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Joe Mercola and GreenSmoothieGirl on agave


Robyn Openshaw - Apr 26, 2010 - This Post May Contain Affiliate Links


In the natural health space, Joe Mercola is very much a Goliath, and I’m very much a David. Today’s topic: my affinities and differences with his philosophies.

Dr. Mercola responded to my blog posting and newsletter of a week ago, about agave.

I stand firm that drawing fear-based parallels between raw, organic agave from a reputable company and tequila or HFCS is “ridiculous” as I said before.

A raw agave plant is to agave is to HFCS—as an orange is to orange juice is to Tang.

I disagree with Joe Mercola on a variety of issues, including his promoting and selling whey protein, beef, tanning beds, and his metabolic typing theory with no real basis in science.

This whole agave controversy reminds me of something I remember from when my kids were little. There was a group of parents who were furious with the Barney show. The parents decided to form a coalition to fight the producers because they’d decided Barney was really the devil in a big purple suit, teaching kids about séances and witchcraft. The lawsuit, as I recall, referred to Barney the Dinosaur as promoting Satanism.

As a young mother, I remember reading about it in the paper and laughing out loud.

There are so many true evils in the world hurting children. Sweat shots, kiddie porn. Too-heavy backpacks full of textbooks. Let’s not forget McDonald’s products and marketing program. Just to name a few.

Why spend precious energy creating fear about a harmless TV show that has the dinosaur imagining things and disappearing?

That’s how I feel about the agave controversy. Again, I disagree with People Magazine calling it a “superfood” as much as I disagree that it’s going to hurt us when used in moderation.

I have interviewed experts as well. I feel confident that predicting nutritional catastrophe because someone adds a bit of agave to her green smoothie takes away from the real, more meaningful debate.

Let’s attack the true villains gaining traction in the food world: Monsanto; modern practices in raising beef/poultry; corn/soy products taking over the food supply; processed foods; fast foods; GMO foods; pasteurized and irradiated foods.

There’s plenty of evil without attacking the little bit of maple syrup, honey, agave, or stevia we whole-foods advocates use. (Each of those has pluses and minuses. Agave’s pluses are lower blood sugar impact as well as availability in raw/organic form.)

The whole debate takes away from the basic premise I reiterate here over and over:

Plant foods are good preventive medicine. We alter them to our detriment. We have to get back to our roots. Less processed is better, less concentrated sweeteners is better, more natural is better. Whole is good; fractionated and refined is bad.

And I want to say this about Joe Mercola. Some of the things he promotes seem oversold or a bit paranoid to me, and others are counter to what I teach on this site, like an incredibly expensive tanning bed being a good way to get Vita D. However, I respect him tremendously for being one of the first on the internet to start educating people about natural healing. He is smart and educated, and I believe he has good motives.

He and I have the same goal of educating people, empowering them, to eat natural foods and live a lifestyle that avoids reliance on medical solutions such as drugs and surgery.

I agree with Mercola about far more things than I disagree with him about. I appreciate his commenting here on my blog.

Posted in: Whole Food

17 thoughts on “Joe Mercola and GreenSmoothieGirl on agave”

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I have to say that agave does not have a lower impact on blood sugars. It was raising mine so that I would not recommend agave for diabetics. I would recommend stevia.

    1. Robyn Openshaw says:

      This is yet more evidence that all agave is not equal and finding a good source is important. (David Wolfe’s article is well done and points to that.)

    2. Robyn Openshaw says:

      Depending on the diabetic . . . it should raise blood sugar far LESS than honey/sugar/etc., IF it’s a good source like Xagave. But stevia has zero impact and is best for diabetics.

  2. For a while I was totally sold on Mercola’s stuff. I think he has a lot of truth to say, but it feels like he creates more controversy than clarity. But I agree, it is good that people are able to think about their health more and more with the help of his website and newsletters. I was a bit curious about the tanning beds as well…Maybe one would be necessary if I lived in Alaska….or Forks, WA….ha ha

  3. Well written and I agree with you. Mercola is great for some things, and I disagree with others. 😉

    Cheers,

    Kristen

  4. Anonymous says:

    I came across this blog today that also addresses the issue; thought you might find it interesting. http://www.embracinghealthblog.com/2010/04/14/agave-healthy-or-harmful/

  5. Anonymous says:

    The agave I bought was David Wolfe’s brand.

  6. Robyn Openshaw says:

    The problem with David Wolfe’s report on agave . . .

    David Wolfe sells agave.

    He’s mostly attacking a specific source, but readers can misconstrue that, with all the sources quoted, and the article being rather well written, to mean David Wolfe thinks agave is bad.

    Again, he doesn’t think it’s bad if he sells it. (Not that David Wolfe–or Mercola or yours truly for that matter–is the end-all, be-all, final word on anything.)

    I agree with both him and Mercola that sourcing can be a problem. I think quite a few sources have strict standards and oversight, however, including some of the biggest ones like Madhava. I think that Mercola unnecessarily creates paranoia that everyone out there is trying to pass off HFCS as agave.

