agave...yes or no?

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lindsay6694
lindsay6694 Posts: 182
in Food and Nutrition
ive heard mixed opinions on agave nectar as a sweetner....some say its healthy, some say, not so much....any input?

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  • nicolina823
    nicolina823 Posts: 450 Member
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    I dont know anything other than its natural and you don't get the insulin spike like you do with honey.

    My fiance was a 110% honey guy. Now he's an agave guy all the way.

    I love it.
  • groovyfirechick
    groovyfirechick Posts: 188
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    I love agave! I bake with it and it's fantastic. Blue agave is my favorite!
  • LiL_MisS_C
    LiL_MisS_C Posts: 332 Member
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    I have never tried agave....but I am a huge fan of Stevia as a sweetner. :)
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    Sugar is sugar whether you take it as honey, maple syrup, agave, or HFCS, so in my opinion, if you could avoid using any of those I'd do that.

    However, if you absolutely must have sweetener for whatever reason, I'd give honey the go. Depending on your sources (and the nectar itself), agave can be up to 92% fructose (fructose=bad); I wouldn't even recommend it over HFCS.

    You're even better of using raw sugar than agave nectar IMO.
  • cupotee
    cupotee Posts: 181 Member
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    Agave's the chemical equivalent of high high high high fructose corn syrup. It's not what I would chose.
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    Ya, you don't get the insuling spikes because it's mostly fructose and it's the glucose that needs insulin to get to your body, however, fructose goes straight to the liver and does all sorts of damage to your body (worse than insulin does).

    I'd recommend having a look at Dr. Lustig's seminar 'Sugar: The bitter truth' - youtube - if you have the chance. It's a real eye opener and explains how sugar is handled by the body. It's a little long, but very interesting IMO.
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
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    I use it because it's vegan and doesn't have the flavor like maple. I only use it for baking, otherwise I try to avoid adding any kind of sugar to anything.
  • abeautifulmess
    abeautifulmess Posts: 37 Member
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    bump for later!
  • joanneeee
    joanneeee Posts: 311 Member
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    I've been looking for agave for literally half a year and cannot find it in any health food stores or supermarkets. :sad:

    (I live in Australia so if any of you guys knows where I can get some...)
  • sweatingbanshee
    sweatingbanshee Posts: 1
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    An overwhelming no. It's like 80% fructose. We demonize HFCS, which is only 55% fructose. As others have said, it doesn't cause the insuling spikes of sugar, because it's got so much fructuse that it almost all goes straight to your liver. Just avoid it. If you want a caloric sweetener, get raw honey, or just use table sugar and be careful with it. Don't worry so much about little spikes in blood sugar. It's chronically elevated blood sugar that will kill you.
  • Kagard11
    Kagard11 Posts: 396 Member
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    Sugar is sugar!
    I'd recommend having a look at Dr. Lustig's seminar 'Sugar: The bitter truth' - youtube - if you have the chance. It's a real eye opener and explains how sugar is handled by the body. It's a little long, but very interesting IMO.

    Interesting watch!

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