Hi Fitness fans,
If your reading my blog you most likely are here to get the most up to date information of health and fitness, which of course includes nutrition. Now, although I don’t claim to be a doctor or nutritionist, I do have a background in exercise physiology and a certificate in sports nutrition so I feel comfortable talking about healthy alternatives to what most of you are choosing to put in your mouths on a daily basis.
As some of you know I send out a bi monthly fitness newsletter.(Send me an email to subscribe) My last issue, June 15, had a recipe for grilled salmon that used Agave nectar as a sweetener for the glaze, along with the alternative, honey. I hemmed and hawed whether or not to include the recipe. However as it was coming down to the wire to hit ‘send’ I didn’t have the time to research an alternative for the syrup while also including the nutritional values, so I left the recipe as it was. As it turns out I made a huge mistake. I received an email from a subscriber, who happens to be my cousin, who just happens to live in that beautiful healthy paradise, Sedona AZ, reminding me why fructose is poison to our bodies. Cousin Dan sent me a video on the research done by Dr.Robert H. Lustig, Professor at UCSF, Division of Endocrinology. I felt it was my duty to get this information out to you ASAP. I have based much of this blog on his video so make sure you watch it.
So why should most of us we steer clear of fructose?
Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and the liver is used to process poisons, which then wreak havoc on our bodies causing disease. Don’t get me wrong. A highly trained athlete like a marathon runner is able to use the fructose and replete their glycogen stores faster than with glucose alone, eg. Powerbar drinks and bars. But if you are using it other that consuming it for athletic training then you are most likely doing damage to your body. Without getting too technical when you take in fructose you generate certain enzymes that are bad for your body. And when you take a compound into your body and in the process it generates various problems, you are basically left with poison.
Make sure you check out this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM (cut and paste into your browser)
One of my objectives as a fitness trainer and wellness professional is to help fight obesity. Everyone always asks me what they should eat and how much. My answer is: if it falls too far from the tree then don’t eat it. Have you ever seen a bottle of juice hanging from your apple tree in the back yard? How about a carton of fortified orange juice? Have you ever seen an ITZ clinging onto a package of real cheese? I don’t know about you but in my yard their are no glass shards beneath my plum tree, only plums. Nor are their ITZ clinging onto my cheese(Well,I don’t eat cheese, since I don’t consume dairy products, other than whey protein powder as a supplement. Which is another blog all together. But I do gift a nice bleu!). You get the point. So if it’s processed it is most likely not in my house and never on my plate. But one of our problems today is that we as a nation…hmmm, let me rephrase that…a world population, are consuming way too much processed foods, including sweeteners. And if you start reading your labels fructose is in almost everything. And Agave nectar is just that, processed fructose.
Is Agave good for you?
Well, after doing a little research, listening to the above video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM , as well as the research done by the sought out raw foods specialist John Kohler, http://www.living-foods.com/articles/agave.html, I’ll let you make that decision. Although I am not a raw foods only gal, whole, raw foods are the building blocks of a healthy vital body, free from disease (notice the word, dis-ease) and including them as the bulk of your diet will allow your body to function at its optimal.
Here is why you want to stay away from Agave nectar as well as honey. This is an excerpt from an article by John Kohler, raw foods specialist( email me if you would like his sitings):
‘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 used in making soda(HFCS 55), which only contains 55% 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.
6. Long-time raw foodist and Medical Doctor, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, M.D. says that agave nectar raises blood sugar just like any other sugar. Dr. Cousens wrote a book, “There Is a Cure for Diabetes”.
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. Please note: Since there are no raw labeling standards, some dried fruit may be dried at higher than 118 degrees, and thus, not really raw. If you want to ensure you are eating really raw dried fruit, it is best do dehydrate it yourself.
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 “rawâ€.’
And instead of reaching for the processed sweeteners try using instead organic fruits and vegetables to make delicious syrups and glazes for your meals and treats!
If you’d like more on this topic or recipes without processed sweeteners please send me an email.
Stay ‘Fit4TheDay’ with debbyK
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