Agave Nector vs Sugar

Agave nectar is a substance derived from a variety of cactus. compared to sugar, it has a lower Glycaemic Index (19) as opposed to refined or brown sugar (72)
It provides sweetness without spiking your blood glucose.
I cant see any reason for anyone to substitute Agave unless they have a blood sugar problem i.e diabetes. #
Of course, if you are dieting on a plan which balances your insulin, then this is probably for you.

Agave is highly refined and not much better then sugar. Try maple syrup or raw honey instead! Or if you really can't live without sweetener in coffee, then maybe stevia would be an option.

Here just a few:


http://pollynoble.com/2012/05/the-bad-news-about-agave-syrup/

http://blog.integrativenutrition.com/2013/01/agave-nectar-how-bad-or-good-is-it-for-your-health

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/agave-this-sweetener-is-f_b_537936.html

Maybe I just can't do agave nectar. I've read about studies which have shown that it's actually worse for you than HFCS. Also here's a little anecdote concerning me and agave nectar that I posted on another forum:

"I'd say that I read labels about 95% of the time. One of the 5% happened yesterday. I picked up some Nancy's Organic Blackberry Kefir. Normally I go for the plain, but let's face it plain yogurt and kefir tastes disgusting. Anyway, I didn't check the label and it was only after I got it home that I discovered that it has agave nectar. I have no blood sugar issues at all. My fasting blood sugar runs in the low 80's and my 1 hour post prandial levels are generally in the 120's to 130's depending on what I ate. These are very good numbers.

Just out of curiosity the last time I had anything with agave nectar in it, I checked my sugar at 1 hour and it was over 200! That's the kind of number you'd see in someone with uncontrolled diabetes. So imagine my dismay when I got home and found agave nectar in the list of ingredients in this Nancy's stuff. I went ahead and had it for breakfast this morning because I hate to waste anything and it's kind of expensive too at $1.99 for 8 oz.

Honestly, though, I should have just tossed it in the trash and taken the hit as a lesson learned. I had it at 9 and here it is almost 1 and I'm still not hungry and I know the reason why is because my blood sugar got so elevated. I didn't even bother to check it because I knew what would happen. In addition to that, it caused extreme hyperactivity. My kitchen looks wonderful so at least I was able to put that energy to good use. But now I have the worst headache and I can feel the crash coming."