Agave Nectar

Photo by Miguel Á. Padriñán from Pexels

In my last post, I said that the most Paleo friendly alcohol was tequila made from 100% agave (a cactus). This may have led people to think that agave nectar (syrup) is Paleo. There has always been a lot of confusion about agave nectar and I’ve even seen Paleo recipes that call for it, but it definitely is not Paleo.

​After the juice of the agave plant is extracted, it is so highly processed that its sugar is as much as 90% fructose, which is even greater than high fructose corn syrup. Yet it often shows up in health foods and is marketed as a healthy, natural sweetener that won’t spike blood sugar levels because its glycemic index is lower than that of table sugar.

While agave nectar will be absorbed into the bloodstream at a slower rate than table sugar, its higher fructose content is more likely than table sugar to cause health issues such as fatty liver disease and increased belly fat. People may have what’s considered a healthy weight based on their body mass index (BMI), but having extra fat around the midsection can put them at an increased risk for heart disease.