November 19th, 2008What’s the Deal with Agave?
November 19, 2008
As we look at the agave plant, some interesting things emerge that would make it fun to live near one of the more sugar-rich species (there are many species of agave).
Agave nectar is gathered by cutting the stalk right before flowering. Right as the plant readies its blossoms there is a rush of sap (analogous to the flow of sap in the sugar maple trees in the early spring when they are tapped for maple syrup). This rush of sap is capitalized upon by the harvester, who cuts a hole in the flower shoot (stopping the blossoming process) and is then able to gather the sap freely as it pumps right out of the plant for the next 8 months (up to 16 quarts a day!)
Next, a plant enzyme is introduced into the sap to convert the complex sugars into simpler ones similar to those found in honey. The mixture is then dehydrated to reduce the water content so the liquid is thick and syrupy. Most agave is dehydrated at temperatures that exceed 140 degrees, but agave labeled ‘Raw’ is kept below 113 degrees, preserving enzyme content.
This sap or “nectar” is wonderfully sweet and mild flavored, and although it has been harvested in South America since Aztec times, it has been recently gaining popularity in the natural foods industry as a wholesome sweetener for many good reasons.
Agave is most recognized for its low-glycemic index properties. This is largely because, while very sweet, the carbohydrates in agave break down very slowly into the kind of sugars that raise “blood sugar.” The advantage here is that your body will extract sugar from agave like a time-release capsule–slowly and only about as fast as the body can handle it, making it an exciting new sweetening option for diabetics.
This break-down can be assisted by choosing ‘Raw’ agave nectar, which will have a higher enzyme content than heated varieties. The enzymes in raw foods act as ‘keys’ to unlock the nutrients they contain. Any food devoid of its own enzymes will require our pancreas or liver, etc, to produce them. Thus ‘Raw’ agave seems to be the ideal for diabetics and those who wish to avoid added digestive strain.
Some other interesting facts about the agave plant:
The flowers are sweet and edible.
The leaf juice will lather in water like soap with natural saponins.
The plant contains Diosgenin, a chemical also found in wild yam and fenugreek which is a hormonal regulator. Diosgenin is also an anti-inflammatory, a liver protectant, an anti-stress and an anti-fatigue chemical.
Another prominent chemical is Sarsapogenin, which is useful for psoriasis and bleeding gums.
Mezcal is made from the untreated sap of the agave plant. The most well known variety of mezcal is called Tequila! (Don’t worry, the enzyme-converted and dehydrated sweetener you purchase will not turn to alcohol, although if left at room temperature for more than a year, it will begin to ferment.)
We keep both honey and agave nectar on hand for various uses, but one advantage that is unique to agave is it’s ability to dissolve easily in cold liquids, making it more convenient for sweetening teas that have cooled, smoothies or other cold beverages. My favorite brand is Madhava, and I purchase the raw variety in gallon jugs to save a considerable amount of money.
To substitute agave for sugar in recipes follow these 3 rules:
1. 2/3 cup agave replaces 1 c. sugar
2. In baking, to compensate for the extra moisture in the agave, reduce other liquids by 1 fl. Oz. per 2/3 c. agave used.
3. If baking with it, to avoid over-browning, reduce oven temp by 25 degrees and increase time by 6%.
Agave is a marvelous addition to your natural kitchen, take advantage of some today!Traci Sellers
Traci’s Transformational Kitchen: Making Truly Healthful Food Taste Delicious!
www.BestFoodist.com
PRINTABLE VERSION: www.herballegacy.com/Agave.pdf
November 20th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
HI,
SO WHERE DOES ONE GET THE AGAVE MADHAVA? ON THE WEBSITE THEY LIST. LIGHT AMBER, BLUE ETC ALL KINDS OF IT
AND SO WHAT KIND ARE THEY TAKING ABOUT HERE. ?
JAN
November 20th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Madhava is just a brand name of Agave nectar. If you purchase the ‘RAW’ variety there is no deliniation in color. Only the cooked agaves come in light, dark amber, etc. Madhava’s website only mentions the ‘blue’ agave to clarify that they don’t make it. There is a blue agave nectar that is also ‘RAW’ made by Wholesome Sweeteners. Both Madhava Raw Agave Nectar and Wholesome Sweeteners Raw Blue Agave Nectar can be purchased at health food stores and some larger grocery stores. For a list of retailers for the Madhava brand see http://www.madhavasagave.com/WhereToBuy.aspx. You can probably also order it online. I live in Atlanta and I can get some from my local grocery store, (Kroger–very expensive) , Whole Foods Market (also very expensive) and prefer to buy in bulk from The Natural Foods Warehouse, (very cheap). It depends on where you are at. Hope this helps,
Traci
December 8th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
We had a reader contact us because they were concerned about an article found on another website about how Agave is really bad for you (if you are interested, the article can be found here:
http://www.naturalnews.com/024892.html)
We always appreciate concerned readers pointing out things like that.
Here is Traci and Kal’s resonse to the article:
I really feel like this type of question is an excellent time to provide some education. In order for individuals to not be ‘blown about by every wind of doctrine’ or in other words, not be subject to popular opinions to guide them in what they should do…people need to learn to utilize “The Natural Food Filter.” When an individual knows 1) how a food is produced and processed…(question #2 in the filter) then they can make a determination of wether or not a food is truly ‘Natural’.
