Sugar vs Agave - does it make a difference?
onecatleadstoanother
Posts: 70 Member
I'm working on cutting down the sugar in my coffee, but until I've eliminated it should I switch to Agave, or is sugar no different to your body?
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Replies
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Calorie for calorie Nope
If you use less then it makes the amount of calorie difference1 -
It's the same, assuming same calories in the amount you use.1
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Ditto.0
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the body reacts the same to both1
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It will take less Agave to achieve the same sweetness which will save you calories, and it won't spike your blood sugar, so your body will continue burning fat. Sugar, white bread, and white rice are good immediately after training to absorb more protein. Things like Agave nectar, wheat bread, and brown rice are for long term energy your body absorbs them slower.0
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It will take less Agave to achieve the same sweetness which will save you calories, and it won't spike your blood sugar, so your body will continue burning fat. Sugar, white bread, and white rice are good immediately after training to absorb more protein. Things like Agave nectar, wheat bread, and brown rice are for long term energy your body absorbs them slower.
Fructose and glucose (which is what agave is) aren't exactly slow-burning energy sources. This claim seems doubtful -- at the quantities typically consumed in coffee, I can't imagine it having much of an impact on either blood sugar levels or long-term energy.5 -
It will take less Agave to achieve the same sweetness which will save you calories, and it won't spike your blood sugar, so your body will continue burning fat. Sugar, white bread, and white rice are good immediately after training to absorb more protein. Things like Agave nectar, wheat bread, and brown rice are for long term energy your body absorbs them slower.
Whether or not it spikes blood sugar isn't going to make any appreciable difference to net body fat losses provided you're comparing the same amount of total calories.
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It will take less Agave to achieve the same sweetness which will save you calories, and it won't spike your blood sugar, so your body will continue burning fat. Sugar, white bread, and white rice are good immediately after training to absorb more protein. Things like Agave nectar, wheat bread, and brown rice are for long term energy your body absorbs them slower.
Agave is composed of fructose and glucose. Sucrose is composed of fructose and glucose. Interestingly, high fructose corn syrup is also composed of fructose and glucose.
Both fructose and glucose are monosaccharides (simple sugars). Monosaccharides are not slowly absorbed and not renowned as long term energy sources.1 -
Whether or not it spikes blood sugar isn't going to make any appreciable difference to net body fat losses provided you're comparing the same amount of total calories.
No, first you wouldn't be comparing similar calories because it takes less to achieve the same sweetness, but secondly if we were talking the exact same calories, the calorie that spikes your sugars higher will cause you to burn less fat. You might lose the same weight, but fatloss>weightloss0 -
Agave is composed of fructose and glucose. Sucrose is composed of fructose and glucose. Interestingly, high fructose corn syrup is also composed of fructose and glucose.
Both fructose and glucose are monosaccharides (simple sugars). Monosaccharides are not slowly absorbed and not renowned as long term energy sources.
I may have misspoke by referring to it as long term energy source, seeing as it doesn't have the fiber the other examples have, but in comparison to sugar it's still a slower energy release.0 -
No, first you wouldn't be comparing similar calories because it takes less to achieve the same sweetness, but secondly if we were talking the exact same calories, the calorie that spikes your sugars higher will cause you to burn less fat. You might lose the same weight, but fatloss>weightloss
I'm not convinced of the latter statement especially as it would pertain to losses of body fat over weeks.
I'd be curious what you make of these:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16629877
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/glycaemic-index-effects-on-fuel-partitioning-in-humans.html/
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As we meander through the scientific maze, I'd add for the OP's benefit that there is no difference. The chemical composition is essentially identical and it will be processed by the body in the same manner. Both sugar and agave are chemically composed of the same monosaccharides (simple sugars).1
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I'll also add my opinion so that I'm not entirely derailing the thread:
On a per-calorie basis there will be no appreciable difference on fat loss between the two.2 -
Things like Agave nectar, wheat bread, and brown rice are for long term energy your body absorbs them slower.
Of interest is the fact that in the past, agave nectar WAS better for long term energy than straight sugar, although probably not as good as brown rice and whole wheat bread.
The processing of agave syrup has actually changed over the years. In the past, there used to be a lot more fiber remaining in the actual syrup, but with a change in processing that has occurred (better for the company to crank out more syrup faster, I believe), there is no fiber remaining. I had heard this and happened to have a very old agave squeeze bottle we had saved for a school project that did have fiber grams listed on the nutrition label. The new bottles of the same brand no longer had any grams of fiber in the product.
From what I understand, any health benefits, or reasons why 'agave syrup is better than sugar' that you hear about are all stemming from the original agave syrup when it was composed of more than just straight sugar. Now, it does not seem much different than any other syrup or sugar.0 -
Hate to tell you that if one is active throughout the day, one isn't burning much fat even if their blood sugar level isn't up. There's such a misconception of how fat is actually burned by the body, especially in the fitness industry.
No, first you wouldn't be comparing similar calories because it takes less to achieve the same sweetness, but secondly if we were talking the exact same calories, the calorie that spikes your sugars higher will cause you to burn less fat. You might lose the same weight, but fatloss>weightloss
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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