Last summer, I told Farmer Chuck — the king of everything delicious at our CSA Sunrise Farm — that the onions we'd been getting in our basket were...
Read MoreAgain With the Agave Poison
Thanks to CrossFit Invictus for laying down the science on a sneaky sugar poison. Some tasty quotes from the article…
It’s a Refined Sugar
“Don’t be fooled by words like “organic” and “natural” on the labeling. Substituting your usual sugar with agave nectar is far from making a healthier choice… The fact that its manufacturing process is patented should probably be a big clue that it’s not as “natural” as they would like you to think.”Agave Nectar Makes You Fat
“High-fructose corn syrup is the primary sweetener that you find in most sodas, ‘sports’ drinks, and many other foods, and it contains about 55% fructose and 45% glucose. Agave nectar, on the other hand, contains about 90-97% fructose and 3-10% glucose. I guess marketers decided that agave nectar sounded better than ‘really freakin’ high fructose syrup.'”Agave Nectar Might Kill You
“According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, fructose consumption has been directly linked to obesity. Instead of being digested in the small intestine, fructose passes unchanged into the portal vein where it is directed to the liver to be processed. Once in the liver, fructose is broken down into components that readily form triglycerides.”
Need more? My favorite punk rock foodie at Food Renegade also demystified agave nectar and answered the question: Agave Nectar: Good or Bad?
Bottom line: “It’s not traditional, not natural, highly refined, and contains more concentrated fructose than high fructose corn syrup.”
That sounds like “bad” to me. But read her whole post and get down with some sweet science.
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Dam marketers!!! Shame on them! So dam confusing sometimes you really have to do your research.
From this article and the many, many research papers I have read on the subject (mainly concerning HFCS), I remain convinced that the quantity of sugar in the modern diet is far more problematic than the form in which those sugars are consumed. Certainly there are physiological differences in how different sugars are metabolized, but both glucose and fructose have pros and cons.
Regardless, the point remains that people shouldn't interpret labeling like "natural" and "organic" as carte blanche to consume without questioning. That assertion I most certainly agree with.
Thank you for this informative post…VERY good to know!
Hi, Great to see you this morning in the gym even if it was just a quick HI!! Will have to do a catch up social with all the girls sometime in the near future!
Carey! I think you were a good luck charm this morning! And yes! I would love a girls' get-together. Let's do it!
And this article is why you're my new hero 🙂 You are obviously intelligent! I hate the new supposed health claims of agave! It makes me cringe every time I see it!