The Truth about Agave Syrup:
Not as Healthy as You May Think

by John Kohler


A relatively recent trend in raw food preparation is the use of agave syrup (also called agave nectar) as sweetener is called for in raw recipes. I am often asked about my views on this sweetener.

When I first switched to a raw food diet in 1995, agave syrup was unknown and was NOT USED IN RAW FOODS! I first learned about agave syrup back in 1999 or 2000 at a trade show for the health food industry, which I attend regularly to keep up with the latest in the health and nutrition field. I asked several questions, got some samples, and inquired on how the company processed the agave syrup. At that time, I learned that it was processed at roughly 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit, so I certainly didn't consider it a raw food by any means. Just like agave, some people consider maple syrup a raw food, but all maple syrup is heat-treated and is therefore not raw at all.

Unfortunately, there are no "raw labeling laws." Anyone, anywhere, at any time can put "RAW" on their label and to them it can be supposedly raw since it is made from a "raw" material or simply not roasted. Just because it says "RAW" doesn't necessarily mean that it was processed at a temperature under 118 degrees and still has all its enzymes, nutrients, and "life force" intact. For example, when you notice the difference between raw carob powder and roasted carob powder in the store, it is my understanding that the "raw" carob powder has been heated to about 250 degrees, whereas the "roasted" carob powder has been heated to about 450 degrees. The additional heat applied to the "roasted" carob powder causes the carob to "carmelize," thus making it darker in appearance and different in taste as compared to the "raw" carob powder. Some stores sell "truly raw" carob powder, it has a more chalkier texture than supposedly "raw" carob powder. Jaffe Bros in Valley Center, California is a source of the "truly raw" carob powder. There are several raw food snack bars that say "RAW" but have ingredients such as cooked cocoa powder (that can't be raw) and cashew nuts (most of which are not truly raw).

Let's suppose for arguments sake, and to give agave the benefit of the doubt, that even with "new" technology companies are somehow able to process agave syrup below 118 degrees so it could be considered actually "raw". We still need to ask the question, is it good for us? Some foods, even if they truthfully are raw, may not actually be HEALTHY. Based on what I have learned about agave syrup, I believe it to be one of these foods.

My answer to the question, "Is agave nectar good for us?" would be "NO" based on my research. Here is a sample of my findings:

1. Agave Syrup is not a "whole" food. It is a fractionated and processed food. Manufacturers take the liquid portion of the agave plant and "boil" it down, thus concentrating the sugar to make it sweet. This is similar to how maple "sap" that comes directly from a tree is heated and concentrated to make maple "syrup." Agave Syrup is missing many of the nutrients that the original plant had to begin with.

2. Agave Syrup was originally used to make tequila. When Agave Syrup ferments, it literally turns into tequila. The enzymatic activity therefore MUST be stopped so that the syrup will not turn into tequila in your cupboard. Raw or not, if there is no enzymatic activity, it is certainly not a "live" food. As Raw Foodists, we want the enzymes intact.

3. According to my research, there are three major producers of agave syrup. Some of these companies also have other divisions that make Tequila. For the most part, agave syrup is produced in the Guadalajara region in Mexico. There are those within the industry who I have spoken to at various trade shows who say that some of the agave syrup is "watered down" with corn syrup in Mexico before it is exported to the USA. Why is this done? Most likely because Agave Syrup is expensive, and corn syrup is cheap.

4. Agave Syrup is advertised as "low glycemic" and marketed towards diabetics. It is true, that agave itself is low glycemic. We have to consider why agave syrup is "low glycemic." It is due to the unusually high concentration of fructose (90%) compared to the small amount of glucose (10%). Nowhere in nature does this ratio of fructose to glucose occur naturally. One of the next closest foods that contain almost this concentration of glucose to fructose is high fructose corn syrup, which may contain up to 80% fructose. Even though fructose is low on the glycemic index, there are numerous problems associated with the consumption of fructose in such high concentrations as found in concentrated sweeteners:


A. Fructose appears to interfere with copper metabolism. This causes collagen and elastin being unable to form. Collagen and elastin are connective tissue which essentially hold the body together.1 A deficiency in copper can also lead to bone fragility, anemia, defects of the arteries and bone, infertility, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks and ironically enough an inability to control blood sugar levels.2

B. Research suggests that fructose actually promotes disease more readily than glucose. This is because glucose is metabolized by every cell in the body, and fructose must be metabolized by the liver. 3 Tests on animals show that the livers of animals fed large amounts of fructose develop fatty deposits and cirrohosis of the liver. This is similar to the livers of alcoholics.

