“Let food be
thy medicine and medicine be thy food” - Hippocrates
Agave
The agave
cactus comes from Mexico and is now grown over a wider geographical
area.
Several
different species of the agave cactus plant can be processed to produce
a liquid sweetener. The exact method involved varies according to the
specific species.
The liquid
sweetener produced from this processing may be called agave nectar or
agave syrup.
In every
case the processing involves the use of heat over a couple of days to hydrolyse the juice and
produce the sugars. Other chemicals may be involved in this process.
If you
wish to avoid heat processed ingredients in your diet then you would
exclude agave nectar or agave syrup from your ingredients.
Agave
nectar is virtually 100% sugar. It is about 80% fructose and 20%
glucose. If you wish to avoid refined sugars in your diet then you
would exclude agave nectar or agave syrup from your ingredients. More
specifically you may wish to avoid fructose. See Dr Lustig's video clip
"Sugar: The Bitter Truth"
Agave
nectar is used by the vegetarian community as an alternative to honey.
Honey is not part of a vegetarian diet.
Agave
nectar sweetens recipes without dominating the taste. It is also less
viscous than honey and will readily mix and sweeten without further
heating.
Generally
anything in a bottle, can, jar or carton has been heat processed, unless
you have specific evidence to confirm otherwise. The word "raw" on any
bottle, can, jar or carton has no specific meaning, other than as a
keyword for marketing purposes.
Links
"The
Sweetener Wars are heating up. Dr. Mercola and Mike Adams “The Health
Ranger” have come forward listing agave as the worst “bandito” of all
sweeteners — a claim reminding me of the “Most Wanted” posters of
Mexican criminals I would see whenever I crossed the border between San
Diego and Tijuana as a child."
