “rapadura”
with such a fine family name as Fallon, how could you NOT trust her! haha
(no relation by the way,,,i dont think???)
i recently attended a potluck/lecture with brian clement,wild dude but very informative…his stance is the same concerning agave,so i ditched it completely,never liked it anyway its too watery/syrupy…he also lists ALL sugars (fructose,glucose,sucrose..) including raw honey (my personal fav and only sweetener besides whole dates/fruits/berries )etc etc.. as the leading cause of all health problems..dont quote me verbatim but i’m close …. and frankly i tend to agree with him on that,certainly makes sense.. i have a big sweet tooth but can also “Handle the truth!” many people dont want to hear that..
i wont drop raw local honey,as it has other benefits,but will try to use sparingly~
namaste’
matthew fallon
Nichole, see these two posts for answers to your sugar questions: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/category/sugars-naturalagave-nectar-info
Matthew, I’m with you, I love my sugar, but don’t lie to myself: I know it’s bad stuff. I’m muuuuuuch better than I used to be but still have a ways to go!
Sigh,I am still so dismayed by the agave nectar findings. I know there really are no ‘healthy sweeteners’ (save raw honey for certain issues) and I, too, could benefit from eliminating altogether (then there’s reality.)
Nichole, here is a blurb from Rapadura’s website (consider the source):
What’s the difference between Rapadura and Sucanat?
The way it is processed! Although very similar in appearance and taste, Rapadura is made by just evaporating the water from the organic sugar cane juice. Sucanat is manufactured in a way that the sugar stream and the molasses stream is separated from each other and then carefully re-blended to reach a consistent product. The taste and appearance of Rapunzel’s Rapadura on the other hand can vary according to sugar cane variety, soil type and weather. But it is a whole product in its true sense.
Karen’s last blog post..Flour Power
Karen, I’m sighing with you……
I had my suspicions about agave nectar, but didn’t want to believe it until I saw convincing evidence. To me, it has the closest taste to sugar of all the alternative sweeteners that I’ve had. I’m totally bummed. Especially since I just bought a container of vanilla flavored coconut milk “ice cream” (which, unfortunately, uses agave as its sweetener). Does anyone have a recipe for coconut milk ice cream or know of a brand that uses a different sweetener?
Hi Rachel,
I know, don’t you hate it when something you thought was “good” turns out to be “bad” after all?
Try taking any recipe you find for the coconut milk ice cream, and replacing the sweetener with maple syrup – that’s what I use in our homemade ice cream and it’s SO good.
Kelly
I have been using Xagave (brand name) in place of maple syrup for my children for about 3 years now because my children don’t like the taste of the the real maple syrup. My youngest daughter (8 years) that lives mostly on whole wheat pancakes has had no cavities in the last 3 years and she never brushes her teeth. My son (10 years) has had any cavities also. Xagave also has other minerals in it, so why would it deplete your bodies mineral supply? In the last 6 months I haven’t used Xagave and at the last dentist appointment my son was told he has a cavity in one of his baby teeth. I was using homemade syrup on the pancakes made of water and sugar for the last 6 months.
I’m avoiding processed sugar for fibromyalgia reasons & jones’ing for chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. While looking for a recipe, I found this site. My dad has RA & has been off processed sugar for 2 years. He uses agave, & products made with agave & has had NO flare-ups as a byproduct of these usages. Sometimes, I feel like there’s no balance in these discussions & frankly, I would not wish this particular dietary lifestyle on anyone (I’m not overweight & very healthy otherwise). Why are so many folks avoiding ALL sugar unless they have a real health reason to do so? I believe in moderation and balance. My body is not in balance, so I’m changing my diet to get it there. Why are others on this campaign trail?
Sarah, sorry I’m just now getting back to you!
I can only tell you what the deal is with myself. If I shoot for NO sugar or very little, then I’ll *actually* end up with much less than if I say to myself “all in moderation!” Others, like Anna who comments here often, knows she has pre-diabetes symptoms and wants to catch it before it goes south. And others know that sugar is just no good and messes up any real weight loss efforts. Everyone probably has different reasons, but I’m willing to bet that most are like me, and while we know we should seriously limit sugar in our lives, we still have a loooong way to go.
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