The marketing of food products is a tough and cut throat business. There must constantly be new and supposedly  improved products or the marketing machine grinds to a halt.  It is no coincidence that nearly every product you can buy has been fortified with the latest miracle nutrient or substance.  As I walked down the aisle of my local grocery store today I had never seen so many products with omega 3s and acia berry.  The funny thing was I was not in the fish aisle or the produce section, but in the dairy.  As far as I know none of these foods naturally contain either one of those other two substances. Anybody ever think that maybe there is a reason for that?  Just by putting something that is suppose to be healthy in a product, this seems to give license to claim that that food now has the same beneficial properties.  I am not convince it works that way, but I am already getting off topic about what I want to talk about and that is natural and organic sweeteners.

The two words “natural” and “organic” are probably some of the biggest marketing buzzwords over the last few years.  If those two words appear anywhere on a label, the consumer has been taught to automatically assume “Healthy”.  So with these two words plastered across cereal boxes and granola bar packages the consumer leads the charge to the cash register confident in the knowledge that the extra money they are doling out is well worth it for their increased health. Most of these products contain 3 or 4 different “natural sweetners” but no actual sugar appears on the label.  If fact the claim “no sugar added” is often emblazoned  across the box.  True, no actual sugar was added. None was needed.  The natural cane extracts and fruit nectars are more than sweet enough, and no less damaging to your waistline than pure white sugar.

One of the latest natural sweeteners to make its appearance  on supposed health food is pure Agave nectar or Agave syrup.  This sweet elixir comes from the blue agave plant, the same plant used to make tequila.  Extracts from the blue agave plant have shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and contain many anti oxidants.  There is no evidence that these health benefits are carried on to the commercially made syrups. Of course that does not stop the syrup from being marketed like it is a proven scientific fact. Since we are speaking of facts, lets look at what we actually know about Agave syrup.

Agave syrup is an amber colored liquid that is thinner than honey and much sweeter than sugar. Many companies promote it as health food because it is gluten free and also is suitable for vegan diets.  The biggest hype about agave is that it scores very low on the glycemic index. This allows it to be marketed as a diabetic friendly sweetener.  This is no small advantage as diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in the western world.  Everything here seems to look pretty good.  Like most things, if it looks too good to be true it probably is.

The reason for agave syrups low glycemic index is because it is almost completely fructose (up to 90%). Fructose does not have much effect on blood sugar but  has been shown to have some very metabolically damaging effects on the body when used in high concentrations as a sweetener.  Fructose causes insulin resistance and raises blood triglycerides.  In studies fructose was also linked to increases in belly fat.  All of these factors can lead to the onset of diabetes and heart disease.

If you have read my previous blogs you might be a little confused.  I even wrote a blog titled In defense of fructose. Have I flip flopped on this sweet substance?  No not at all.  As stated in the previous post, fructose in its natural state (fruit) is just fine. The reason for this is the concentration of fructose in fruit is actually quite low. An apple for example is about 7% fructose.  The rest of the apple is made up vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, and probably hundreds of other healthful compounds that we don’t even know about yet.  All of this is put together in perfect combination to make a nutritious healthy food.  When fructose is commercially extracted from fruit (or agave) all of these compounds are stripped away and all that remains in a very high concentration of fructose.  This high concentration is what causes the metabolic problem.  Agave syrup can be up to 90% fructose. Even high fructose corn syrup cannot match that coming in at 55% fructose.

The take home message here is don’t fall for marketing that claims just because something is natural it is healthy.  To be fair a small amount of agave syrup once in a while probably will not do you any harm.  Just don’t convince  yourself that it is healthier than plain old sugar.  if you really want a quilt free sugar fix, grab some fresh fruit.  That is something you can feel good about, no marketing required.

kevin@kevinweiss.com

If you read my last blog you know two things

1) Kevin loves coffee

2) Coffee has no downside

OK I admit it, I am stretching it a little with #2.  Lets revise that statement and say coffee has fewer downsides than many people have been lead to believe by previous studies.  Yes dear reader, I have put coffee in bold letters for a reason. You see many people who swill sweet java by the bucket assume that coffee and caffeine go hand in hand down the merry path to health benefits.  This may not be the case. It seems many of the studies that found positive effects from drinking regular coffee found similar benefit when  decaf was used. To quote Mr. smarty pants professor Rob van Dam from Harvard “Most of the benefits associated with coffee are not attributed to caffeine.” It seems the beverage, regular or decaf, contains antioxidants and quite a number of vitamins and mineral.

So lets review.  Coffee good, caffeine bad.  Well its not quite that black and white.  In my over 25 years of bodybuilding caffeine remains near the top of my list of substances that I believe  actually does something.  Although it will contribute very little to your bulging biceps and six pack abs directly, the mood boosting effects alone make it worth the minuscule price. Muscle is built and fat is lost by long term intensity and effort in the gym.  If a double espresso helps you haul your carcass into the gym at 5 am or after a mind numbing 10 hour day  of  working for the man (I am either too old or too young to know what that even means) I say bottoms up, As long as you are not going to get overly sensitive on me.  Follow me a little further down this rabbit hole Alice.

Some people should never or rarely have caffeine.  I am not talking about the obvious candidates like pregnant women, people with anxiety disorders, or high blood pressure issues. I am talking about normal healthy people who have one cup of coffee in the afternoon and can’t sleep until Halley’s comet makes it next appearance. Even researchers that came out very pro coffee recommended people monitor intake and evaluate how they react to the stimulant.  If you experience symptoms of jitteriness, anxiety, tremor, or difficulty sleeping, even with small amounts, caffeine is not for you. Some people are so sensitive that they can experience migraine like symptoms from the smallest amounts. NO COFFEE FOR YOU!  Unless its decaf of course.

Another group that should limit or avoid caffeine is children and teenagers. Somewhat surprising is the fact that this age group is one of the largest consumers of the stimulant.  With the massive consumption of soft drinks, frappuccinos, and energy drinks among todays younger generation, the amount of caffeine that can be ingested in a day is staggering. Daniel Evatt of the department of psychiatry  at John Hopkins University School of Medicine had this to say about young people high intake of caffeine. “They already have enough ups and downs with emotions as it is; when you add caffeine into the mix, its a problem. Their bodies are just not equipped to handle it.” He also notes that energy drinks are regulated as supplements. This means unlike soft drinks there is no limit on how much caffeine they can contain. Many of these drinks can contain 2-3x the amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, and because they taste sweet this only ups the consumption. You would think with all this extra energy these drinks are suppose to provide they  would have enough energy to pull their pants ups!  Scene shoots to me, sitting on the porch, shaking my fist at the young whippersnappers in the neighborhood.

OK lets wrap this up.  My stance on coffee has not changed. I sip on one while I write this. I should say, like everything else in life, moderation is key. I am one of those individuals who has really no sensitivity to caffeine. I can drink coffee a couple hour before bed and sleep just fine. Some say this is because I have become immune to the effects of caffeine.  Maybe that is true.  My point is I have no noticeable negative side effects.  Also I almost never drink soda or energy drinks. My caffeine comes from black coffee. No studies have ever found any health benefit from where a large percent of the caffeine is consumed.  So if you enjoy a cup or two in the morning or one before your workout, good for you. Continue on quilt free.  If you are some one who does not tolerate caffeine, its OK.  We can still be friends. I will order you a decaf. If you want a frappaccino I might have to rethink our friendship though.

kevin@kevinweiss.com