Agave Nectar – Good or Bad?

Back in August of 2009 my family embarked on a natural healing cleanse. One of the major changes we made was eliminating all sweeteners from our diet because we all had an overgrowth of candida, and “sugar” feeds yeast. The one sweetener we were permitted was Agave Nectar. It’s “natural”, it’s raw and organic, it has a low GI index and doesn’t affect your blood sugar/insulin levels like other sweeteners, and it doesn’t feed yeast. And it tastes amazing!

I started cooking with it all the time and adapting recipes to be “sugar free” by replacing the sweeteners with agave nectar. I made everything from ketchup to chocolate cake with this amazing sweetener.

But now there’s some new controversial information surfacing about Agave Nectar, and I would be remiss in not addressing it. A friend of mine, Elayne, brought this article to my attention, and I have quoted the part that had most to do with agave nectar, but the entire article is worth reading in detail.

In spite of manufacturers’ claims, 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.³⁴

The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into “nectar” is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HFCS.³⁵ The agave starch is subject to an enzymatic and chemical process that converts the starch into a fructose-rich syrup—anywhere from 70 percent fructose and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites. ³⁶ (One agave manufacturer claims that his product is made with “natural” enzymes.) That’s right, the refined fructose in agave nectar is much more concentrated than the fructose in HFCS. For comparison, the high fructose corn syrup used in sodas is 55 percent refined fructose. (A natural agave product does exist in Mexico, a molasses type of syrup from concentrated plant nectar, but availability is limited and it is expensive to produce.)

According to Bianchi, agave “nectar” and HFCS “are indeed made the same way, using a highly chemical process with genetically modified enzymes. They are also using caustic acids, clarifiers, filtration chemicals and so forth in the conversion of agave starches.” The result is a high level of highly refined fructose in the remaining syrup, along with some remaining inulin.

In a confidential FDA letter, Dr. Martin Stutsman of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Labeling Enforcement, explains the FDA’s food labeling laws related to agave nectar: “Corn syrup treated with enzymes to enhance the fructose levels is to be labeled ‘High Fructose Corn Syrup.’” According to Mr. Stutsman, agave requires the label “hydrolyzed inulin syrup.”³⁷ Even though, like corn, agave is a starch and fiber food processed with enzymes, it does not require the label “High Fructose Agave Syrup.” Agave “nectar” is a misnomer; at the very least, it should be labeled “agave syrup.”

Agave syrup comes in two colors: clear or light, and amber. What is this difference? Mr. Bianchi explains: “Due to poor quality control in the agave processing plants in Mexico, sometimes the fructose gets burned after being heated above 140 degrees Fahrenheit, thus creating a darker, or amber color.” However, the labels create the impression of an artisan product—like light or amber beer. As consumers are learning about problems with agave syrup, the label “chicory syrup” is beginning to appear as a non-conforming word for the product. Consumer beware! (Source: Weston A Price Foundation)

What about the low glycemic index? Isn’t that a good thing? What about reports that it is causing liver damage?

The Truth About Agave Syrup: Not as Healthy as You May Think (Living and Raw Foods)

Debunking the Agave Myth (That’s Fit)

And finally, a less alarmist viewpoint on the Agave Nectar debate:

Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Agave Nectar: Which Should You Choose? (VegFamily)

I want people to be able to draw their own conclusions, but here’s my personal take: it makes the most sense to stick with sweetener sources as close to their original state as possible, the same way I choose other foods – whole and unprocessed, natural and local. Local honey. Organic pure maple syrup. Unrefined cane sugar. And of course, use moderation in all choices. Will I still buy agave nectar? Not likely, unless I’m doing a candida cleanse, in which I did find it most helpful.

Nomadic Living – on a Bus

My parents were hard core hippies. The first “house” I lived in when I was born was a cabin in the woods with no running water, and no electricity. My dad is a finish carpenter, so all his wood work was done with hand tools.

Next we moved to a hippie commune in Santa Monica, CA. My dad did all the wood work in the health food store that the commune operated, and when I returned 20 years later I instantly recognized his unique style.

When I was around 5 years old, and my brother was 2, my parents purchased an old school bus. Dad converted it to a nomadic home with a little toilet extension on the back. I have amazing memories of that time of our life. We started in Ottawa, ON, and hoped to make it back to Vancouver, BC where we had lived when my brother was born.

