Heavily processed with little nutritional valueīecause the agave plant doesn’t produce a lot of nectar all at once, in order to turn it into a consumable syrup, agave needs to be heavily processed and extracted, which results in very minimal nutritional value.When fructose is passed through the liver in large quantities, it essentially overloads it, and the fructose will start to be converted into body fat – the exact opposite reaction you’d want to experience from a sugar alternative. While it may not spike our blood sugar levels, it definitely has the potential to cause some serious metabolic harm by increasing risk of high blood pressure, cholesterol, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. When processed, the fructans in agave nectar end up behaving similarly to corn syrup in our digestive tracts. Side Effects of Agave NectarĮven though agave has a low glycemic index value compared to sugar, in a lot of ways it’s considered bad for us because of all the fructose it contains to make up for the lack of glucose. This anti-microbial properties are part of way ancient civilizations also used agave to treat wounds. Saponins have been known to fight against inflammation within the body, and can help with fighting off bad intestinal bacteria. A lot of this comes from the saponins that are found within agave. After a testing period of 34 days, the mice who were consuming agave nectar gained less weight and had lower blood sugar and insulin levels than the ones eating sugar.īoth groups however still did gain weight, so agave is more effective as a sugar replacement for those with high sugar diets, not necessarily as something that should be introduced to an already low-sugar diet.Īgave nectar has been used for centuries in various types of healing because of it’s anti-microbial properties. One recent study exploring this connection observed the metabolic results in mice that were given agave nectar versus mice that were given plain sugar. Instead agave gets its sweetness primarily from fructose.
It has a glycemic index value of about 11, which means it’s far less likely to cause spikes in your blood sugar levels, which is important to both keto dieters and diabetics.Īgave nectar gets its low glycemic index value because unlike sugar, it has trace amounts of glucose. Benefits of Agave NectarĪgave is often touted as a generally better alternative to sugar because of its low impact on our blood glucose levels. The sap or nectar of the agave itself is fairly healthy, and has some natural fiber, but unfortunately most processed versions of this food strip it of all its important dietary fiber and other nutritional benefits. This means that a little goes a much longer way, which can be pretty cost effective for producing sweet goods and drinks in bulk. This level is lower because agave doesn’t have any glucose in it, as it’s mostly made up from fructans.Īnother reason agave is commonly used as a sugar substitute is because it is generally sweeter than sugar, honey, and other alternative sweeteners. One of the main reasons that agave is used as a substitute for sugar is because of it’s low glycemic index (GI) value, meaning it has a lower effect on blood sugar levels compared to consuming sugar, which can be great for anyone trying to keep their blood glucose stable, especially people who struggle with diabetes.Īgave nectar’s glycemic index level is around 17, compared to table sugar’s much higher 68.
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