    Most companies, including in third-world countries, are run by honest people wanting to provide the ACTUAL product they say they’re making. Most businesses know that integrity is critical in long-term success. Let’s not get carried away in maligning entire swaths of the food chain. This issue has yet to fully settle. But it will eventually settle: the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle.

    –Robyn

  7. Robyn, this is a beautifully written blog that wraps up in a nutshell exactly how I feel too. I would never demean the tremendous work that Dr. Mercola has done, and he has been my personal guru for many years. However, once I learned a thing or two about a living foods diet last year, I too have some disagreements with some of his specific beliefs.

    I’m 46 yrs old and I have been a raw vegan for about 8 months now, have lost 52 lbs, my asthma and acid reflux have disappeared, and I know I am healthier than I’ve ever been in my life! If I squirt in a bit of raw agave nectar when I’m mixing up a batch of my chocolate nut fudge, I really don’t think Satan himself is going to come after me, LOL!

  8. Anonymous says:

    David Wolfe does not sell Agave, he used to when he ran Sunfood which he no part of. This is explained in the article here http://www.sacredchocolate.com/agave-blues-david-wolfe

    Agave is definitely NOT a diabetic , hypoglycemic friendly food. Test it on yourself with a blood sugar monitor and you will see. Gabriel

    Cousens M.D. also abandoned agave many years ago because it was throwing many people out of balance.

    Of course a little in a green smoothie for the balance of sweet is if you do not have any sugar issues.

    Gabriel Cousens talks about a key to longevity is keeping our insulin in balance (not sure the exact technical term here)

    I remember when it came out and everyone said it was low glycemic sweeter and I bought it too. The reaction in my body is very different to a raw honey or a fresh fruit, makes me edgy.

    Love

    Philip

  9. Anonymous says:

    Robyn

    I follows your posts and info, rawvegan, I work out a lot, making a prototype of a fastfood vegan restaurant, food production, etc.

    I sent you an email after your post on agave.

    I have been in the healthfoods industry for 30 years, I live in a small alpine town in the state of Jalisco, where agave comes from.

    There is a big diference in the refined, almost colorless, tastaless agave necatar that sell in the U.S. and the unrefined agave nectar dark color, full of flavor and nutrients that we can get here.

    Un Beso

    Hugo

    Hugo

  10. Anonymous says:

    My rule of thumb is this: Good, Better, Best. For example…natural sugar (evaporated cane juice) is good, Agave and Honey MAY be a Better choice, and less of natural sweetners and some Stevia may be the Best choice. Depends on you and your health issues and goal. I used to think that splenda was better then refined table sugar. Now I don’t use any artificial sweetners and still have white sugar in the house. I had to ween myself off the S.A.D. diet of HFCS and glucose, sucrose, fructose in everything. If my choice is a Moon Pie or an Apple I will choose the apple everytime…an apple is “better”. If its Agave or white sugar…I’ll choose agave.

  11. Anonymous says:

    I use coconut palm sugar and stevia instead. Agave is much more processed than was originally thought.

  12. Anonymous says:

    where is what he said? i want to read it

  13. Anonymous says:

    As for the Metabolic Typing Test, in my holistic nutrition program (Hawthorn University) we are taught about this test. I personally need protein but nuts and beans and seeds don’t do it for me. I need cooked meat and get dizzy if I eat too many carbs even in fruit. Even Susan Schenck (Live Food Factor) said that she wasn’t sure what to say about the typing test.

    Mercola, Dr. Al Sears, Loren Cordain and even Dwight Lundell (cardiologist) say that we would do better on a hunter-gatherer diet — which means organic veggies and fruit and grass-fed meat/eggs and raw dairy (if eating any dairy).

    I feel much better when I eat this way but I am definitely protein-oriented and am carb intolerant. I buy almost all of my food organic. I do eat raw foods everyday in the form of salads and throw some meat protein on them. I can have a little bit of a green smoothie but not too much or I get dizzy from all of the fruit. People who are carb oriented can often do a raw food diet.

    So what I think you should say is that some people need cooked protein and some people do better with more carbs. All people needs raw veggies as in a salad or two each day. It doesn’t have to be one way for everybody. You couldn’t tell someone with celiac disease that they couldn’t have cooked protein

  14. I asked Dr Young directly about agave. He said that is absolutely not good for the system. I am not quoting him directly, but he said something like it reaks havock on the body and should never be use. Dr Young is the scientist who wrote the pH miracle books and is the foremost authority on alkalinity. He has looked at 10s of thousands of live blood cells and has helped many people cure themselves of cancer, diabetes (including type 1!! and numerous other dis-eases). In an alkaline environment, disease cannot survive. So, if you want to be healthy, skip the agave!! it shows up very poorly in the blood!!

  15. Anonymous says:

    I agree with you Robin. I’m a diabetic and I find that small amounts of Agave don’t affect my sugar much. I can’t it in great amounts, but I sometimes put a small amount in my green smoothies to take the edge off and I haven’t had any problems.

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