We only made it as far as Calgary, AB before the bus died for good. We lived in a friend’s driveway until my parents found work and a place to live. We spent the majority of our childhood in the Strathmore/Calgary area because that’s where this old bus was put out to pasture. Good times.

Re-Decorating an Office for only $10

As you can see in the first two “before” pictures, this office really needed to be re-organized and updated. I don’t function well in chaos or small spaces, and I was finding it difficult to concentrate or get any work done in this cramped over-used space. It was functioning as my work office, my dressing room, storage for both businesses and my sewing supplies, space for my son to play computer games and storage of his art supplies, and space for my husband to use his computer.

I decided to move two of the three desks and computers into other spaces in our home, move my clothes into the bedroom, and make this my dedicated work space.

My vision was a serene, light-filled, minimalist space accented with bright pops of colour. I believe I accomplished my goal by re-purposing furniture and art from around our home.

On the back wall are 5 canvases hung together, three solid colours, and two multi-colours. The two multi-colours were done by dh and I, and are our own interpretation of the same picture. I love how they turned out. The other three canvases were inexpensive canvases we found at the dollar store, painted with the three main colours of the two multi-colour paintings. I had them hanging in my son’s room, but wanted to change out the look in his room anyways, so re-used them in my office.

On the bulletin board I cleared everything off except for some art my family made for me as gifts and a calendar.

The big blue vase on my desk was a gift from my grandma to my mom many years ago, and when my mom passed away in 1998, my grandma told me she wanted me to have it. The red flowers were part of a wedding gift from a family member.

All the pottery came from the recycling depot a couple years ago. They had a sale where you could fill a bag for $1, so I filled two bags full of beautiful handmade rustic pottery for only $2. The pottery was hidden away in the large cabinet in the before picture, and now I have space to feature one of my favorite collections.

One night last summer I mentioned to my husband that I needed a desk with more work space. I was on freecycle that night, and someone was giving away the big desk.

The orange dresser was given to me from a friend.

I angled the desk in the middle of the room so I have room to have a couple seats in front of my desk for client consults.

So basically I just collected stuff from around the house and only spent $10 at the dollar store for the storage boxes to re-decorate the whole room… I love how it turned out!

Gulf Island Snow Day

It started snowing yesterday afternoon around the time the kids got out of school. B had the car in town picking up supplies, so I walked to the school to pick ds up and we walked home together in the snow. Sometime around 10 PM we lost power. As far as I can tell the power was restored around 7 AM this morning. We got up at our usual time, got the kid ready, and the boys went off to school. Not even 10 minutes later I hear them both returning. School canceled! Seriously?! There’s less than 2 inches of snow on the ground and it’s melting quickly because the snow has turned to rain. I had to laugh.

I grew up in Calgary, AB. It wasn’t unusual to go to school in -30 degrees Celsius during heavy flurries. School was rarely canceled. People were ready for winter and we just carried on as normal. School was only ever canceled when it was literally impossible to get there.

Sometimes weather conditions would slow you down, but we were hardy Albertans who took it in stride. We had a 45 minute commute to school over the open flat prairie from Strathmore to Calgary every morning. The prairies are known for intense windchill, and sometimes it was difficult to see where the road ended and the ditch began. Blizzards could blow in with very little warning, and drivers would creep along, following taillights in the snowy blur ahead.

On one particularly memorable dark early morning when we were on our way to school, I was sleeping in the passenger seat with my feet shoved up under the dash as close to the heat vent as possible. My dad always blasted the heat on high when he was driving, and the darkness, heat, and motion of the vehicle often lulled me to sleep on our commute. Suddenly I awoke with a start to see the front end of the van plunging into a snow-filled ditch.

Dad was a work-a-holic, putting in 16-20 hour days to support his wife and 5 kids. Fatigue had finally caught up to him, and he had dozed off while driving. It was just a brief set back though. The shovel in the back of the work van was retrieved, a friendly bypasser stopped to help, and before long we were back on the road, on our way to school.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this typical west coast response to a little “weather”. It just seems so ludicrous to this Alberta girl.