Agave: Is it Safe to Offer Babies Agave in Place of Added Sugar?

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

Is it safe to offer babies agave? Is it really a “natural” sugar and is it less harmful for babies than other added sugars? In this episodes we’re looking at agave and whether it is a food to include in the infant weaning diet, potential health benefits and drawbacks for agave offered to infants.

SUMMARY OF EPISODE

In this episode we’re talking about:

• What agave is and why it’s not technically an added sugar, but also something your baby definitely doesn’t need

• Why agave syrup appeals to adult populations - but for health reasons that don’t exactly pertain to infants

• How agave does not help babies with coughs to alleviate pain associated with pediatric coughing

RESEARCH LINKS from episode

• Paul, Ian M et al. “Placebo effect in the treatment of acute cough in infants and toddlers: a randomized clinical trial.” JAMA pediatrics vol. 168,12 (2014): 1107-13. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.1609

• Cohen, Herman A. “Demonstration of placebo effect for nonspecific cough medicine.” The Journal of pediatrics vol. 166,5 (2015): 1321. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.02.060

• UCSF Sugar Science site: https://sugarscience.ucsf.edu/ 

• López-Velázquez, Gabriel et al. “Effects of Fructans from Mexican Agave in Newborns Fed with Infant Formula: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Nutrients vol. 7,11 8939-51. 29 Oct. 2015, doi:10.3390/nu7115442

• Hooshmand, Shirin et al. “Effects of agave nectar versus sucrose on weight gain, adiposity, blood glucose, insulin, and lipid responses in mice.” Journal of medicinal food vol. 17,9 (2014): 1017-21. doi:10.1089/jmf.2013.0162 

• García Contreras, Andrea A et al. “Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 and Agave Inulin in Children with Cerebral Palsy and Chronic Constipation: A Double-Blind Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial.” Nutrients vol. 12,10 2971. 28 Sep. 2020, doi:10.3390/nu12102971 

• Saraiva, Ariana et al. “Agave Syrup: Chemical Analysis and Nutritional Profile, Applications in the Food Industry and Health Impacts.” International journal of environmental research and public health vol. 19,12 7022. 8 Jun. 2022, doi:10.3390/ijerph19127022

EPISODES mentioned in this episode

• Episode 68 - Sugar and Why Your Baby Should Avoid it with Robert Lustig, MD, MSL

• Episode 99 - Are Organic Foods Better for My Baby?

TRANSCRIPT OF EPISODE

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