[Ellie Hastings]

Recently I've been hearing about agave being used instead of regular suger. Have any of you chicks used this and what were your results? What did you use it in? I've cut my sugar intake back but don't want to go the splenda, nutrisweet, or sweet n low route. I thought I would come to the "experts" before forking out the moola for this product.

Thanks for all of your help.

Ellie

[rschroed]

Agave's good--since it's natural, I trust it much more than stevia or nutrasweet or whatever. I've been baking with it for quite a while (made some tasty whole wheat banana muffins last weekend) and it does a good job. When a recipe calls for sugar, use LESS agave nectar because agave's significantly sweeter--1 cup of sugar and I'd use less than 2/3 cup agave. Because it's liquid, you also have to play with liquid-solid ratios. Takes a little bit of work.

HOWEVER: it's still sugar! Just in a form with a low glycemic index that won't spike your blood sugar as much. Calorically, it's still pretty dense, and has the same triglyceride problem that a lot of fruit has.

If you want to get the benefits of a sugar with a low glycemic index without the liquid/triglyceride downsides, try coconut palm sugar. That's what I've been gradually switching over to. It's also a bit cheaper. My goal is to start only using agave where you'd use syrup or honey--on pancakes, say. So, at this point in my diet, not that often.

R

[westernsoutherngirl]

I too like agave nectar - I use it in my plain greek yogurt and sometimes to sweeten my iced tea (usually drink the tea plain but some days just can't do it) but A LITTLE goes a long way. As the previous poster said it still has the same amount of calories as sugar but for instance I can use 1/2 a tsp in yogurt or tea and it is plenty sweet. Haven't tried baking with it or anything. Good luck!

[CyndiM]

As others have said it does have benefits but it's still sugar and about 50 cal/T. There is also some disagreement out there about how much better it is than honey. That said we do use it occasionally and my diabetic DW hasn't had any spikes from it. I also like coconut palm sugar. It's also low GI, comes in powder form and has the added benefit of being a sustainable product. Stevia can also be purchased in a less processed form. We even grew one a few years ago. I'm not a fan because of the aftertaste but a lot of people like it.

[WebRover]

Both the nurse practioner at work and the Dietician at the doctor's office have recommended both Stevia and Agave Nectar. I didn't like either one at first. So the initial result was that I stopped using artificial sweeteners in Espresso and returned to sugar. I tried Stevia again and it's still way too bitter for me. I'm getting used to Agave Nectar. At least it actually tastes sweet to me when I lick the spoon. Both are supposed to lower on the glycemic scale than sugar and better for you than the artificial sweeteners.

[Ellie Hastings]

Wow. Thanks so much for the gtreat tips and advice, ladies. I think I'll go ahead and give it a shot. The coconut stuff sounds rather interesting, also, so I may have to look into that, too.

Ellie

[Ellie Hastings]

*Update*

Well, I got a bottle of agave at T.J. Maxx and tried it in my coffee. I used the same amount as table sugar. It doesn't seem to have the aftertaste that sugar has but my coffee was sweet? Anyway, I think its a keeper for me. Now on to iced tea.

Ellie