C. "Pure" isolated fructose contains no enzymes, vitamins or minerals and may rob the body of these nutrients in order to assimilate itself for physiological use.4

D. Fructose may contribute to diabetic conditions. It reduces the sensitivity of insulin receptors. Insulin receptors are the way glucose enters a cell to be metabolized. As a result, the body needs to make more insulin to handle the same amount of glucose.5

E. Consumption of fructose has been shown to cause a significant increase in uric acid. An increase in uric acid can be an indicator of heart diease.6

F. Fructose consumption has been shown to increase blood lactic acid, especially for people with conditions such as diabetes. Extreme elevations may cause metabolic acidosis.7

G. Consumption of fructose leads to mineral losses, especially excretions of iron, magnesium, calcium and zinc compared to subjects fed sucrose.8

H. Fructose may cause accelerated aging through oxidative damage. Scientists found that rats given fructose had more cross-linking changes in the collagen of their skin than other groups fed glucose. These changes are thought to be markers for aging.9

I. Fructose can make you fat! It is metabolized by the liver and converts to fat more easily than any other sugar. Fructose also raises serum triglycerides (blood fats) significantly.10

5. Agave Syrup and other concentrated sweeteners are addictive, so you end up trading a cooked addiction (eating candy bars or cookies) for a "raw" addiction which is not much better. Eating concentrated sweeteners makes it harder to enjoy the sweet foods we should be eating - whole fresh fruit since they don't seem as sweet by comparison.

Whole fruits generally contain a much smaller amount of fructose compared to sucrose and glucose. In addition, fruits contain vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, and other nutrients. Our bodies are designed to digest a complete "package" of nutrition that appears in whole, fresh, ripe fruits. Could nature be wrong? For example, it's always better to eat fruits whole or blend them rather than juice them. When you juice fruits you remove the fiber which helps to slow down the absorption of the sugars. Concentrated sweeteners also contain no fiber and have much greater concentrations of simple sugars than are found in fresh fruit or even juices.

Now that you have a better understanding about Agave Syrup, hopefully the companies selling "raw" agave won't dupe you. They are out to make a buck, which in this case is unfortunately at the expense of your health. If you are making a "raw" recipe and it does require a concentrated sweetener, I have some recommendations for some better options to use instead of agave: (Listed in order of preference.)

1. Use ripe fresh fruits. Ripe fruits contain nutrients, fiber and water, a complete package, as nature intended. I find that ripe and organic fruits are usually sweetest.

2. Use fresh whole stevia leaves. Stevia is an herb that actually tastes sweet but contains no sugar. This herb can be very hard to find fresh, so I personally grow my own. If fresh leaves are not available, get the whole dried leaves or the whole leaf powder. Avoid the white stevia powder and the stevia liquid drops as they have been highly processed.

3. Use dried fruits. If you need a "syrup" consistency, just soak the dried fruits in some water and blend them up with the same soak water. Dates, figs, and prunes are some of the sweetest dried fruits that tend to work well in recipes. Try wet Barhi dates blended with a little water for an amazing maple syrup substitute.

4. Raw Honey is a concentrated sweetener, and although not recommended, in my opinion it is better than agave syrup because it is a whole food and occurs naturally in nature. Of course, honey is not vegan and that may be a concern for some. I recommend purchasing local honey from a beekeeper.

Other "concentrated sweeteners" that are often seen in raw food recipes include:

1) Maple Syrup which is not raw and heat processed. If it is not organic, it may also contain formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals.

2) Sucanat or evaporated cane juice is pure dried sugar cane juice. Unfortunetly this is processed at a temperature above 118 degrees and therefore can't be considered raw.

3) Yacon Syrup is a syrup from the root of the yacon plant in South America. It is once again, a concentrated sweetener processed at a temperature of up to 140 degrees farenheight.

The moral of this article: Eat whole fresh fruits and vegetables, they are always best. Always question processed and concentrated foods that are not found in nature, even if "raw".

References:
1. Fields, M, Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 1984, 175:530-537.
2. Klevay, Leslie, Acting Director of the U.S. Agriculture Department's Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D.
3. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November 2002 Vol. 76, No. 5, 911-922.
4. Appleton, Nancy Ph.D., Fructose is No Answer For a Sweetener, [www.mercola.com].
5. H. Hallfrisch, et al.,The Effects of Fructose on Blood Lipid Levels, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37: 5, 1983, 740-748.
6. J. MacDonald, Anne Keyser, and Deborah Pacy, Some Effects, in Man, of Varying the Load of Glucose, Sucrose, Fructose, or Sorbitol on Various Metabolites in Blood, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 31 (August 1978)): 1305-1311.
7. Hallfrisch, Judith, Metabolic Effects of Dietary Fructose, FASEB Journal 4 (June 1990): 2652-2660.
8. A. E. Bergstra, A. G. Lemmens, and A. C. Beynens, Dietary Fructose vs. Glucose Stimulates Nephrocalcinogenesis in Female Rats, Journal of Nutrition 123, no. 7 (July 1993): 1320-1327.
9. Roger B. Mc Donald, Influence of Dietary Sucrose on Biological Aging, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 62 (suppl), (1995): 284s-293s.
10. H. Hallfrisch, et al.,The Effects of Fructose on Blood Lipid Levels, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 37: 5, 1983, 740-748.

