Some very disheartening evidence have come to light concerning agave nectar - and it's relative health and safety. I happen to love the taste, and the fact that it's so heavily promoted as a low-glycemic choice for diabetics has a certain appeal. However, I've uncovered several disturbing articles recently from seemingly reputable sources which actually reveal that agave is far from 'natural' and is, in fact, a HIGHLY processed manmade sweetener that may even be as harmful as high-fructose corn syrup when consumed in large doses. YIKES!
This is so sad... and potentially bad news for bakeries like BabyCakes in NYC - who use agave generously in their cupcake recipes. I'm not too scientifically minded and will spare you all my trying to explain the specifics of what I found out... but I will include a link to one of the articles I read so that you can decide for yourself how you feel about it. There is certainly more information out there to back this claim - and if you have any interest you can peruse google to learn some more...
Is anyone else as bummed about this as I am? What alternatives to refined white sugar does this now leave, besides perhaps maple syrup and honey - which some vegans object to. Fruit purees? Brown rice syrup? I'm inclined at this point to use evaporated cane juice (basically sugar that's not been so highly processed) in my recipes and just be mindful of how much I personally consume - given my relative sensitivity to all things sugar. Arrg...
Anyway - here is the article. Not so happy reading...
PS... if anyone has any convincing evidence to the contrary - I'd love to hear from you as well :)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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Hi Kelly, yet again we are in sync. I gave up sugar a couple of months ago and have been using Stevia. I decided when I was coming to the end of the box that I would experiment with some other sweeteners and Agave was next on my list. That was about three weeks ago. Two weeks ago I stumbled across some information similar to what you have found and I then wondered if I should use it or not. I decided to wait and see if I find some more information.
ReplyDeleteYour post is very timely as it seems to confirm what I have read. I would also be interested if anyone has contrary evidence as I will have to make a decision within the next couple of days when my Stevia runs out. Please let us know if you find out anything more.