Agave

All4Raw

Anyone know if agave is alkalizing or acidifing?

Zoe

well all I know is it isn’t raw and as far as I know, all cooked food is acid forming…

deborahann

I’ve checked a lot of different sources about acid/alkaline food since I can’t seem to get to an alkaline state. I’ve seen it as very low acid forming. This was from the book that comes with the pHydrion Home Test Kit.

alpdesigns

Good question. I wondered that myself today as I listened to Dr. Robert Young on Raw Summit 2 and looked up his website. Not long ago it was mentioned here that someone had called Madhava about the temperature reached when making their raw agave and was told that it never got warmer than 115 degrees. It may be wishful thinking, but I would love to believe that it was raw and alkalizing. I’m afraid it may not be either. I use it anyway.

Sweet fruit is acidic, so why wouldn’t a product that is all fructose not be?

Zoe

The only truly raw agave I have seen is sold by Alissa Cohen on her website.

http://www.alissacohen.com/shop/product.php?pro…

Here’s her blurb about their agave:

“We have found the best truly raw agave available! There are many kinds of Agave people are selling right now. All of the brands that have been on the market thus far are processed and heat treated. All the agave is heated to kill the enzymes that cause fermentation and turn it into tequila. Except for this one!
This Agave tastes completely different from any other.
For several months, we have been working closely with a producer of agave nectar whose methods are far more advanced. The Ultimate Real Raw Organic Agave is created without heat using proprietary methods to stop the enzymes from fermenting … that is why this agave is crystal clear!”

Seems like a lot of trouble and expense to go to for a sweetner, what’s wrong with making date syrup guys, it is cheap, easy and raw!

Joesc

Alissa Cohen advocates Braggs Amino and other products that are not raw, and even though I do not consider myself raw, I know many of you are and I would not trust Alissa Cohen to sell truly raw agave, especially since raw Agave is not that sweet. The raw agave is also heated to condense to make it sweeter.

elizabethh

i use agave that particularly says “processed below 118 degrees”. thats raw enough for me.
i don’t know if its acidifying or not, but generally i use it in such small amouns that the amount of things i eat that are alkalizing negate whatever effect the agave may have.

deborahann

I bought the one from Alissa Cohen. It is clear and not as sweet as the others I’ve tried. I bought a large quantity of one that was supposed to be raw but I’d bet it is not.It is faily dark and is much sweeter than the clear one. I try to use it sparingly and use other truly raw sweeteners when I need more quantity

woodchick

Agave needs to be hydrolyzed to turn it’s indigestible starch into simple fructose. The native groups of mexico would do this to make their ‘pulque’ by lopping off the leaves, throwing the cores (Called a ‘pina’, because it looks like a pineapple) into a roasting pit, and slow-roasting for several days. It was a very big deal, and had to be done just right, by a ‘miestro’ If it wasn’t done at a high enough temp, or for long enough, the juices would remain toxic, and the batch was ruined. Heat is essential to the process, and I rally don’t think it would be physically possible to work the transformation without substantial heat.—For reference, your mom used the same basic science to ‘carmelize’ onions in a fryingpan.
In reference to Acid/alkali… this is pure, carmelized liquid fructose, which would give me pause, but most acid/base comments I have seen for agave tend to lump it with Stevia, under Alkalizing. Perhaps, it is because fructose has less effect on blood sugar (?)
One last aside. I have heard rumours at another raw site that some of the agave coming out of Mexico is being adulterated with corn syrup. Seeing that this is a side-line product of the tequila industry, I would not be too shocked by the possibility.

Joesc

Hey woodchick that sounds similar to the process I read that the tequila company does for there Agave. I didn’t mention it because I have no clue where Cohen gets her Agave.