One of my friends swears by agave nectar. She says it’s the best sweetener to use because it doesn’t spike your blood sugar and isn’t refined. What do you think?
-- Leah Strentle Palo Alto, CA
A few years ago, agave nectar became a trendy health food, mainly for the reasons you cite. It is indeed safe for diabetics since it does not spike blood glucose levels as much as pure sucrose (table sugar).
Keep in mind, though, that if managing your blood glucose levels is a concern, you can also think about pairing "high glycemic" foods with lower ones.For instance, add some olive oil to a potato and eat it alongside a grilled chicken breast and that potato will not spike your blood sugar as much as if you were eating it completely by itself.
At the end of the day, agave nectar is a form of syrup. Very simply, take liquid from the agave plant, boil it down, and, voila, you have a concentrated sweet liquid.
In my opinion, it’s a not-too-distant cousin of maple syrup.
Remember ,all sweeteners have 4 calories per gram. So, dowsing your pancakes in 4 tablespoons of agave syrup (or any non-diet sweetener, for that matter) will add 192 calories to your meal.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason why agave nectar ranks so low on the glycemic index is because it is mainly composed of fructose.
Earlier this summer, researchers at the University of California at Davis compared the effects of drinking fructose-based versus sucrose-based beverages over a 10 week period on overweight adults.
The results? Those drinking fructose-based beverages had higher triglyceriude and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels than those drinking beverages with a higher percentage of sucrose.
I am not necessarily “knocking” agave nectar, but attemping to to equate the sweet playing field.
At the end of the day, keep this in mind: humans have been eating sugar for thousands of years. We know very well what sugar does to the body, since we’ve had the chance to study it for so long.
Sugar in and of itself is not the devil. After all, it has been around for much longer than skyrocketing obesity rates, so rationalizing a strict avoidance of it as a "health issue" seems extreme to me.
My thoughts? If you like the taste of sugar and have it in small amounts (approximately 30 grams a day), keep enjoying it. Don't just focus on one nutrient (i.e.: fat, protein, carbs). Instead, as Professor Lisa Sasson recently told us, attempt to establish long-term healthy dietary patterns.
-- Leah Strentle
Palo Alto, CA
A few years ago, agave nectar became a trendy health food, mainly for the reasons you cite. It is indeed safe for diabetics since it does not spike blood glucose levels as much as pure sucrose (table sugar).
Keep in mind, though, that if managing your blood glucose levels is a concern, you can also think about pairing "high glycemic" foods with lower ones.For instance, add some olive oil to a potato and eat it alongside a grilled chicken breast and that potato will not spike your blood sugar as much as if you were eating it completely by itself.
At the end of the day, agave nectar is a form of syrup. Very simply, take liquid from the agave plant, boil it down, and, voila, you have a concentrated sweet liquid.
In my opinion, it’s a not-too-distant cousin of maple syrup.
Remember ,all sweeteners have 4 calories per gram. So, dowsing your pancakes in 4 tablespoons of agave syrup (or any non-diet sweetener, for that matter) will add 192 calories to your meal.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason why agave nectar ranks so low on the glycemic index is because it is mainly composed of fructose.
Earlier this summer, researchers at the University of California at Davis compared the effects of drinking fructose-based versus sucrose-based beverages over a 10 week period on overweight adults.
The results? Those drinking fructose-based beverages had higher triglyceriude and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels than those drinking beverages with a higher percentage of sucrose.
I am not necessarily “knocking” agave nectar, but attemping to to equate the sweet playing field.
At the end of the day, keep this in mind: humans have been eating sugar for thousands of years. We know very well what sugar does to the body, since we’ve had the chance to study it for so long.
Sugar in and of itself is not the devil. After all, it has been around for much longer than skyrocketing obesity rates, so rationalizing a strict avoidance of it as a "health issue" seems extreme to me.
My thoughts? If you like the taste of sugar and have it in small amounts (approximately 30 grams a day), keep enjoying it. Don't just focus on one nutrient (i.e.: fat, protein, carbs). Instead, as Professor Lisa Sasson recently told us, attempt to establish long-term healthy dietary patterns.