I do think there might be "two sides" to the story...
For me, I, personally don't use much agave BECAUSE it has lots of calories. I do, still think it is better than WHITE SUGAR. I do buy my organic agave from a local and trusted source, who actually goes to Mexico and personally buys from his source.(easy to do in Colorado)
I DO know, that since my DH,(who used loads and loads of white sugar), switched to 100% agave, he;
~doesn't have that craving mechanism going for sweets, sweets, and more sweets
~no longer has extreme swings in mood and energy levels (his own admittance, not mine)
Interesting tidbit, my source, who is a beekeeper, and a source of many fine local products, had to find another source for agave a year ago, because Keebler went directly to his source and bought their entire supply. A bakery in Denver who makes all kinds of cakes, etc, sugarfree, said their prices have had to go sky high, because massive amounts of the sweeteners they use are being bought up, too.
I've seen it around and have been toying with the idea of switching but think I'll also stay away from Agave nectar for now and hope to eventually cut way back on the Splenda.
This article was news to me - but I had already become suspicious of claims that fructose is "better" and "low glycemic". I definately can get a sugar buzz eating fructose sweetened cookies.
There is definitely more than one side to this story. It's hard to say which is more accurate. we have talked about Weston Price's info before and for my money I don't trust them.
There's plenty of negative info about every single sweetener available, much of it funded by competitors so it's all a little hard to sort. We've probably all seen the high fructose corn syrup ads. that said I use agave sparingly because of the calories. I also use some coconut palm sugar, also low glycemic but also more calorie dense than I want most of the time.
It's an individual choice but I caution everyone to read as much information from as many sources as you can before making your decisions. If you can figure out who funded the research that's even better. it's too bad that it's so hard to figure out what to trust out there
It seemed to me like the big negative in this article was the processing of the agave nectar. Agave works for South Beach because of the low glycemic index but I was curious to read about the way the author claims it's processed in your body.
BTW, the same source indicates that Splenda is POISON!
Thanks for all your comments. Your all right...really, moderation, and caution is necessary in using any sweetener (natural or not). AND YES!!! There are ALWAYS two sides of the story! Watch those tricky sponsors too!
In the end...we must all weigh the pros and cons. I just bought some Agave Nectar (local Walmart..donno how trusted they are...lol!) But it's quite high in calories...so I only use no more than 1 tbsp in recipes like Agave glazed plantains or another type of recipe that calls for it. I still use splenda in my coffee and most other recipes.
Last edited by joyfulloser; 01-17-2011 at 09:15 AM.
Drs. Oz and Roizen, in their You Docs Daily blog on the RealAge website on January 15th talked about agave nectar. They indicated that it is 4 times sweeter than sugar, so you can use less. They also said that its sweetness comes from fructose and is a refined sweetener and as with all sugars, they advised to go easy on it. They did not seem to have a problem with using it other than excercising portion control. It often seems to come down to portion control, doesn't it?
MJMS
Agave nectar article for discussion
A lot of information that would have been good to know several years ago. I think I'm going to stick with Splenda.
Watch those tricky sponsors too!
