{"id":5979,"date":"2014-06-10T13:52:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fxnutrition.com\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:30:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T15:30:35","slug":"qa-with-andrea-is-agave-good-or-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fxnutrition.com\/blog\/qa-with-andrea-is-agave-good-or-bad","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with Andrea: Is Agave Good or Bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Confused by conflicting nutrition advice? Get Answers from an Expert!<\/h2>\n

Question: Is agave good or bad?<\/strong>
\nThe agave question comes up a lot. Many of the answers in this regard stem from how agave is processed. Some of the confusion lies in the differing methods by which the agave plant (or plants, as there are different species) is converted into a sweet syrup.
\nBut I\u2019d like to focus on another question: How does the body digest agave?<\/strong>
\nNo matter where agave comes from ~ whether it is raw or not; blue, amber or clear ~ for me it all boils down (pun intended) to the same concern within the body.
\nI\u2019ll admit: I was a big fan of agave when it originally hit the market.
\nI was excited that it was a low glycemic sweetener that wouldn\u2019t spike blood glucose like table sugar. But I was unaware of the cost at which that came. When the news started to surface about the detriments of consuming agave, I turned a deaf ear. I couldn\u2019t face the music.
\nHow could my sweet love be causing me harm?!
\nThis is something I started to fully digest a couple of years ago when I first offered You\u2019re Not the Boss of Me!, a detox focused on balancing your blood sugar (the 2014 edition starts on Monday!<\/em>)
\nJust how was my sweetie sabotaging me?<\/strong>
\nAll foods have a chemical structure. What happens in our bodies is therefore a bit of chemistry.
\nOur sweet foods are made up of monosaccharides in varying compositions. The monosaccharides include glucose, fructose and galactose. Simply, these molecules are the building blocks for all our sweets and carbohydrates.
\nThe difference between those three monosaccharides is surprisingly subtle. But a subtle difference in a chemical structure can make a formidable difference in a chemical reaction. When glucose is eaten, it\u2019s absorbed into the blood stream. It then makes its way to the liver where it is stored or broken down to supply the body\u2019s energy. That break down and delivery process requires enzymes and insulin.
\nGlucose can actually move both into and out of the cells. Its movement depends on the concentrations of glucose both inside and outside of the liver. We need glucose for energy and we need insulin production to help us regulate our blood sugar.
\nWe want the rate with which our blood sugar rises and falls to be slow and steady<\/strong> to simultaneously support our body\u2019s need for energy and protect us from the detriments of high blood sugar, which include heart disease, diabetes, inflammation and their related imbalances, and high insulin levels, which can make us store more fat in places that don\u2019t suit us.<\/p>\n

This is why foods low in glucose (ie. low glycemic) got a good rap.<\/h3>\n

\"\"
\nWhen fructose is eaten, that slight difference in its chemical structure takes it on an alternate digestive journey. Fructose is not a direct source of energy for the muscles and the brain as glucose is. Fructose does not go into the blood stream and effect our blood sugar.
\nAnd while this might be seen as a good thing with regards to the regulation of blood sugar, fructose is instead taken up more readily by the liver. There it prompts the liver cells to produce triglycerides, a type of blood fat associated with risk of heart disease, weight gain, liver inflammation and diabetes. For this reason, fructose is sometimes referred to as \u201cthe sugar that acts like a fat\u201d<\/strong>.
\nGlucose converts to sugar in the blood. Fructose converts to fat in the blood and puts some extra stress on the liver and even, for many of us, the colon.
\nUltimately, both lead to undesirable health issues including weight gain. Bummer<\/em>.
\nBut what does all this chemistry and physiology have to do with agave?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Digest this:<\/h3>\n