Without this information, it is impossible to know what we are getting. The information I provided on how the agave syrup is produced is ‘the traditional way’ or the way it has been done on the southern continent since time immemorial. I know of people who tap their personal agaves in the fashion the article describes. Secondly, the brand of agave nectar in the article( ‘Madhava’ ) is produced in this fashion, information taken directly from the Madhava website. I have not researched every brand of Agave Nectar on the market to confirm that their production is as pristine, but if an individual knows what to ask, then they can.
The article on Natural News.com was placed there intentionally to increase awareness that there is corruption that exists in the industry on products that are sweetened with “agave”, much like there was a lot of corruption in the olive oil industry years ago, selling ‘pure’ oils that were fooling the uneducated into thinking they were getting a cold pressed, extra virgin oil. Being aware and having a good Natural Food Filter is the key to being a savvy shopper.
Hope this helps,
Traci
Kal also answers:
Where do we begin?
The use of the Agave plant the way described in Traci’s article is not only the traditional way, it is so outrageously the most cost effective way that one has to wonder why anyone would try to process Agave any other way. Why would you add chemicals to process a product that you only need to dehydrate or heat (if not producing a raw product) to make a healthy, wholesome and tasty sweetener?
The majority of the article is about fructose, with an introductory paragraph that assumes (without citation) that commercial agave nectars contain it. I suspect that the article is simply inaccurate, not to mention the fact that the article does not really talk much about agave, except for very circumstantially. It makes a very loose, non-specific almost accusation about one supposed producer and a looser implication about other producers and then changes the subject completely to high fructose corn sweetener, which no one doubts is really toxic and problematic.
The real question is can you investigate the companies you buy from and can you determine, using Traci’s Natural Food Filter, if what they are doing is natural? If you can, you have nothing to fear about what is healthy and what products you use. If you are going to turn off your own brain and trust someone to make sure that if you shop at a health food store, anything you buy will make you immortal, then you are in big trouble and believing every negative report about new health foods is not going to help you.
The companies we buy from strip the flowers and tap the stalk like maple syrup farms do maple trees. They heat or dehydrate (for the raw stuff) the liquid and it is very cheap and it would do them no good to add chemical processing as that would only increase the expenses and lower the profit margin. It would simply be silly.
I do not know what every company is doing, but the very idea is a little weird. One has to wonder why anyone would do that? It is certainly no cheaper than making high fructose corn syrup and would be far more expensive than just using the sap.
The author of the mentioned article also makes some out of hand remarks about saponins that are nothing short of ridiculous. She mixed in one accurate comment, but in a context that grossly misrepresents the facts about saponins.
It is our opinion that anyone wondering what to do should study Traci’s Transformational Health Principles and learn the Natural Food Filter. They should then do their own investigation and, upon discovering the facts about their company and product of interest, make the obvious choice that nature clearly condones.
Thank you.
Kal
Remember that you can get Traci’s Transformational Health Principle for free at http://www.bestfoodist.com
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Unfortunately, your have some misleading misinformation there — ALL agave has a HIGH PERCENTAGE OF FRUCTOSE (just like the villaneous “sweeneted with corn fructose” kind of fructose) — it is true that some people do not evidence a great deal of concern about this, maybe because agave is known to be low gycemic, so what matterst that it gets, like, just under 80% of its sweet taste from fructose (unless, that is, it has some negatives within the digestive tract itself, i.e., without being absorbed into the bloodstream — which can be a problem with other foods, like too much fats, for example, which can do harm right in the intestines, inundating any number of substances with a layer of fat, in effect “devitalizing” them, or “worse”) — anyhow good articles — i just tried KAL (brand name) agave which was 3 times the price of any of the others in the store — i asked why this was and i got to this page trying to find out — i guess they DO THE WORK to know their source, maybe they even farm it themselves on a small operation, or maybe they have a “quality control” office on every farm site they buy from — YOU CERTAIN CAN TASTE the difference, although this taste difference would not mean much if you used the agave as an ingredient — it tastes different straight on the tongue, though — and the improved (more wholesome, more natural, more “real plant bouquet/ambrosia) taste WOULD POSSIBLY come through if you used it as a DRIZZLE on something like a few pieces of fruit, etc. — keep good, y’all — best wishes — jerry in pennsylvania
March 4th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Jerry,
Thank you for your comments and concern. We maintain that Agave that is raw, such as Madhava, is a great sweetener.
We encourage anyone looking into this to read Kal and Traci’s article closely and also their comments.
As Kal stated above: “The use of the Agave plant the way described in Traci’s article is not only the traditional way, it is so outrageously the most cost effective way that one has to wonder why anyone would try to process Agave any other way. Why would you add chemicals to process a product that you only need to dehydrate or heat (if not producing a raw product) to make a healthy, wholesome and tasty sweetener?”
And then in referring to an article that made the accusation that Agave containts fructose he says: “The majority of the article is about fructose, with an introductory paragraph that assumes (without citation) that commercial agave nectars contain it. I suspect that the article is simply inaccurate. It makes a very loose, non-specific almost accusation about one supposed producer and a looser implication about other producers and then changes the subject completely to high fructose corn sweetener, which no one doubts is really toxic and problematic.”