About the author: John Kohler has been on the living and raw foods diet for nearly a decade; he turned to living foods for healing from a life threatening-illness (spinal meningitis) and has enjoyed dynamic health ever since. One of Johns goals is to educate the world about the power of living and raw foods. He is the founder and webmaster of the largest living and raw food website on the internet, www.living-foods.com, and www.rawfoodsupport.com. John is also the number one expert on raw foods appliances and gadgets in the world. He is widely sought out and regularly speaks and instructs at many raw food festivals and events. His area of expertise include recipe demos with 5-7 ingredients or less, young coconut recipes, traveling while raw, rawfood appliances, successful transition to the raw foods diet, and the importance of a fresh organic whole foods diet. He believes that by using fresh, organic, and whole ingredients, that simple, healthy, and delicious recipes can be made with few ingredients and without the use of salt, oil, spices, refined sweeteners or chemical additives. He is known for his pragmatic approach to raw foods and has coached and helped thousands of people to incorporate more fresh raw fruits and vegetables into their diet.

John,

Thank you for this excellent research. Especially for pointing out that agave is not even raw, as many people think it is (as did I).

I was at a raw food prep class at this years Vibrant Living Expo, and the chef was making a raw chocolate mousse. This mouse was made from agave syrup, soaked dates, avocado, celtic sea salt, and raw chocolate. One person in the audience asked the chef if this dish could be made without the dates, because he was concerned about the hybrid nature of the dates, and that he would get too much sugar from these hydrid dates. I had to laugh, since he didn't seemed concerned at all with the agave syrup, with it lack of fiber. Or for that matter the raw chocolate, with its theobromine and cannabinoids and caffeine.

Great info, I kind of had my doubts about using it, but I really had no hard evidence. I'm glad I din't plunk down $20+ bucks for a gallon of agave last week. Thanks!

Wow! I guess it was intuitive that I just have never had a good feeling about Agave and never used it, except for when I bought the raw dessarts at the health food stores that uses it as a sweetener. Tequila huh!? Geeze! That's bad.

Yeah raw honey is definitely better. Make sure the bees are treated right though.

Well, Madhava swears that their agave is raw. They keep close tabs on the process and verify the temperature at all times of production. The syrup doesn't have to be boiled down at a high temp. Have you actually seen the juice of the agave cactus when it first comes out? It's quite thick.

The moral of my statement is don't believe everything you read on the internet. I can find websites that say coconut oil is good and find sites that say coconut oil is bad. Once a product actually starts finding an audience is exactly when you will start to see negative articles appearing about a product.

I can tell you, for example, that hemp seeds aren't really raw even though they say they are. Yes, the government requires that the be heated to a temperature of 140 degrees fahrenheit for a total of 15 minutes to render them unsproutable. Supposedly, they still have enzymes left and also omega 3 and 6 which is why we take them. Also, the moral of my response is that agave is still healthier than a lot of the other stuff out there.

Peace,

Marcos

Go Vegan for your life, your health, the planet and, most importantly, the animals that we share this wonderful world with!

what about the companies that claim their agave has never been processed above 105 degrees? Just curious here because that's what the agave I get says.

OK.. and just for everyone thinking they are going to turn into alcohol bombs.. I just read that YEAST IS ADDED TO ROASTED AGAVE PLANTS to get the fermentation started for tequila and mescal. What this means is that the actual agave enzymes aren't even used in the tequila and mescal making process.

According to the mescal, tequila is only one type of mescal, making process, the agave plant is harvested, chopped, roasted then crushed. Yeast is added to react with the agave sugar.

Sure whole fruits are the best and I agree with that totally. The other claims about fructose seem generally verified except fructose is actually sweeter than sucrose or glucose so people tend to use a lot less of the stuff, which I've found with agave.

My point is that the first post here doesn't really cover it all properly. Everyone do your own research. Follow your body, because in the end it will lead you down the right path. But John I'm glad you brought this up.

Marcos,

only non-shelled hemp seeds have to be heated "de-activated", hulled hemp seeds are usually raw.

