Healthy eating is a highly subjective, ever-changing concept.
Much like religion, there are several schools of thought with avid followers on all points of the spectrum. A bodybuilder and a macrobiotic vegan are unlikely to agree on what qualifies as healthy or unhealthy. The same goes for people who follow IIFYM (“if it fits your macros”) versus those who follow “clean eating.”
Debunking the nutritional quality of a specific food can be more cumbersome than you realize, thanks to companies who make it increasingly more difficult for consumers to differentiate between what has nutritional value and what is glorified shit-food.
A product that is almost unanimously misunderstood to be “healthy” is agave nectar, an amber-hued sweetener that is thinner than honey and sweeter than table sugar.
Common opinion about agave includes the following:
- It is raw and unprocessed
- It has anti-inflammatory/antioxidant properties
- It is “healthy”
Via: consostatic.com
The truth? Agave nectar does have a low-glycemic index, which makes it seem “healthy” to consumers, but this is only because it is primarily composed of fructose, as in the stuff in high-fructose corn syrup.
In fact, agave nectar contains more fructose than any other sweetener, including HFCS. All sugar contains a ratio of glucose and fructose; table sugar is half and half, HFCS is 55/45.
Agave nectar is 90 percent fructose.
Fructose is the “unhealthy” component of all sweeteners. The following health issues are linked to consuming an excess of fructose:
- Insulin resistance
- Heart disease
- Metabolic syndrome
- Fatty-liver disease
- Weight gain
The component of the agave plant that is relatively healthy, fibrous inulin, is virtually nonexistent in the highly-processed agave nectar.
Agave nectar does represent triumph, but not for nutrition. Instead, the triumph shines from the glistening foreheads of the morally-questionable marketing experts responsible for somehow convincing the general public that this is a legitimate health food as opposed to a one-way ticket to Diabetesville.
The name itself, “agave nectar,” implies that it’s found in nature. This is not the case. In reality, agave nectar was developed in the 1990s and is produced primarily in Mexico. It is not a nectar at all, but a syrup.
Via: evewaspartiallyright
For those who believe it to be “raw,” consider the production process:
- Agave americana and tequiliana plants are harvested.
- Seven to 14 years later, the leaves are cut off, and then the juice is pressed from the plant’s core.
- This juice is filtered and heated, causing the polysaccharides to turn into simple sugars.
- This hydrolyzed juice is then concentrated into a syrup.
- Caustic acids, clarifiers and filtration chemicals are added to the equation to turn the syrup from 70 to 90 percent fructose.
If you consider that unprocessed, consider me Ann Coulter.
Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether or not you are willing be a victim of the expert marketing behind a potentially debilitating product.
In the words of Johnny Bowden, “True, it has a low-glycemic index, but so does gasoline — that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”
Featured photo courtesy of: nativesunjax
