Customer Reviews

Wholesome Sweeteners Organic raw blue agave, 23.5-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 6)

5 star:		(108)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This tastes great, I love it in my coffee, and have even used it for pancakes. It really doesn't give me a spike in blood sugar, as promised. The only negative is the packaging they are using. During shipping, some of the seals underneath the lids came off, and the bottles leaked. I probably lost about a tablespoon (each) from 3 of the 6 bottles. The lids don't really fit the bottles, either. They have a pop-top, but if you use it, the syrup sometimes leakes out from under the lid where it attaches to the bottle. If they could fix the bottles, this would definitely be a five-star product.

**Update** The product was not available for a few months, and when it came back--NEW PACKAGING!! My last shipment was sealed up tight. Five Stars for sure, but Amazon won't let me change that part.

Over the years I've done bulk buying for a housing cooperative and have dealt with wholesome sweeteners before - they sell everything from sucanat to organic corn syrup (blech). A lot of the other agave stuff on the market right now is simply from resellers trying to make a buck moving high margin natural foods products - this stuff is from a company that specializes in selling sweeteners and has a reputation for quality. You can't really beat it.

Uses: This stuff is perfect for tea - just a little bit takes the bitter edge off most black / green teas without overwhelming the flavor - and for making raw sweets. A lot of people like to use this stuff for baking, but I find it a bit expensive for this use - honey is cheaper and more readily available. This stuff is really healthy, but has to travel a lot of miles and uses a lot of packaging where both honey and maple syrup can be found locally in gallon jugs depending on where you live. Our coop actually buys honey in 60lb jugs :)

Note: Different companies advertise widely ranging glycemic index values for their agave syrups - enough so to make your head spin at how they could be so widely different for what appears to be the same product. Wholesome Sweeteners advertises 39 or less on their site, which is believable, where some companies advertise values as low as 21 with no analysis to back their claims up. To give you an idea of how this stuff compares glycemic index wise both honey & maple syrup have glycemic indexes around 55, corn syrup's is around 100, and white sugar's is around 110(!).

Agave syrup (nectar) is basically high-fructose corn syrup masquerading as a health food.

Agave nectar has a low-glycemic index for one reason only: it's largely made of fructose, which although it has a low-glycemic index, is probably the single most damaging form of sugar when used as a sweetener. With the exception of pure liquid fructose, agave nectar has the highest fructose content of any commercial sweetener.

All sugar -- from table sugar to HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) to honey -- contains some mixture of fructose and glucose. Table sugar is 50/50, HFCS is 55/45. Agave nectar is a whopping 90 percent fructose, almost -- but not quite -- twice as high as High Fructose Corn Syrup!!!!

Based on the labeling, I could picture native peoples creating their own agave nectar from the wild agave plants. Surely, this was a traditional food, eaten for thousands of years. Sadly, it is not.

Native Mexican peoples do make a sort of sweetener out of the agave plant. It's called miel de agave, and it's made by boiling the agave sap for a couple of hours. Think of it as the Mexican version of authentic Canadian maple syrup.

But this is not what agave nectar is. According to one popular agave nectar manufacturer, "Agave nectar is a newly created sweetener, having been developed in the 1990s." In a recent article now posted on the Weston A. Price foundation's website, Ramiel Nagel and Sally Fallon Morell write,

Agave "nectar" is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant but from the starch of the giant pineapple-like, root bulb. The principal constituent of the agave root is starch, similar to the starch in corn or rice, and a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of chains of fructose molecules.Technically a highly indigestible fiber, inulin, which does not taste sweet, comprises about half of the carbohydrate content of agave.

The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into "nectar" is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HFCS. The agave starch is subject to an enzymatic and chemical process that converts the starch into a fructose-rich syrup--anywhere from 70 percent fructose and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites.

"Agave syrup is almost all fructose, highly processed sugar with great marketing," said Dr. Ingrid Kohlstadt, a fellow of the American College of Nutrition and an associate faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. "Fructose interferes with healthy metabolism when (consumed) at higher doses", she told me. "Many people have fructose intolerance like lactose intolerance. They get acne or worse diabetes symptoms even though their blood [sugar] is OK".

Agave nectar syrup is a triumph of marketing over science. True, it has a low-glycemic index, but so does gasoline -- that doesn't mean it's good for you.

If you simply must have some sweets, a small amount of agave nectar every once in a while isn't going to kill you. Just don't buy into the idea that it's any better for you than plain old sugar or HFCS.

Info is taken from Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S.


So please. I implore each and every one of you to do your own research on this sham of a product and tell everyone you know. Write letters and let the world know that we won't fall prey to loopholes in "Organic Marketing". The fact that so many people use this because they are diabetic is quite frightening.

Blue Weber agave is the lowest glycemic index of agave nectar. This is 100% blue weber, a great flavor, and price. I use it in tea, and baking, or just about any where I would use a bit of sugar. The texture and flavor is like honey. Great stuff!

Vegan. Organic. Raw. Great flavor and consistency. Fantastic vegan substitute for honey. Can use to sweeten any cup of tea. Also great on Van's Blueberry Waffles (vegan) from your local grocer's freezer section. Raw alternative to high temp maple syrups. Organic natural alternative to processed corn syrups. Six stars. Best item "discovered" that I never heard of before trying. This review is out there for those for whom this makes a difference. See all of my reviews for more great choices. Check out "Vegan Grocery Favorites" and "Vegan Grocery Top Ten" in Listmania. Your "helpful" votes count and will be greatly appreciated to benefit the search of others. Thank you.

I was apprehensive about ordering this product as I have no idea how it's going to turn out. Anyway, I can say I like it very much in my beverages and in my baking. Excellent with no harsh taste or after taste. I gave a bottle to my in law and she was pleased with it.

This much I am certain: This stuff is great tasting goo. Agave enhances food items just right and makes for a yummy iced coffee.

It doesn't spike your blood sugar, or skyrocket your glycemic index the way sugar does. With sugar-laden foods I have to fight off coming back for seconds, thirds, and so forth. In our household if we're about to run out we hit the panic button, and order another case.

This Agave product comes as advertised.

We love this natural sweetner. It has a very low glycemic index so it doesn't raise your blood sugar and then make you crash like processed sugars. We use this agave mostly for our teas in the morning and in our raw desserts when they call for a sweetner.

This product is great for baking, sweetening coffee, or any other use that you would use sugar or syrup for. It's taste is not overpowering and it doesn't punch your system the way sugar does.

By far... the best, no after tastes and will not spike your blood surgar levels, worth every penny!