Thanks for your info Rawmark and others.
In my own raw food diet I am down to two primary sources of prepared sweetner - agave nectar and blended soft fresh dates.

I prefer fresh organic dates when the flavor of date isn't an issue or is desirable. Bryan and I were both in the dessert preparation demo at the Vibrant Living Expo mentioned above when the person asked about dates being bad for you because they were high glycemic, given there were many more ingredients in the recipe that I question or have experienced negative effects from.

Also what wasn't mentioned anywhere above is that dried dates may have been dried at high temperatures for long term off-season non refrigerated storage. When they are ready to ship, especially in the off season, they are steamed to plump them up and soften them. I haven't witttnessed this process. Experience may have already told you that my statement makes sense. When you soak dried dates the skin has loses its integrity and breaks, leaving part of the date behind in the soak water. Taste that water and you'll experience sweetness and some fiber have been separated from the whole fruit.

My 100% raw diet began in the rainy season when fresh raw organic fruits and veggies are at their lowest variety for where I live and when California dates are in high season, with diferent varieties appearing during the long season, which prevents boredom. 2 questions are asked of our supplier (a major mailorder source for raw organic dates) before my little buying group's regular orders are placed. What is available and is it awesome? I easily ate 4-5 pounds of dates a week and have friends with more experience than me who eat more The other cornerstones of my first raw winter/spring were banannas (the raw fooder's rice) and mangos.

I use Madhava "Organic Raw" Agave nectar as my sweetner of choice when I don't want to add a heavy sweet date flavor to a recipe that I can't sweeten with whole sweet fruit or the juice from such. I notice it is very light in color and thinner than their other agave offerings or other brands. That tells me lower temperature was used to process. My only remaining question for them would be are they willing to publicly declare what the upper temperature limit and length of time of their thickening process is?

My bottom line is this on the agave issue. On a current weekly basis probably less than 1% of my total caloric carbohydrate intake is agave, making it a personal non issue. Typically I use it to tweak a breakfast or dessert smoothie where the sweet fruit I use is not at peak flavor or undesirably tart. Hey, why put even a tiny bit of negative energy into the body to support a belief system that says it's bad to put a teaspoon or two of agave syrup into the smoothie to balance it and make it more enjoyable. I intend to use it in the future particularily if I am making a dessert to share with raw and non raw friends and guests. I respect their right to decide if they'll eat it. I'm willing to allow myself a little flexibility on exact processing temerature issue. It just feels healthier from my experience not to adopt hard and fast rules about an insignificant part of my diet. I heartily concurr with John Kohler when he stresses simple fresh raw ingredients, to which I would add whole (no componenent removed), Harvested at the peak of ripeness, organic (grown without chemical based fertilizers, herbicides, fungacides and pesticides. And if you're usuing a large abount of agave nectar on a regular basis, you might not be achieving optimum gain from your raw food diet.

Yes, all the science above sounds reasonable, but I value my own exploration of my diet and health above all advice. I'm finding my body already has all the innate knowledge it needs to thrive and I'm a person entering the second half of life learning that learning does not come from facts and figures packed into my mind, but from the heart, from experience, making mistakes and running down blind alleys and who is experiencing the highest level of health and fitness of my life.

I'm not saying I could have been successful on my own, quite the contrary, I have wonderful guides who steer me across common pitfalls and shed a little light on the path behind them as they continue their learning. I wasn't really thinking about life lessons when I had my first experience of raw several summers ago, but raw has certainly contributed positive change in my experience of all facets of my life.

My challenge to the people engaged in this forum subject. Question everything you are told or read and consider the source and what they have to gain. I have already discovered that the raw food community has it's share of contradictions and disinformation. Run it by someone you can trust and interact with; who you see has long term success and who can share with you their experience over whaterever facts they have collected. I'm not saying facts are bad; just limited. For me, "long term" means several years of a 100% raw diet which means that they have gone the 4 season cycle experience eating fresh, raw, whole, peak, organic fruits and veggies without any influence of cooked food in their bodies and especially someone who has had more than 15 -20 years of that experience and isn't trying to sell a product other than balanced knowledge which equates to tools to empower you to have the experience of health you desire. I think most people would feel better about such a person's advice. Please know that I'm not saying people who are marketing goods and services are not honest and well meaning or that their wares are bad. Just be conscious of where you chose to get information vital to your health.

Finally. I highly recommend you attend any Raw food event where any of the long term raw fooders are presenting or available. There were a number of them at the event I attended and I really liked what I experienced of them, in their physical appearance, mental attitudes, love of life, gentleness and love of sharing.